Tag Archives: christmas

Atheist Soldiers Carry Anti-Christmas Message in Christmas Parade

16 December 2015 JD

A group of atheist US Army Soldiers from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, recently entered an anti-Christmas float in the Clarksville, TN, Christmas parade.

“We are people that enjoy the holidays just like everyone else, but we don’t subscribe to the religious dogma,” says MASH member Patrick Horst, an active duty soldier at Fort Campbell.

He said last year’s float was well received. “People are very tolerant, they understand that everyone is not Christian and we even picked up a few new members from having a float in the parade last year,” Horst said.

To their credit, the Soldiers tried to be clever rather than caustic. But by Read more

Government and Religion

US Air Force Band, Military Bases Show Christmas Spirit

8 December 2015 JD

Around the country and around the world, US military bases are helping troops celebrate the season of Christmas. (Many bases are also simultaneously celebrating Hanukkah, though the Jewish holiday is this week, preceding Christmas by a couple of weeks this year.) For the most part, it seems many bases aren’t shying away from calling them what they are, though a few are sticking to the more generic “holidays.”

In their annual flash mob (2014, 2013) shown in the video above, the US Air Force band took over Union Station to play Jingle Bells and Auld Lang Syne in a “World War II Holiday Flashback.” (The songs are probably benign enough this year to avoid Mikey “Ebenezer” Weinstein’s equally predictable annual complaint.)
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar gave Read more

Government and Religion

Military Times Covers Air Force Refuting Mikey Weinstein

9 February 2015 JD

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:

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

Government and Religion

Air Force “Reviews” Article after Mikey Weinstein Complains

2 February 2015 JD

Air Force Reserve Command is reviewing a public affairs news release after Michael “Mikey” Weinstein called it

a “shameless and incredibly prominent and public promotion” of religion…

The article is not unlike many that the Air Force produces highlighting the humanitarian or other off-duty activities of its Airmen. In this case, the story is about SMSgt Larry Gallo and his family, who dedicate their Christmas each year to providing “medical and spiritual aid” in other countries:

“Seven years ago my family and I started giving up our commercial Christmases to do something different, since then, we never looked back,” Gallo said. “These trips allow everyone to slow down and realize that some of the stress we put on ourselves is uncalled for once we put things in perspective.

“We have so much in the United States, and we are blessed as a nation. There is no guilt in being blessed. The guilt comes when we complain and grumble and take for granted the things we do have and not use those blessings to help others who are burdened.”

Government and Religion

Robins AFB Chaplains Protect Religious Freedom by Supporting It (Video)

5 January 2015 JD

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

Government and Religion

President Obama on the Message of Christmas

2 January 2015 JD

From President Obama’s weekly address, dated 25 December 2014:

Today, our family will join millions across the country in celebrating the birth of Jesus – the birth not just of a baby in a manger, but of a message that has changed the world: to reach out to the sick; the hungry; the troubled; and above all else, to love one another as we would be loved ourselves.

Luke 2:11: Read more

Government and Religion

Christmas Around the Military (Video)

26 December 2014 JD

US military leaders publicized their “holiday messages” in a series of videos just before Christmas. Outgoing Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and his wife made a point of saying “Merry Christmas,” as well as including a still photo from a homosexual proposal during a homecoming ceremony.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Marty Dempsey and his family sang “Jingle Bells” and wished everyone a “Merry Christmas.”

Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James and her Read more