Senator Carl Levin (D-Ma) and US Rep Adam Smith (D-Wa) have written a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel telling him to “issue further guidance” to state National Guard units who have been declining to process benefit applications for homosexuals.
As has been noted elsewhere, until such units are federalized, they operate under the power of the states — their commander in chief is Read more
As previously noted, the House resolution to allow military chaplains to serve their congregations — rather than ban them from chapels during the congressional impasse — was proposed by Rep Doug Collins (R-Ga). It was passed in a 400-1 vote. The lone opponent: Rep William Enyart (D-Il).
Rep Collins is a current Air Force Reserve chaplain with a rank of Major.
Rep Enyart is a retired Major General in the National Guard.
(Coincidentally, Gen Enyart was replaced as Adjutant General of the Illinois ANG by BG Daniel Krumrei — a chaplain.)
Explaining his lone dissenting vote, Rep Enyart said Read more
A variety of news sources noted that the decision to furlough government civilians in the Department of Defense has meant some chaplains couldn’t go to work either — and thus US military chapel services will not be held:
With the government shutdown, [“General Schedule”] and contract priests who are furloughed are not allowed to work, not even to volunteer, according to John Schlageter, general counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services. “During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to minister on base, and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so,” he said.
This is generally true for all people in equivalent government positions, not just chaplains. Interestingly, a Catholic spokesman noted that there are actually more civilian/contract Catholic chaplains in the US military than active duty ones: Read more
Congressman Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) published a lengthy and very strongly worded column that summed up what he called “Obama’s War on Religion in the Ranks.”
If Army chaplain Emil Kapaun served in Afghanistan today rather than Korea six decades ago, President Obama would probably give the Catholic priest discharge papers instead of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
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Ever since US Rep Jared Polis (D-Co) tried to specifically authorize atheist chaplains in the US military there has been one misrepresentation after another over what the government is “required” to do, or what atheist troops even want.
The most interesting argument is that Congress cannot require a Chaplain to be “religious” because of the Constitution’s prohibition on “no religious test” for public office. It’s a bit pedantic, but at least you can see the (attempted) logic of the argument. (Given the language and reasoning of George Washington’s creation of the military chaplaincy, and even Congress’s own centuries-old chaplaincy, it is unlikely that such semantic gymnastics were their intent.)
Another repeated but misrepresented claim has been that the Appropriations bill amendment sponsored by US Rep John Fleming (R-La) did “nothing” (according to atheist Jason Torpy) because the current regulations allow non-theistic chaplains, so long as their organization is endorsed by the IRS. A PhD writing a blog at the Huffington Read more
In a revealing outcry, many “non-religious” persons have criticized the vote by the US House to prevent non-religious personnel from becoming chaplains.
In that vein, atheist Jason Torpy has tried to promote the premise that the Defense Appropriations amendment proposed by US Rep John Fleming (R-La) didn’t actually do anything, demonstrating the “ignorance” of the Congressman.
“The [amendment] only requires adherence to the applicable instruction, which in no way restricts chaplains to only those who believe in some higher power,” he said. “Their amendment does nothing…It just shows their ignorance about atheists, humanists, and military regulations.”
Actually, Torpy’s statement demonstrates his ignorance. The clear language of the amendment indicates it wasn’t written to restrict chaplains to “those who believe in a higher power.” Torpy simply erected a straw man. What it was intended to do was prevent non-religious personnel from entering the religious field of the chaplaincy — and that it clearly does. The amendment simply requires the DoD to continue Read more
Archbishop for the Military Services, Rev. Timothy Broglio, announced his support of the recent coalition advocating for religious freedom in the US military:
The Archdiocese congratulates the Family Research Council and all the members of the Restore Military Religious Freedom Coalition on their announcement of the formation of the coalition. The Archdiocese looks forward to working closely as an ally as all seek to ensure the continued protection of the 1st Amendment Rights of Free Speech and the Free Exercise of Religion of the men and women of the United States Military. No one who raises a right hand to defend the Constitution should sacrifice one of its fundamental principles!
“Likewise, the Archdiocese applauds the work of Doctor Fleming and all those Members of Congress who continue to work so diligently to ensure the 1st Amendment Rights of Free Speech and Free Exercise of Religion of the men and women of the United States Military.”
This is particularly notable because the coalition Read more
On FoxNews (video), US Rep John Fleming (R-La) said the NDAA clause the House passed and the Senate cleared through the Armed Services committee says that:
…military members are fully entitled to express their faith, as long as it is within certain confines, which would be military readiness, good order and discipline, military necessity, and of course without any coercion to others, and for some reason, the [Obama] administration has been against that.
That’s what Michael Weinstein calls a “nasty amendment” that is a “license to kill?” On its face, it is a preeminent and explicit Read more