Tag Archives: conspiracy

The Ground Zero Mosque and the Pentagon Chapel

In response to the controversy over the “Ground Zero Mosque” in New York City, a spate of articles has taken to highlighting the “non-controversy” over Islamic prayers occurring in the Pentagon Chapel, just feet from the impact point of one of the other airliners hijacked in 2001:

The Pentagon chapel is part of a memorial to the 184 people killed in 2001 when hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the west side of the Pentagon and plowed through three of the building’s five office rings.

As part of its massive renovation, the Pentagon opened the nondenominational chapel in November 2002. The chapel hosts a daily prayer group and weekly worship service for Muslims, and provides similar services for Jews, Hindus, Mormons, Protestants, Catholics and Episcopalians.  Read more

Soldiers Claim Retribution over Christian Concert

According to the Army Times, the US Army is investigating claims that Soldiers were punished when they declined to attend a concert by a Christian music group in May. 

The Army said Friday it was investigating a claim that dozens of soldiers who refused to attend a Christian band’s concert at a Virginia military base were banished to their barracks and told to clean them up.

Interestingly, the punishment was reportedly telling the Soldiers to go back to their barracks.

As others have noted elsewhere, this “scandal” may be a result of  Read more

“Freedom” Group Seeks Ban on Religious Exercise in the US Military

Despite running a self-founded “religious freedom” organization, Michael Weinstein is apparently calling for the US military to restrict religious free exercise within its ranks.  His reason?  The Constitutionally-protected liberty offends al Qaeda.

Unlike most mainstream organizations, Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation still revels in publicizing his organization’s communications, wearing both the hate mail and the kudos as badges of honor.  (They even republish comments from their website, because apparently being posted once isn’t good enough…)  Recently, MRFF board member Richard Baker responded to a contact with a lengthy message in which he included many standard MRFF talking points, like this one: Read more

Colorado Post Hosts Native American “Chapel”

In the wake of the article highlighting the Christian perspective on a neo-pagan congregation site at the Air Force Academy, a local military paper notes the presence of a Native American sweat lodge on Turkey Creek Ranch, an MWR facility of Fort Carson.  (Fort Carson was recently threatened over the cross on its hospital patch.)

Here, Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, their families and supporters come to pray in a traditional Native American purification ceremony.

The religious site has been at the military facility since the 1990s:

The Turkey Creek Ranch sweat lodge was started in 1994 by two Native American military members who wanted a traditional place to pray. Fort Carson Army Installation gave them a permanent spot inside its Turkey Creek Ranch…

Though the military is sometimes accused of trying to Read more

Weinstein Conspiracy Theories Get More “Creative”

Michael Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation may have finally proven his reliance on conspiracy theories to advance his cause.  He recently gave an interview to American Muslims Today, broadcasting in Nebraska, which headlined the interview thusly:

Who would Jesus bust a cap on?
In this part of the series we discuss The New Crusade. We explore how the fundamentalist Christians have fully infiltrated and some say taken over the US military.

(Apparently the impending repeal of DADT is actually an elaborate diversion by fundamentalist Christians in the military…)

In the interview, Weinstein says he can “basically trace the start Read more

Religion and the Military in Pictures: Free Exercise

The third installment of pictures documenting religion and its place in the US military begins with photographs of free exercise.  The first set includes photographs of the US military’s efforts to support expressions of the Jewish faith.

These pictures continue to demonstrate that the US military goes out of its way to support the free exercise of its troops, even when that free exercise might raise eyebrows among conspiracy theorists when it is associated with the US government or the US military.  Celebrations of holy days, the wearing of religious artifacts in uniform, religious celebrations while armed and in uniform, even something as simple as a bar mitzvah in Iraq are shown among the photographs.

Men and women of faith can be in – and express their faith within — the US military.  These pictures and those to come – all of which are publicly available – show that faith has a fitting and integral role in many lives in the military.

These photo galleries are now part of the Resources page of ChristianFighterPilot.com.

Christian Officer Killed in Combat, Mourned by Hindu Peer

On 13 July 2010 US Army 1LT Chris Goeke was killed in combat in Afghanistan.  He was one of three Soldiers to die in that firefight and his loss, like theirs, has been mourned across the continents.

The legacy of Goeke lives on, however.  He was known not only as a good Soldier, but also as a good Christian.  This was told in the first person by his friend, Rajiv Srinivasan, a Hindu, at a blog at the New York Times: 

Chris discovered his personal relationship with God and served as one of his finest Christian servants…  Read more

Buddhist Chaplain Leads Holy Day in Iraq

US Army Chaplain (1LT) Thomas Dyer — the Baptist-Pastor-turned-Buddhist-Priest who became the US Army’s first Buddhist Chaplain — led 200 people in a celebration of the holiest day of the Buddhist calendar while deployed to Iraq in May.

US military members from across Iraq were invited to the celebration and were allowed to travel to the base specifically for the observance.

The official effort the US military puts into allowing — even encouraging — its members to participate in the religious services of their choosing is significant.  Military members can take comfort in knowing that their leadership has their spiritual resiliency in mind and will, to the extent the mission allows, protect their free exercise.

Still, all is not without controversy. Read more

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