Multiple reports now cover the manual for Department of Defense Equal Opportunity officers governing training at Patrick Air Force Base — and the implications it has racist content.
“Whites are the empowered group,” states the manual. “White males represent the haves as compared to the have-nots.”
FoxNews obtained the manual from an officer disturbed by its content, as it guides all EO throughout the military: Read more
An Air Force article highlights the opening of the first US Air Force Chapel on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.
The location chosen for the most recent worship space was specific:
The non-denominational Christian worship service’s unique characteristic is its location inside the entry control point where it can reach airmen who otherwise may not be able to attend a worship service.
“The other chapels on base do an outstanding Read more
The Liberty Institute, the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, and the Family Research Council — all members of the Restore Military Religious Freedom Coalition — successfully waged a campaign to have the US Army order an end to briefings which labeled mainstream Christian groups “extremist.”
As reported by Todd Starnes at FoxNews:
“On several occasions over the past few months, media accounts have highlighted instances of Army instructors supplementing programs of instruction and including information or material that is inaccurate, objectionable and otherwise inconsistent with current Army policy,” Army Sec. John McHugh wrote to military leaders in a memorandum I obtained.
McHugh “directed that Army leaders cease all briefings, command presentations or training on the subject of extremist organizations or activities until that program of instruction and training has been created and disseminated,” Army spokesman Col. David Patterson, Jr., tells me.
Multiple briefings were presented as evidence of a widespread Read more
In an anticlimatic but optimistically predicted result, LtGen Michelle Johnson declared that the “so help me God” portion of the USAFA Cadet Honor Oath is optional:
“Here at the Academy, we work to build a culture of dignity and respect, and that respect includes the ability of our cadets, Airmen and civilian Airmen to freely practice and exercise their religious preference – or not.” said Lt. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson, Academy Superintendent. “So, in the spirit of respect, cadets may or may not choose to finish the Honor Oath with ‘So help me God.'”
The current USAFA Athletic Director, Dr. Hans Mueh (BGen, Ret), was part of the faculty that decided on “so help me God” in 1984, when it was created in response to a cheating scandal:
“To add more seriousness to the oath, we decided to mirror the commissioning oath and add the words, ‘so help me, God,'” Dr. Mueh said.
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, the “religious freedom” advocate who Read more
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, repeated in the Stars and Stripes, documents a recent local Honor Flight that had just returned from helping World War II vets see the World War II memorial in Washington, DC. The article highlights Phil Crenshaw, a World War II chaplain’s assistant:
At 91, Crenshaw is the last living chaplain’s assistant from World War II, as determined by Army Sgt. Maj. Stephen Stott. Crenshaw recently served as chaplain on last week’s South Plains Honor Flight.
Crenshaw was called to active duty in 1943. He shipped out to Okinawa to assist Louis Wunneburger, the chaplain there.
The article makes a reference to an earlier Avalanche-Journal article in which Crenshaw recalled a surprise shipment the chaplain received:
One day, a merchant vessel unexpectedly delivered several boxes to Wunneberger. No one knew where they came from or who sent them.
They contained 1,000 New Testaments — all printed in Japanese. Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, outspoken critic of Christians in the US military, once bragged he’d called the Pentagon and had a poster pulled off the wall of an Air Force base chow hall in less than an hour. Last week, he tried again, and he did it in 68 minutes.
Pam Zubeck, a “journalist” with the Colorado Springs Independent — local to the US Air Force Academy — has long been an ally of Weinstein in his crusade against the Academy. Last week, she helped his cause when USAFA sent the CSIndy some photos of the USAFA Prep School, one of which was a photo of a poster hanging on a wall. The picture of the F-100F on static display in front of the Prep School contained the following quote [emphasis added]:
We will not lie, steal [or cheat,]* nor tolerate among us anyone who does. Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and to live honorably, so help me God.
USAFA Photo
Zubeck was clearly concerned about Read more
Over at the Journal of Faith and War, one of the most read articles is “The Religious Rights of Those in Uniform,” written by Robert “Skip” Ash, a 22-year Army veteran and Jay Sekulow of the ACLJ.
The lengthy but thorough essay gives an excellent discussion on the issues of religious liberty, the law, the Constitution, and military policy.
There are growing numbers of persons and advocacy groups in the United States actively seeking to remove from public life — including in the armed services — virtually all symbols and expression of religion and America’s religious heritage by advocating strict separation of church and state. Many of these groups are already actively engaged in filing lawsuits against DOD and its leaders over various concerns about religious expression in the armed services… Read more
For the second time in just a few months, a military Equal Opportunity briefing has denigrated Christian beliefs as incompatible with the military. This time, the EO brief declared a Christian group to be a “hate” group — which means military members are forbidden from participating in it. Which group was it?
The American Family Association.
Several dozen U.S. Army active duty and reserve troops were told last week that the American Family Association, a well-respected Christian ministry, should be classified as a domestic hate group because the group advocates for traditional family values.
The briefing was held at Read more