Tag Archives: Chaplain

US Military Celebrates Jesus Christ’s Resurrection in Baghdad, 2016

How many people thought after the US invaded Iraq in 2003 that we’d still be celebrating Easter in Baghdad in 2016?

In Iraq, chaplains and their support teams used air and ground support to provide Easter services for troops throughout the country, including the location formerly known as Fire Base Bell — the small outpost attacked a little more than a week prior.

The Easter sunrise service was just one of five religious services held at Union III and one of many services across the CJFLCC-OIR area of operations in celebration of the holiday.

A few official news sources have begun to document this year’s other celebrations of Easter by US military forces around the world.

Aboard the USS Nitze:  Read more

Court Allows Navy Prayer Lawsuit to Proceed

The DC District Court recently provided yet another ruling in the decades-long litigation known as In Re: Navy Chaplaincy (PDF). (See prior discussions.) The case began many years ago with the underlying allegations that the US Navy discriminated against non-liturgical chaplains and favored liturgical chaplains. The case has wound its way up and down judicial channels in the ensuing years.

The most recent decision dismisses many of the claims, much of them due to time or mootness. It is interesting, though, which claims it allowed to continue [emphasis added]: Read more

The Top 3 Military Chaplain Fallacies

by Sonny Hernandez

Serving in the United States Military Chaplaincy is a solemn responsibility of servility and intrepidity. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is an indicative that subjugates Christian believers to willfully evangelize and make disciples. A military chaplain must have a true affinity for the lost (unconverted), and possess a love that is implacable for the Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen that they serve. A military chaplain must exercise their constitutional right to faithfully and expositionally teach and preach the whole counsel of God’s special and propositional revelation. Why? Military chaplains that never evangelizes, soft-peddles truth, willfully omits the name of Christ in prayer out of fear of offending others instead of God, substitutes Scripture with psycho-therapy, and cares more about their career than Christ are not examples of holiness and Christ-centeredness; they are examples of hypocrisy and childish-conceits.

A military chaplain must also be willing to persevere and remain steadfast when the culture has increasingly become execrable against God. There will always be impediments against military chaplaincy. In fact, there are exponential stumbling blocks that will attempt to thwart a chaplain’s ministerial fidelity. If a military chaplain prays in the name of Christ a complaint may eventually arise. If a military chaplain does not embrace Read more

Chaplains, the Constitution, and Spiritual Backgrounds

An Air Force article about a shortage of chaplains at Creech Air Force base opened with an important statement:

With every airman having a different faith, each has something unique to add to the mission.

Implicit in that statement is something often forgotten:  The Air Force recognizes (or should recognize) virtue in the fact its Airmen have religious beliefs.

Another interesting Air Force article about military chaplains from Ramstein, Germany, explained what chaplains do and where they come from:  Read more

US Army Announces Intent to Protect “Self-Identity”

Buried deep in the proposed Defense Department Budget for 2017 (PDF, 5MB) was a little noticed comment on discrimination in the US Army [emphasis added]:

The Army remains committed to ensuring the dignity and respect of Soldiers, civilians, and their families…The Army will provide every Soldier and civilian equal opportunities to rise to the level of their merit regardless of their gender, their race, or their self-identity.

Just what is a “self-identity”? Good question, since it isn’t defined in the budget nor apparently in a Defense Department policy, and it hasn’t appeared in any prior DoD budget. It’s also not a Federally-protected class.  Given the context of current events, it seems likely it is intended as a reference to the Army’s foregone plan to repeal the ban on transgender troops, though the Army seemed to dispute anything unique about this year’s new budget wording:  Read more

USAFA NCLS: Transgenders, Medals of Honor, and Chick-fil-A

The US Air Force Academy National Character and Leadership Symposium has become an annual Who’s Who of military and national celebrities — and rarely does it shy away from controversy.

Last week, attendees were able to hear from, among others:

  • Aaron Belkin, homosexual advocate, speak on repealing the transgender ban
  • Chaplain (MajGen) Dondi Costin, Air Force Chief of Chaplains, on “Go Pro or Go Home”
  • US Army SSgt Salvatore Giunta, Medal of Read more

Mikey Weinstein Demands Air Force Remove Chaplain Video. Because Jesus.

mikeywilliamsLast month, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein claimed he had made an “important achievement” in “rebuilding the shattered wall separating church and state!” because, according to him, the Commanding Officer of the Air Force Recruiting Service promised to remove a chaplain recruiting video Weinstein found “inappropriate.” According to Weinstein, MajGen Garrett Harencak

responded within a few hours that all Chaplain [sic] videos are being removed pursuant to an overhaul of ‘AirForce.com’ and that he would see to it that the removal of this particular video is accelerated.

A month later, not only is the video still up at AirForce.com — but, in unusually blunt words, the Air Force is actually defending it [emphasis added]:

Air Force Headquarters at the Pentagon told Military.com it does not see a problem with [the video]…

“Chaplains being available to airmen for spiritual support, and sharing these experiences in their official capacity, does not violate the establishment clause or Air Force regulations.”

There are three important issues here:  Read more

Fort Hood Pagans Complain about Christian Privilege

One of the oldest and most well-known non-traditional religious groups in the US military is the pagan group on the US Army post at Fort Hood, Texas. In 1999, George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and soon to be US President, famously criticized the US military’s openness toward wiccan practices at Fort Hood.

The “Fort Hood Open Circle” entered the news again recently when Michele Morris, the group’s self-described clergy and Designated Faith Group Leader (DFGL), posted an “open letter” on Facebook decrying their mistreatment in the face of “privilege” (which she clarified as “Christian privilege” in another interview) [emphasis added]:

My congregation was locked out of their church last night. It wasn’t the first time, or the second, in fact – I’ve lost count of how many times this has happened over the last six years…Last night was three hours outside, an entire congregation milling around, angry, scared, frustrated, defeated, and discouraged…

The last six years…have been a dizzying roller coaster of harassment and neglect relieved by brief moments of support and underpinned by the soul killer that we proudly call “tolerance”.

Morris went on to list a veritable bevy of grievances. It was unclear at Read more

1 … 40 41 42 43 44 … 163