Chaplain (Cmdr) Timothy Moore and Chief Aviation Ordnanceman James A. Henry baptize one of 27 Sailors and Marines, Nov. 21, in the well deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) in the Gulf of Aden as it connects to the Red Sea.
These Sailors and Marines specifically Read more
Chaplain (Capt) Emil Kapaun was memorialized with a monument at Camp Walker, South Korea, in December.
After decades of efforts, President Obama presented Read more
Chaplain (Major) Alfred Grondski is currently serving troops in Liberia in support of Operation United Assistance (the anti-Ebola “military operation”). Chaplain Grondski notes that troops are often closer in faith while deployed than at home:
I minister closely with people I work with…That usually doesn’t happen back in the states like it is here, because in garrison a lot of the Soldiers go to their home church; there isn’t a home church here. This gives us an opportunity to come together as a Family and worship.
He also made an interesting obersvation about the host Liberians:
I see smiles on their faces, lots of places of worship – their spiritual morale is very high.
We think — and the Constitution and Supreme Court caselaw supports us — that the right of the men and women in our armed forces to their personal choice, the right to their personal belief, the right to their religious or non-religious preference, cannot be abrogated by the government, by their superior officers, or by the Pentagon.
That sounds like a statement most could agree with — and those words come from MRFF board member Mike Farrell in their annual end-of-year fundraising letter.
Regrettably, the actions of Farrell’s boss, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, contradict his noble words. Contrary to Farrell’s gilded semantics, Weinstein has attacked the personal faiths of Christian chaplains and troops — even going so far as to attack Christian chapel services — in what can only be described as an attempt to deny “the men and women in our armed forces” their religious liberties through the force of government.
More tellingly, Weinstein — a Read more
An article at the UK Mirror quotes a strikingly strong-worded British officer claiming there is no place for Christianity in the military:
Lieutenant Colonel Laurence Quinn said commanders should no longer send priests to the front line and the forces should have non-religious advisors…
The British Army chaplaincy program is different from the US system, with all 150 or so chaplains being exclusively of the Christian faith.
Interestingly, LtCol Quinn Read more
An interesting story at the local news to Robins AFB, Georgia, notes that one of the roles of the Air Force chaplaincy is to protect troops’ right to religious freedom — but it doesn’t have to stifle religious exercise to do so [emphasis added]:
They defend the right to worship freely, even if other airmen’s views conflict with their own beliefs.
At the Robins Air Force Base tree lighting ceremony in early December, you would not have heard utterances of ‘”Seasons Greetings”, no mentions of “holiday trees” or talk about celebrations of a “winter solstice”.
That gathering of the troops, complete with hymns and prayers, was undeniably Christian.
That is protection of religious freedom. Religious freedom is not Read more
An article at the Stars and Stripes, making a reference to the congressional testimony a couple of months ago, notes that “both sides agree” that there continues to be confusion over the US military’s policy on religious liberty. The article led with the story of US Army Chaplain (Capt) Joe Lawhorn — who was punished for mentioning his faith during a briefing and who was cited again recently in the Washington Times — as an example.
Nearly a year after the Department of Defense issued a heavily revised religious expression policy that advocates said would bring a new level of religious freedom, the dispute at Fort Benning, Ga., is evidence that the new wording hasn’t done away with old disputes. The fight Read more
In November, former Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt lost his Federal appeal (filed in 2011) of his discharge from the Navy, which had stemmed from his 2006 court-martial.
“I sued the domestic enemies of the Constitution in the DC Court of Claims to redeem my career [and] to redeem my pension after I was robbed by people who punished me for quoting the Bible in chapel,” he tells OneNewsNow. “[I was robbed] by people who punished me for praying in Jesus’ name in uniform outside of chapel.”
The ruling can be read here. Klingenschmitt has indicated he plans to appeal.
As a side note, Read more