Tag Archives: Chaplain

Report: Retired SNCO Not Tossed from Ceremony over Religion

oscarThe Air Force Inspector General released its report (PDF here) on the incident involving retired USAF SMSgt Oscar Rodriguez in April. Rodriguez was invited to the retirement of fellow SNCO Chuck Roberson to give a narration during the flag-folding. When he rose to do so, several uniformed SNCOs physically through Rodriguez out of the building.

The IG was apparently tasked by none other than the Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James (she responding to a demand by Senator John McCain) to conduct the investigation — though they were apparently only tasked to investigate the “facts and circumstances”, not any specific allegation:

The 23 Jun 16 SAF/IG tasking order specifically directs the Investigation Office to, “…conduct an inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding the event; the governing laws, regulations, and policies and how they were applied.”

The IG ultimately concluded the decision to eject Rodriguez from the ceremony was  Read more

US Military Chaplains Remember 9/11

“Today we are reminded by the sacrifice of others that duty, loyalty, respect, and selfless service are not just words that we live by. They are words by which we offer on the Altar our living and breathing.

We are thankful, Almighty God that you have called these values out of men and women who have joined the American Military to protect and defend Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

We believe, heavenly Father, that these are your self-evident truths. So, today we hold in prayer all those members of the Armed Forces who co-labor with you to defeat the enemies Read more

LtGen Caslen: West Point Prayer ‘Crossed the Line’

The video below is a Washington Post interview in which LtGen Robert Caslen, US Military Academy Superintendent, addressed his response to Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s complaint about the team prayer requested by West Point football Coach Jeff Monken. The 4 minute response is worth watching, as he speaks with nuance that is often lost when he is subsequently quoted.

That said, nuance isn’t everything:

LtGen Caslen said they removed the original video that included the prayer because it was “offensive” — a seemingly illogical explanation. PETA finds the use of live mules as Army mascots offensive, but the Army continues to do it. The practice of liberty ensures that someone will be offended, and since Read more

FRC: Protect Your Military Chaplains from a Bully

Chris Gacek of the Family Research Council recently urged readers to voice their support for military chaplains in a blog entitled “Protect Your Military Chaplains from a Bully.” The context of his call was the most recent “histrionics” of a bully — Michael “Mikey” Weinstein — as he attacked Chaplain (MajGen) Dondi Costin and others for attending the CALL awards event:

What is of particular note is Weinstein’s complete and utter lack of perspective. Does he honestly believe that a retirement-type event honoring a member of Congress who has supported the needs of chaplains would not be attended by appreciative members of the military chaplaincy? Is he really so misguided as to think that the DOD IG is going to state that military chaplains attending a retirement event for a member of the House in the company of other House members and a U.S. Senator is a punishable offense? Sadly, he appears to be.

That’s true, with nuance. Weinstein wouldn’t have Read more

Fort Lee General Williams Notes Decline in Spiritual Fitness

williams2US Army MajGen Darrell Williams, Fort Lee commanding general and also commander for Combined Arms Support Command, recently signed a suicide prevention/awareness pledge and noted the dramatic decline in Soldier spiritual fitness over his career:

“We need to look at the physical, social and spiritual well-being of ourselves and one another,” Williams continued. “I noticed in my 33 years of service the decline on emphasis of spiritual fitness. I remember as a second lieutenant having a prayer breakfast, the place would be overflowing. Today, when you hold a prayer breakfast, it is much more difficult to fill the seats.

Most of you who have been to combat know Read more

Forum on the Military Chaplaincy: Christians Seek Violence, Domination

Over the weekend, Tom Carpenter’s Forum on the Military Chaplaincy jumped the shark when he said the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty was a “Christian Supremacist Endorser” whose ideology was like ISIS.

Carpenter linked to a pay-per-click article with the grammatically awkward title “10 Ways The Ideology of ISIS And Franklin Graham Is Near-Identical,” written by “progressive” Christian Benjamin Corey.  Carpenter then said [emphasis added]:

Could not much of the same criticisms be made of the Christian Supremacist Endorsers (ie the oxymoron Chaplains Alliance for Religious Liberty) and some of the chaplains they endorse?

forumisis2(Hypocritical, don’t you think, that Read more

Group Criticizes “Debunked” Attacks on Military Religious Freedom

People for the American Way, a politically left-wing/liberal organization, recently criticized a Family Research Council email that cited attacks on military religious freedom. PFAW’s complaint was that the stories FRC’s President Tony Perkins cited were, in their words, “easily debunked.”

As evidence, they linked to other online articles that did not debunk FRC’s stories.

For example, PFAW linked to an Americans United article that claimed Army Chaplain (Capt) Joe Lawhorn was not, in fact, sanctioned for discussion of his faith. But he indisputably was given paperwork for mentioning his faith, and the AU article doesn’t actually “debunk” the claim — it only criticizes the claim, without detracting from those facts.

PFAW similarly linked to another left-wing site that criticized Navy Chaplain Wes Modder, who was nearly run out of the Navy. The linked article cited the Navy commander’s initial accusations as fact — and neither that site nor PFAW bothered to mention that the Navy ultimately denied the attempt to kick Chaplain Modder out. In oversimplified terms, the complaint was invalidated. The linked article also quoted Read more

Bible-Believing, Military Chaplains: Avoid the Wrong Endorsing Agency

You need to do your research, so you can avoid Bible-censuring, homosexual-friendly, ecclesiastical endorsing agencies.

by Sonny Hernandez

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11)

I. Exercise Discernment

Representing Christ in the US military requires doctrinal integrity and an implacable commitment to herald His Gospel. If a Bible-believing chaplain is going to represent Christ, then he must also be biblically qualified (1 Timothy 3:1-8), maintain doctrinal integrity, and acquiesce to a Department of Defense (DOD)-approved ecclesiastical endorsing agency that has a robust statement of faith and policies implemented to provide the indemnity for their chaplains to promulgate the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) to the service members they serve.

Representing Christ in the Armed Forces also requires chaplains to encounter false teachers who are wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15-20), who profess to believe (Titus 1:16), and masquerade Read more

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