Tag Archives: Chaplain

Military Christians as the New DADT

In response to recent attacks on religious freedom, an article by Chuck Holton questions whether Christians in the US military have become the new class of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” worried the chaplains who follow the biblical view of same-sex relationships. Congress then stepped in, passing a bill that guaranteed the rights of all military personnel to exercise their faith.

Ron Crews, head of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, said the result of that legislation is that “chaplains can be chaplains.”

Unfortunately, there continue to be attacks on Christians who want to exercise or express their faith as they serve in the US military. (The article cites the story of Chaplain Lawhorn, for example.) While these attacks have generally come from outside the service — from critics like Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, for example, who attacks even Christian church services — the US military has sometimes reacted to these attacks as if the critics were correct from the outset, even if they were ultimately proven wrong.  The perception of this propensity is unprecedented on any other issue over which the military is critiqued.

The result has been Read more

Archbishop Broglio on Chaplains, Military Religious Freedom

Timothy Broglio, Archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, speaking at the 90th anniversary installation and awards luncheon of the Joint Veterans’ Council of Cuyahoga County (JVCOCC), Ohio.

The role of chaplains in preserving our constitutionally protected freedom of religion was addressed by the Rev. Timothy Broglio, archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA…

In speaking about chaplains, Broglio noted that they “can assure that someone in the military is not forced to renounce his First Amendment rights while he or she puts his or her life on the line to defend those rights for the rest of us.”

Broglio said he wanted to join the JVCOCC in saluting all chaplains, “to thank them for making religious liberty not a slogan, but a reality in the armed forces.”

Wise words. Read more about the event. Read more

Congressmen Seek Army Review over Chaplain’s Punishment

Twenty four members of Congress wrote a letter (PDF) to Secretary of the Army John McHugh questioning the circumstances surrounding the Letter of Concern given to Chaplain (Capt) Joe Lawhorn.

While the Army has maintained that Chaplain Lawhorn wasn’t “punished” (and therefore there is apparently nothing to discuss), the Congressmen communicated their concerns that even the “administrative action” was chilling to rights protected under the law and Constitution:

We believe this administrative action sets a dangerous precedent for Army suicide prevention initiatives, the role of Army chaplains, and most importantly, the ability for service members to exercise and express religious beliefs, as protected under the First Amendment and reinforced by current law and DoD regulations.

The letter also raises concerns that the action Read more

Military Times Covers Air Force Refuting Mikey Weinstein

On Friday it was noted here that no media outlet had covered the Air Force response to Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s complaint about an article on a Christian Airman. On Sunday, Stephen Losey of the Air Force Times finally picked up the story (which led on their website), writing that the Air Force had found nothing wrong with the article and let it stand:aftimesgallo

AFRC spokesman Philip Rhodes said the review was finished earlier [last] week, and the release will not be taken down. “We vetted the question about the story through Air Force legal and chaplain corps, and all agreed that the story is appropriate as it is displayed,” Rhodes said.

This statement, which was apparently Read more

Commanding General Installs New “Iron Shepherd”

Gen Stephen Twitty, commanding General of the US Army’s 1st Armored Division, recently participated in a ceremony marking the “passing of the stole” from one Chaplain to another:

The 1st Armored Division sent off Lt. Col. Karen L. Meeker, outgoing 1st Armored Division chaplain and welcomed Lt. Col. Thomas S. Helms III as the new 1st AD chaplain during the Division’s Passing of the Stole ceremony here…

Helms assumed the spiritual leadership and pastoral care for the entire division when Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Twitty, 1st AD and Fort Bliss commanding general, removed the division stole from Meeker and placed it on Helms shoulders.

The 1AD is known as “Old Ironsides,” so its chaplain is the “Iron Shepherd.”

Chaplain Helms looked to Read more

Chaplains as God’s Hands and Feet on the Front Lines

The Christian Examiner writes about US Army Chaplain (Maj) Stanton Trotter, who was deployed three times to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan:

Trotter said often what is required from army chaplains is their physical presence.

“The soldiers want their chaplain to be with them in the field,” Trotter said. “They want them to be jumping from the same airplane, to be out in the field, and to experience the same life they have. When they see that, they can say ‘this guy or gal is one of us and I can relate to them.'”

During deployments, physical proximity often means entering danger zones…

US military chaplains put Read more

Atheists Misrepresent Military Religious Data. Again.

In what has become standard practice for atheists trying to inflate their numbers, the Freedom From Religion Foundation ran an ad in USA Today’s Year in Defense claiming nearly a quarter of the US military is “not religious” [emphasis added]:

Proselytizing officers got you down? Annoyed by preaching chaplain emails? Frustrated by prayer at mandatory events? Tripping over bibles with every about face? If you’re one of the 23.4%* of the U.S. military who is not religious, join the ranks of America’s largest non-prophet nonprofit…

As previously noted, atheists who take pride in their “skepticism” and reliance upon demonstrable data over mere belief have been very quick to express their belief in the report from the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers that initiated the 23.4% number — despite the fact the data does not support the conclusion.

The asterisk in the ad leads to Read more

Army Removes “God and Country” after Army Times Inquiry

A US Army recruiting post in Phoenix, Arizona, removed a sign with “On a mission for God and country” tag line after a media inquiry.

The poster, which features a Special Forces patch along with Ranger, Airborne and Special Forces tabs, includes “a stock image” the command makes available for local recruiters, spokesman Brian Lepley said in an email, “but the text was changed by the local recruiting personnel” and not cleared by command headquarters.

That’s really about it. The poster could have said “For Mom and Apple Pie” and also would have been removed if the customized official sign had not gone through the proper approval process.

According to Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, though, the US Army was caught in an open attempt to recruit Christians to violently take over the country. Seriously.  In response to the poster, Weinstein says:

[T]here exists a brutal, sectarian, Christian fundamentalist reign exercised within the United States Armed Forces, constituting a de facto Dominionist fifth column. In fact, it’s often so brazen that it’s not even very “fifth columny” anymore.

Since the reason Read more

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