Tag Archives: Chaplain

Admiral: A Storm is Coming for Religious Liberty in US Military

Update: Listen to Admiral Lee’s message to the 2013 National Day of Prayer.  Noted at Baptist Press and Fox News.

As has now been widely reported, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral William Lee spoke “from the heart” — rather than his prepared remarks — at the 2013 national observance of the National Day of Prayer:

He recounted a recent meeting with a 24-year-old soldier who had attempted suicide but survived…Lee said when he heard the man’s story, he knew the rules said he should send the man to a chaplain, but his heart said to give him a Bible.

“The lawyers tell me that if I do that, I’m crossing the line,” Lee said. “I’m so glad I’ve crossed that line so many times…”

Lee pledged not to back down from “my right under the Constitution to tell a young man that there is hope…”

“As one general so aptly put it – they expect us to check our religion in at the door – don’t bring that here,” Rear Admiral William Lee told a National Day of Prayer gathering. “Leaders like myself are feeling the constraints of rules and regulations and guidance issued by lawyers that put us in a tighter and tighter box regarding our constitutional right to express our religious faith.”

Funny that he’d mention lawyers.  Didn’t the Air Force’s highest ranking lawyer, the JAG of the Air Force LtGen Richard Harding, just Read more

Mikey Weinstein Losing PR Battle over Military Religious Freedom

Update: US Rep Steve Stockman (R-Tx) had this to say:

“Asking Mikey Weinstein to write policies on religious tolerance is like asking David Duke to plan an MLK celebration,” said Stockman.  “His bizarre conspiracy theories and strident bigotry have no place in a sensible country.”

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, of his self-founded “charity,” the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, struck a desperate tone recently as he tried to fend off the blowback from his ego-stroking announcement that he’d had a private meeting with senior military leaders about “religious issues.”

More than any recent event, his own boasting has caused people to take notice of his trail of vitriolic op-eds pronouncing Christians “monsters” or saying US military Christians are trying to institute what he calls “Plan B” — an American holocaust.

In other words, Weinstein’s “over the top” attacks on religious freedom are backfiring, and he’s back on his heels.

He and a few of his staff took to the internet to push back, claiming Read more

Reports: US Air Force Consults Michael Weinstein on Religious Policy

According to his own statements reported at a Washington Post blog, Michael Weinstein (of his self-founded Military Religious Freedom Foundation) met at the

Pentagon on April 23 where they discuss[ed] religious issues in a group that included several generals and a military chaplain.

The blog was written by Sally Quinn, who has been friendly to Weinstein’s cause in the past.  Weinstein seems inimitably pleased at the invitation, as likely any private citizen in America might be if US Air Force leadership had a personal meeting with them on “religious issues in the military.”  It’s unclear what grants Weinstein that legitimacy, beyond a spate of failed lawsuits and a series of self-published op-eds that would put even the most advanced thesaurus to shame (save the one he apparently plagiarized).

It would seem at least one senior leader was there, as the article claims one attendee was LtGen Richard Harding — The Judge Advocate General of the Air Force, who is the senior legal advisor to the Chief of Staff, General Mark Welsh:  Read more

Southern Baptist Website Blocked on Military Computers

Update: The DoD says the SBC website was blocked because malware was detected, but that connection from military servers would be restored “today.” The Southern Baptist Convention weighed in, with a caution not to rush to judgment.  Also at the Air Force Times, Christian Post, and Baptist Press.

FoxNews reports that the Southern Baptist Convention website was blocked on military servers — and the military confirmed it:

The Dept. of Defense confirmed to Fox News late Wednesday that the SBC website had been blocked — but not intentionally.

“The Department of Defense is not intentionally blocking access to this site, said Lt. Col. Damien Pickart. “We are working diligently to investigate what might be causing access issues for some of our service members and to correct the situation as quickly as possible.”

Part of the reason the situation requires “correction” is that certain servicemembers need access to the site as part of their function: namely, the many SBC chaplains in the military:

“It’s a concern for the Dept. of Defense to block the website of one of the major evangelical denominations in the country,” Crews told Fox News. “The Southern Baptist Convention has the largest number of chaplains in the military representing Southern Baptist soldiers and churches. Those chaplains need access to their denomination’s website.”

As noted the last time the issue of military internet access came up, it’s not as simple as “the government is censoring/blocking/etc” or being hostile toward Read more

The Military as a Mission Field

A US Army article from Afghanistan covers the “Teach-Love-Care” aspect of the military chaplaincy.  Several chaplains are quoted discussing unique and interesting aspects of the chaplain field:

On exposure to varying religious beliefs in the military:

“As a civilian minister, I was very church oriented, always surrounded by Christians. There wasn’t much chance to go out and meet people of other beliefs,” said U.S. Army chaplain Capt. Soojin Chang, a Southern Baptist chaplain…”But in the Army, I don’t have to go out and search for these people. They come to me and we discuss about our belief. There is a mutual respect with each other.”

On troops openness to faith:  Read more

Army Highlights Korean War Chaplains

As US Army Chaplain (Capt) Emil Kapaun posthumously receives the Medal of Honor for his service during the Korean War, the US Army took the opportunity to highlight the story of the entire chaplaincy during the era of the Korean War, including Chaplain Felhoelter, the first US Army chaplain killed in the conflict:

Other chaplains…narrowly escap[ed] as one American position after another fell before the North Korean advance. All survived, with the exception of Chaplain Herman G. Felhoelter of the 19th Infantry Regiment.

With his battalion falling back as the American position along the Kum River collapsed, Felhoelter volunteered to remain behind Read more

The Story of Chaplain Kapaun, Medal of Honor Recipient

The DoD has published a lengthy, two-part (1, 2) story on Chaplain Emil Kapaun, who will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor tomorrow.  The articles contain many details of his private and military life, as well as many photographs.

Read Part 1 and Part 2.

Update: The well-covered story by the Associated Press.  In addition, an Army.mil article notes a memorial in Kaiserslautern, Germany, where military facilities are named in honor of Kapaun, including a Kapaun Chapel that still hosts services.

In 1955, four years after his death, the Army named Kapaun Barracks — now Kapaun Administration Annex in Kaiserslautern, Germany — after him.

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Military Chaplains Reach Out

A local article highlights US Army Chaplain (Maj) Douglas Ball and Chap (Capt) Rodney Gilliam, who visited an off-site training location to meet Soldiers’ spiritual needs:

The chaplains wanted to show Soldiers they care about them and are there if they need to talk, Ball said.

“For many of them, I provide a different avenue,” he said. “One of the advantages of the chaplains is our confidentiality…

The quoted troops responded positively:  Read more

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