Tag Archives: Islam

Air Force Paper on the Passive Terrorism of Hijabs

Writing at The Intercept, Murtaza Hussain took issue with a “US military white paper [describing] wearing hijab as ‘passive terrorism’.”

A policy paper issued by the Air Force Research Laboratory, titled Countering Violent Extremism: Scientific Methods & Strategies, includes a chapter setting forth controversial and unsubstantiated theories of radicalization, including the idea that support for militant groups is driven by “sexual deprivation” and that headscarves worn by Muslim women represent a form of “passive terrorism.”

In the interest of accuracy, it is worth noting the publication was not an Air Force policy paper, and it included the disclaimer that the views were expressly only the authors’.

It is also not unusual for the US military to publish academic Read more

Mikey Weinstein Demands Air Force Remove Chaplain Video. Because Jesus.

mikeywilliamsLast month, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein claimed he had made an “important achievement” in “rebuilding the shattered wall separating church and state!” because, according to him, the Commanding Officer of the Air Force Recruiting Service promised to remove a chaplain recruiting video Weinstein found “inappropriate.” According to Weinstein, MajGen Garrett Harencak

responded within a few hours that all Chaplain [sic] videos are being removed pursuant to an overhaul of ‘AirForce.com’ and that he would see to it that the removal of this particular video is accelerated.

A month later, not only is the video still up at AirForce.com — but, in unusually blunt words, the Air Force is actually defending it [emphasis added]:

Air Force Headquarters at the Pentagon told Military.com it does not see a problem with [the video]…

“Chaplains being available to airmen for spiritual support, and sharing these experiences in their official capacity, does not violate the establishment clause or Air Force regulations.”

There are three important issues here:  Read more

Attempted Terrorist Attack in Kansas Goes Little Noticed

In April 2015, John Booker attempted to detonate what he believed was a 1,000 pound bomb outside the fence of Fort Riley, Kansas. It turns out the fake bomb had been coordinated with the FBI:

Booker acknowledged in court that he told one of the FBI informants that he wanted to kill Americans and engage in violent jihad on behalf of the Islamic State group. His plea agreement said he made a video in April 2015 telling Americans “today we will bring the Islamic State straight to your doorstep.”

In court, Redmond once referred to Booker as Muhammad. Booker had an alias, Muhammad Abdullah Hassan.

It turns out Booker actually enlisted in the US Army in 2014, but his enlistment was Read more

I am a Christian First: Ted Cruz and Christian Priorities

AP PhotoWhen GOP Presidential candidate Ben Carson rose in the polls a couple of months ago, a buzz started — mostly among activists and agitators — about the religious statements made by his now-chief of staff, retired Gen Bob Dees. (Dees had long been on Carson’s staff, but Carson’s rise brought sudden attention to otherwise old information.)

Now that Ted Cruz has risen to be Donald Trump’s primary challenger, critics of faith and liberty have shifted the “religious analysis” to him.

At the liberal-leftist Daily Kos, Ian Reifowitz called on his readers to imagine if a Jew or Muslim had said what Cruz had. Citing Politico, Reifowitz quoted Cruz:

“I’m a Christian first, American second, conservative third and Republican fourth…I’ll tell ya, there are a whole lot of people in this country that feel exactly the same way.”

Reifowitz assessed:

Could you imagine, for example, a Jewish candidate for president saying that he or she was a Jew first and an American second? Now imagine the sheer outrage if a Muslim American of any prominence whatsoever declared that he or she was Muslim first and American second. People’s heads would explode.

Reifowitz’s argument was almost immediately Read more

Critics Try to Out Retired Gen Bob Dees, Carson Campaign Chairman

Over the past months, a few critics have tried to draw attention to one particular person on the staff of Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson.

Originally his foreign policy advisor, Carson’s new campaign chairman is Bob Dees, a retired US Army Major General and former executive director of Campus Crusade for Christ (now “Cru“) which had a substantial ministry to the US armed forces called Military Ministry (now “CruMilitary“).

As early as November 10th of last year, James Bamford at Foreign Policy described Dees as

a retired general who believes Muslims pose a threat to the U.S., the military should spread Christianity, and Carson should be president.

But the statements that Bamford apparently found ‘disturbing’ were fairly benign:  Read more

Military Chaplains Might No Longer “Conquer”

The Australian Daily Telegraph reports that the Australian Army is considering redesigning a military chaplaincy badge that says “In this sign, conquer.”

In a somewhat inflammatory reporting style [emphasis added]:

The Australian Army is removing the motto “In this sign conquer” from the 102-year-old hat badges of army chaplains because it is offensive to Muslims.

The move comes after an imam approved by the Grand Mufti was appointed to join the Religious Advisory Committee to the Services in June.

Australian Army chaplains have had the motto on their hat badges since 1913.

A Defence spokeswoman last Read more

US Military Faithful: ‘Not the Country They Swore to Defend’

The Washington Post covered the stories of some current and former US military members who are Muslim, and who are “disturbed by the rising anti-Muslim sentiment” in the United States [emphasis added]:

Many American Muslims say they are living through a difficult time in this country. For the Muslims who are former and current service members, the prejudice and anti-Muslim rhetoric is particularly painful. Those interviewed for this story said that hateful comments have driven a wedge between them and the country they swore to defend.

Commenters were quick to point out that one could just as easily say anti-Christian sentiment within society and the US military has made America a “different US than the one they swore to defend.” In fact, so many brought up this diverging culture in 2011 — regarding the acceptance of open homosexuality within Read more

Cruz: All is Not Well in US Military

While many have claimed that the US military has been wholly unaffected by the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Senator and Presidential candidate Ted Cruz seems to have a different opinion:

Morale in the U.S. military has “plummeted” in recent years because President Barack Obama “doesn’t support our soldiers,” won’t even name the enemy “radical Islamic terrorism,” and is “more interested in promoting homosexuality in the military” than Read more

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