Spc. Courtney Dowdy, Chaplain (Maj) Mark Smith, and Staff Sgt. Anthony Maskarina
Religious support teams from the Tennessee National Guard supported their troops during a deployment in support of Operation Resolute Castle, a humanitarian civic assistance visit: Read more
In an odd, if interesting, story, the Beale AFB chapel recently hosted “Hump-free” the camel in a recent resiliency event:
Hump-free, is a 13-year-old male dromedary (one hump) camel from Lyon Ranch in Sonoma, California. He has been a certified therapy animal for about 10 years.
The event was intended to open up conversations about deployment and returning from deployment: Read more
…they’re just the only ones criticized for doing so.
Given the way the American culture has drifted over the past few years and the impact that drift has had on religion, religious freedom, and the military, it might be forgivable that people would assume conservative Christians are the only ones publicizing their beliefs from within the military.
That’s an easy framing, but it is not an accurate one.
It turns out that other “liberal” religious beliefs — and even non-beliefs — have been just Read more
A Peterson AFB chaplain assistant was featured in a recent article about his experience fighting a brain infection and going through multiple brain surgeries:
[Staff Sgt. Anthony Bean] was transferred out of the emergency room and into a facility that could handle treating brain infections. They told him he needed brain surgery.
With the seriousness of the surgery looming in his mind, Bean said he was comforted knowing his pastor and his Air Force family were reaching out to him and praying for his speedy recovery.
The article is fairly short and is an uplifting look into dealing with adversity — which makes the final “editor’s note” all the more disconcerting [formatting original]: Read more
Mikey Weinstein’s MRFF and Tom Carpenter’s Forum on the Military Chaplaincy
advocate “Do as I say… not as I do.”
Last week, the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy’s hypocrisy was on full display. Tom Carpenter, a homosexual lawyer and former US Marine fighter pilot, co-chairs the Forum and seems to be its primary voice. Carpenter berated the religious expression of Air Force Chaplain Sonny Hernandez and called him unfit to serve — while the Forum Carpenter simultaneously leads says it supports a military chaplaincy with “free and diverse religious expression.”
It seems Carpenter and his Forum only support diversity of religious expression when they agree with the content of that expression.
Last week Carpenter also seemed to join with Michael “Mikey” Weinstein — a Forum ally — in criticizing military chaplains who attended an awards event hosted by the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, a group of chaplain endorsers that advocates for religious liberty within the military. The Forum re-posted reports on the MRFF’s accusations with the ominous statement that the “Air Force [is] in hot water again,” and didn’t contravene one of its own who agreed with Weinstein’s acerbic calls for punishing the chaplains. When others defended the chaplains, Carpenter weighed in by saying they were “clueless” about the rules and regulations regarding wear of the uniform. Carpenter clearly felt Chaplain (MajGen) Dondi Costin and the other chaplains in attendance were in the wrong.
So why didn’t Carpenter feel so strongly about his own event?
In early April, the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy hosted Read more
The chapel at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, recently hosted Gary Chapman (author of The 5 Love Languages) as part of a marriage seminar for military couples:
The topics discussed during the seminar included how different people give and receive love, common causes of conflicts between couples, and how they can improve communication in order to minimize these conflicts.
Chapman emphasized communication as an indispensable tool in producing a healthy and intimate marriage.
Chaplain (Capt) Kristin Swenson indicated the event was well-received, and it Read more
As the school year starts to wind up in many parts of the country, the annual Vacation Bible School season is coming to an end. VBS remains a long held tradition for many — including many US troops, wherever they may be stationed.
At the US Army Camp Zama, Japan, more than 100 kids attended VBS at the beginning of August: Read more
In the ensuing discussions about Chaplain Sonny Hernandez’s article on transgenderism and the military chaplaincy, Tom Carpenter of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy tried to claim a moral high ground, saying the Christian beliefs expressed by Chaplain Hernandez might “bring down” and “lead to the dismantling of the military chaplaincy”:
Sonny: I sincerely fear people like you and the Christian Fighter Pilot are going to bring down the military chaplaincy. And that would be a real tragedy for our men and women in the uniform.
I caution you to be careful your conduct and words do not lead to the dismantling of the military chaplaincy. That would be a tragedy to our service members who really need support and guidance.
Tom Carpenter simultaneously describes himself as Read more