Tag Archives: jason torpy

US Air Force Cockpit Atheist Speaks on Christian Troops

A 2011 graduate of the US Air Force Academy is apparently making his mark as a “cockpit atheist” US Air Force officer (and, presumably, an eventual Air Force pilot).

The cockpit atheist is a “militant” atheist, in his own words, and apparently has a famous umbrella.

As noted previously, some people seem to think the Air Force, or the US military, is overrun by Christians.  A few think military officers aren’t allowed to speak out about their religious beliefs.

It seems the cockpit atheist undermines the former point and disagrees with the latter.  The Lieutenant has taken not only to the internet with his religious beliefs and his status as an Air Force officer, but also to a small variety of atheist events from Rock Read more

Atheist Supports Restricting Military Religious Freedom

Update: Former Marine pilot Tom Carpenter of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — a liberal activist group — largely repeated the list below a few weeks later, though he did so without attribution.

Jason Torpy, the one-man band that is the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, recently posted a point-by-point refutation of recent accusations of the US military being hostile to Christianity.

Much of his disagreement was nuance or the way in which something was phrased, which isn’t worth discussing here.  The interesting ones, though, were the cases in which he agreed with the US military’s “anti-Christian” actions:

January 2010 — Department of Defense orders removal of tiny Bible references on military scopes and gunsights.
Torpy: True and appropriate.

This issue has been discussed before.  While there is no religious requirement the references remain, the fact they were targeted because of their (obscure) religious reference — only after Michael Weinstein complained, notably — is troubling.  That he would seek this Read more

Chuck Norris, Religious Liberty, and Michael Weinstein

Chuck Norris recently cited “36 examples of religious liberty assault” (in Part 1 and Part 2) to defend an assertion that religious liberty is under attack in America.  About a third of his examples involved the US military, all of which have been discussed here before (amplifying remarks follow):

  • Culture and courts are also trumping citizens’ First Amendment rights who are refusing on religious grounds not to support or participate with groups and events that run contrary to their faith and practice. As a result, wedding cake bakers, T-shirt makers, bed and breakfast owners, pastry shops, high-school teachers, military chaplains, restaurant owners, photographers, parents, churches and others have been harassed, bullied, suspended, fired and sued for merely exercising their Christian beliefs. [As described by CARL.]
  • A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a cross displayed as part of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, Read more

Another Military Memorial Targeted for its Cross

A Vietnam Veteran’s memorial erected in 1972 in Coos Bay, Oregon, is the focus of a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.  The FFRF is demanding the town remove the memorial because it has a cross.

The [FFRF] sent Coos Bay City Manager Rodger Craddock a letter saying the memorial itself isn’t the problem, it’s the cross resting on top.

They say it’s an “endorsement of Christianity over other religions and over nonreligion,” and must be removed “immediately”.

The presence of a cross on a public display does not “make [a] law regarding an establishment of religion.”  But these asinine attacks will continue, and in some cases Read more

US Navy Ship Raises Christian Flag, Atheist Has Conniption

Two days ago, the USS Arlington posted a photo of two Seamen raising a church pennant above the American flag on its Facebook page:

Quartermasters Seaman Rashaun Plowden and 2nd Class Mary Carlton raise a church pennant above the American flag during worship services aboard USS Arlington (LPD 24) on Jan. 13, 2013.

An atheist (who is not in the military) took umbrage, unaware of his self-contradicting outrage.  First [ellipses original]:  Read more

Homosexual Websites Claim Military Censorship

A few homosexual advocacy websites have used their military members’ access to DoD networks to claim the US military is censoring websites identified as “LGBT.”

It’s bad enough the United States Department of Defense censors Towleroad and AMERICAblog – banning the gay civil rights Web sites from being accessed on DOD computers – and it’s even worse that the Pentagon has no problem permitting their computers to access Ann Coulter’s and Rush Limbaugh’s hate-filled Web sites…

While claiming persecution is all the rage, this is actually really old news.  The ACLU has been going after libraries and public schools for years for using the same web filtering software — BlueCoat and its categories — the DoD uses.  So much ire has been aimed at BlueCoat it has revised the wording of its filter and made a point of publishing its ‘neutral stance’ on the topic.  It only provides a service; its customers choose how to employ it.

Also, as noted before (when an Air Force Sergeant tried to get ChristianFighterPilot.com blocked from military servers as “hate speech”), it is difficult to Read more

Update 2: Atheist Ends Military Nativity in Bahrain

Update: A letter to the editor of the Stars and Stripes questions Torpy’s “odd idea of religious freedom.”

Former Army Captain and current atheist Jason Torpy was working overtime doing damage control over the past week, as various outlets picked up the story of his complaint over the “live nativity” occurring during NSA Bahrain’s annual “Holiday Tree Lighting.”  His comments appeared on a variety of sites covering the controversy; in each case, he basically said he didn’t demand NSA Bahrain cancel it — he just called it “unconstitutional” and a danger to US troops — that’s all.  Of course, he did say that cancelling it was “preferable to” letting it happen:

If the scene had to be cancelled, that is unfortunate but it is also preferable to the government-sponsored proselytism [*See note, below] the Live Nativity would have added to an otherwise positive celebration.

FoxNews accurately reported that Torpy’s complaint to the Inspector General led to the cancellation of the event to occur during Read more

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