Tag Archives: Government

Mount Soledad Cross Case at Appeals Court

The decades-long battle to remove the Mount Soledad cross from the hills of San Diego is once again at the appeals court.  In various formats, lawsuits have challenged the Mount Soledad cross for years.  In this most recent iteration, the US District court in July 2008 ruled in favor of those who support the cross remaining at its current location.

The basic complaint is that the cross is an inherently religious symbol, and by sustaining it on public land, the US government violates the Constitutional prohibition against “establishing” a religion.

The ACLU, which is representing the plaintiffs, has had to defend itself against accusations that it wants to remove crosses (and any memorials with them) from all public lands–including military cemeteries.  An attorney for the American Legion, Read more

White House Staff Swaps F-22 for F-15

In an interesting “behind the scenes” look at a Presidential speech, The Cable, a blog of Foreign Policy magazine, says that White House staffers asked an Air Force squadron to remove its F-22 from President Obama’s speech location and replace it with an F-15.  The story was corroborated by an Elmendorf AFB public affairs officer.

The blog reports that some of the local troops who fly and maintain the Raptor “took offense” and were bewildered that the White House wouldn’t want to showcase the Air Force’s premier front line fighter.

It is highly unlikely that Obama personally had anything to do with the decision.  Such political “staging” matters are frequently made at levels well below the Oval Office (as noted by the article saying aides made the request).  As the Foreign Policy article shows, though, sometimes the decision to use what might seem like an innocuous stage piece (in this case, two Air Force fighter aircraft) may have a significant backstory.

Academy Hosts ‘Religious Warrior Weekend’

The US Military Academy at West Point recently hosted civilian college students and fellow military academy cadets at its annual religious Warrior Weekend at the cadet chapel.  Designed to give the civilians a sense of their religious military heritage, it also gave the military cadets the opportunity to “immerse” themselves in their culture.

The event, described below, is an admirable effort by cadets and officers to do two important things: convey to civilians that their faith is not inconsistent with military service; and remind military cadets of the depth of Read more

A Day which Will Live in Infamy

December 7, 2009, marks 68 years since the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that propelled the United States into what was already the second World War.  While Remembrance Day is an annual event (see the Presidential declaration), memories of Pearl Harbor have been more vivid since what some have implied was the 21st Century Pearl Harbor: the terrorist attack on the US on 11 September 2001.

Many recognize the opening line and a choice phrase or two, but Read more

NASA Broadcasts MercyMe, Newsboys

Ever since Madalyn Murray O’Hair of the American Atheists sued NASA in 1969, the relationship between the space agency and all things religious has been interesting.  Even forty years later, as noted here, American Atheists complained about NASA allowing Astronaut Patrick Forrester to carry a piece of Nate Saint’s airplane with him into space.

Still, NASA hasn’t shied away from all things religious.  A previous article noted that God of Wonders has been one of the more popular “wake-up songs” broadcast to the shuttle crew in space.  (Each crewman’s family can pick a song as the wake-up call for the start of each day.)  The most recent trip (STS-129) just ended, with space shuttle Atlantis returning to Earth just after Thanksgiving.  During the mission, the shuttle heard MercyMe’s I Can Only Imagine, the Newsboys’ In Wonder, and Bob Carlisle’s Butterfly Kisses, among several other songs for the crew.  Read more

Sikhs Celebrate at White House

The White House blog details the Sikh celebration of the “540th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji” that took place on November 13th.  President Obama did not attend (he was on the first leg of his Asia trip), and it does not appear he made a statement on the celebration.

The White House notes that this is the first Sikh celebration to occur in the White House.  It is not, however, the first time this event has been recognized Read more

Weinstein and the Court Martial of Maj Nidal Hasan

Michael Weinstein and his Military Religious Freedom Foundation have been repeatedly called out over the past few weeks for displaying an odious double standard:  Weinstein has demanded various military Christians be court-martialed, accusing them of using their positions of power to proselytize and coercing subordinates based on their religion.  He has failed to make any similar call against accused Fort Hood gunman Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, even though Hasan has been accused of doing exactly the same things.

However, Michael Weinstein has finally asked, “Should Hasan be court-martialed?”  Oddly, he never answers his own question.

To his credit, Weinstein does make a (qualified) statement that Hasan should have been court-martialed.  That would be the most serious, if parsed, statement Weinstein has made against a person not of the Christian faith in the military.  However, Read more

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