Tag Archives: Church and State

Update: No Flyby for Christian Patriotic Event

FoxNews has now picked up the story, previously noted, of the Air Force’s decision not to provide a fly-by of the “God and Country Festival” in Nampa, Idaho.  A “defense department official” repeated that the reason for the refusal was that it would have provided a “selective benefit.” Of note:

The Air Force was in charge of the decision-making process, meaning neither the secretary of defense nor President Obama weighed in directly, the official said.

Capt. Tom Wenz from Air Force public affairs told FOX News that past participation was due to the fact that the event was described only as a “patriotic tribute,” and the Air Force wasn’t aware until now of the apparent focus on Christianity, despite the festival’s name.

Air Force Nixes Flyby at Patriotic Christian Event

According to local news reports, the Air Force denied the request of the “God and Country Festival” in Nampa, Idaho, for an aircraft flyby during their July 2 celebration.  Reportedly, the festival has had a flyby for the past 42 years, and was surprised by the Air Force’s decision to deny the request this year because of the festival’s religious content.

After receiving an email denying the request, the organizer reportedly called the Pentagon: 

“I called him immediately and said we’ve been doing this for 42 years, we’ve had flyovers, what is the problem? He said, we have looked up your website and everything on your website seemed to focus on Christianity Read more

Kids Provide Bibles for US Troops

As noted at the ChristianPost, Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse Jr. magazine has teamed with the American Bible Society to help kids provide American servicemen and women with Bibles.  Called “Truth for Troops,” the effort encourages parents to help their children earn money and take a vested interest in providing Bibles for US troops, as well as send them cards and pray for them.

“It is good for Daddy to have a Bible to read in Iraq so he can have a friend there,” said 3-year-old Violet, daughter of a U.S. Army chaplain in Iraq, according to ABC. “It will make him happy and help him not to be alone. The Bible tells him that God is with him.”

The effort is scheduled to run through August 31st.

al Jazeera Revisits US Military and Christianity

Near the end of June, al Jazeera aired a program called “Fault Lines” that again brought up the issue of religion in the US military (see prior discussion).  The episode was hosted by Josh Rushing, a former US Marine turned al Jazeera reporter.

The “Fault Lines” program can be viewed as Part I and Part II. The program begins with a pan out from a US church with Rushing saying

Many on the Christian right describe the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, well, in similar terms as the Taliban and al Qaeda: as spiritual wars of the highest magnitude.

The prejudicial statement, which describes a minority view as if it was a commonly accepted American perspective, Read more

Rick Warren to Address Muslim Group

Pastor Rick Warren is being criticized for his decision to speak at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) over the fourth of July weekend.  The ISNA was an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a terror trial in 2007.  The trial ultimately resulted in the conviction of the Holy Land Foundation and its leaders for funneling funds to Hamas.

The convention is expected to draw 30,000 people, and is apparently still holding out hope that President Obama will make an appearance.  ISNA leader Sayyid Syeed participated in Warren’s Saddleback Civil Forum on Public Health last December.

There have been reports that the ISNA has replaced CAIR, another unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial, as the FBI’s primary contact with the Islamic community.

The ISNA remains one of the few Islamic endorsing agencies for US military Chaplains.

“Obama’s Church” and its Military Chaplain

A near firestorm was raised on Monday when Time‘s Amy Sullivan reported (and a variety of sources repeated) that the Obama family had decided that Camp David’s Evergreen Chapel would be its “home church.”  The White House staff contradicted the Time article, saying that the Obamas are still looking for a “church home.”  The Time contributor is “standing by” her story, saying that the fact that the Obamas are intending to attend the Chapel while at Camp David justifies her report.

More interesting, however, was the intense scrutiny given to the Chaplain currently associated with Camp David. Read more

Liberty Counsel Files Complaint with Navy

According to their press release, the Liberty Counsel has asked the US Navy to reverse a decision in which “religious speech” had to be removed from a “Navy for Moms” website.  In addition, according to the Liberty Counsel,

Navy for Moms community guidelines were also recently revised to prohibit the posting of religious discussions except for prayers offered for sailors.

These kinds of restrictions on private speakers using a government-sponsored forum are not required in order to avoid a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Read more

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