Tag Archives: family research council

Air Force May Change Religious Freedom Policy

Mikey Weinstein’s confused take on the Air Force’s policy:  It’s like an umbrella in a tsunami…

McClatchy asked the question no other media outlet has in the past few weeks: What ever became of the “offsite” Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said she was convening?

Late last month, James and Welsh convened a “Religious Freedom Focus Day” conference of senior chaplains and legal and manpower officials to discuss the policy. An Air Force spokeswoman, Rose Richeson, declined to make the results of the April 28 meeting public, saying it would be “too premature to provide an interview.”

It would seem, though, someone may have heard what occurred:

Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council…said that based on what he’d heard from people at the meeting he expected the Air Force to “make a policy change shortly.”

The article says Perkins’ statement “alarms supporters of the policy,” and cites exactly one person: Michael “Mikey” Weinstein.  The policy Read more

Boykin: Pray For Mikey Weinstein

In an interesting commentary during the Family Research Council’s Washington Watch, retired LtGen Jerry Boykin and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention spoke on recent issues of religious freedom in the military. Boykin reminded Christians there’s a correct response to Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, one of the loudest (and most vitriolic) critics of Christianity: Read more

“Offended” Cadets Need Correction before Commissioning

LtGen Michelle Johnson, Superintendent of the US Air Force Academy, gave some insight into her reaction to cadets who “protested” the removal of a Bible verse by posting verses and quotes of their own:

Since Monday, there’s been a wave of freedom, religious and otherwise, on the 2,000 whiteboards outside cadet dorm rooms.

In response to the online flap that developed over Monday’s posting and erasure, hundreds of cadets took up their pens and posted quotes from the Bible, Talmud, Qu’ran and non-religious sources.

“It seems 20-year-olds have a sense of humor,” Johnson said.

The academy has told cadets to use taste and caution in what they post. The goal, Johnson said, is to have a climate of respect.

Of course, there’s no evidence the first cadet to put up a verse violated standards of “taste and caution,” so its unclear if that will remain a consistent standard.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council praised the cadets who bravely exercised their faith and their freedom. (Notably, some cadets who joined the protest weren’t even religious — they just Read more

Air Force to Document, Explain USAFA Religious Policy

Since when is the standard of what’s constitutional based on what offends someone else?
– Tony Perkins, Family Research Council, addressing USAFA’s statement that a Bible verse was removed because it made someone feel “uncomfortable.”

Congressman Mike McIntyre (D-NC) asked Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James if she would provide an official explanation of the USAFA Bible verse incident:

Would you be willing to submit a detailed explanation within the next 10 days…of the event that occurred…, what the Air Force Academy policy is, and…how that policy was applied in this situation?

Secretary James agreed to do so. The Air Force has already said its policy is found in AFI 1-1, which says  Read more

Starnes: “Have Christians Lost the Culture War?”

FoxNews commentator Todd Starnes reports on a LifeWay survey that says 59% of Christians believe they are losing the “culture war.”

“Ten years ago we were talking about who would win the culture war and now we’re talking about how will Christian rights be protected after the culture war,” Ed Stetzer, the president of LifeWay Research told me…

Starnes lists examples of “religious persecution in the United States,” and he starts with the US military:  Read more

Update: Responses to DoD Changes on Religion Rules

Update: J.B. Wells wonders aloud if the DoD intentionally produced the policy to change the religious freedom focus to turbans and beards while keeping “liberal constituencies” like Michael Weinstein “at bay.”

There have been a wide variety of responses to the US military’s update to DODI 1300.17 (accommodating religious freedom), with language that seems to imply a more open attitude toward outward display and expression of religious belief.

The Christian Post, like many sites, focused on the apparent ability to wear religious accoutrements:

The Pentagon reportedly decided to change its policy on religious wear after Major Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, a Sikh, spoke at a Congressional briefing about the challenges American Sikhs face in the military earlier in January. Kalsi told members of Congress that he believes he can effectively serve his country while still maintaining his religious appearance, including an uncut beard and a turban.

While that may or may not have been a factor, the DoDI clearly includes language from both the 2013 and 2014 National Defense Authorization Acts — that is, requirements levied by Congress, not just reconsideration based on serving Soldiers.

The US Navy appeared to try to quell Read more

NDAA Religious Liberty Language “a Win”

Update: Retired Chaplain (Col) Ron Crews of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty was similarly “grateful” that President Obama signed this “improve[d] religious liberty provision” into law.

The Family Research Council released a statement regarding the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act which has passed the Senate and gone to President Obama for his signature. In short, the FRC was pleased to see a strengthening in specific liberty language.

Noting last year’s version of the language, the FRC said the [emphasis added]

DOD has refused to issue the implementing regulations required by that law…Moreover, military branches such as the Air Force have interpreted the law very narrowly to apply only to a service member’s ability to hold a belief, not to practice or express that belief.

That truncated view of religious liberty has Read more

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