Tag Archives: Jewish

Congress Includes Military Religious Diversity in 2016 NDAA

Last year’s National Defense Authorization Act (2015 NDAA) was notable for what it omitted: It was the first NDAA in several years not to include specific language on the religious liberty of US troops or military chaplains. The 2016 NDAA returns religious language to the NDAA in a unique way [emphasis added]:

SEC. 524. SENSE OF CONGRESS RECOGNIZING THE DIVERSITY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

(1) The United States military includes individuals with a variety of national, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds that have roots all over the world.

(2) In addition to diverse backgrounds, members of the Armed Forces come from numerous religious traditions, including Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, non-denominational, nonpracticing, and many more.

(3) Members of the Armed Forces from diverse backgrounds and religious traditions have Read more

Army: Chaplain Violated Rules in Promoting Book

Update:  The US Army has responded by explicitly stating that Chaplain McDougall’s infraction was an “oversight” that was easily corrected.  This appears to be (yet another) a direct rebuttal to Mikey Weinstein’s call for court-martial.  Via TheBlaze:

Amy spokesman LTC Ben Garrett sent TheBlaze the following response on Monday afternoon:

“U.S. Army Chaplain Capt. John McDougall has been made aware of military regulations that prohibit him from wearing a military uniform while promoting his book.  His publishing company promptly removed the video from their website last week when the U.S. Army brought the oversight to their attention.  A simple ‘on the spot correction’ and an explanation of the regulations was all that was need[ed] to resolve the issue and keep it from happening in the future. We are pleased with their compliance and understanding of Army regulations and requirements.”

Original story follows:

The US Army says Chaplain John McDougall violated regulations when he appeared in a video, in uniform, promoting his recently published book, Jesus was an Airborne Ranger.  From the appropriately named Army spokeswoman, Tatjana Christian:

McDougall’s appearance in uniform endorsing a commercial or political venture violates military rules, said Tatjana Christian, an Army spokeswoman.

After they were contacted about the video by USA TODAY, the Army reached out to McDougall’s commanders to inform them about the rule, Christian said.

His comments were not part of his official duty, she said.

“Chaplains are authorized Read more

World War II POW Held Jewish Services in POW Camp

A local article recalls the story of then-Army Lieutenant Henry Levine, a B-17 navigator who was shot down over Nazi Germany and captured in February 1944. While in Stalag Luft 1,

he led secret Jewish religious services for fellow POWs, right under the noses of their Nazi captors.

“Many people risk their lives to pray to their god,” his son Ron Levine, of Cedar Rapids, says. “He was one of them.”

The article reveals the Nazis technically permitted “Jewish church” for appearances, though actual Jewish rites weren’t permitted. As a result, with the assistance of non-Jewish POWs, Levine led Read more

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson Equates American Christians with Taliban

Update: The Arizona Daily Independent published a letter from retired Command Chief Master Sergeant Chuck Wooten, in which he rebuts Weinstein, saying

To boil this entire issue down to its lowest form, [Wilkerson] and the MRFF are nothing more than predictable liberals. They make a living by fabricating controversy where none exists (think Al Sharpton). They hide behind massively loquacious pieces of hate-filled diatribe which ultimately means nothing. A by-product of their incessant squawking is a colossal waste of tax dollars when a branch of the military or court has to divert attention from its mission to swat these gnats aside.

It must be exhausting for [Wilkerson] and the MRFF to fight a fictitious foe only to have their butt handed to them in defeat.

Retired US Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson is most famous for having been the Chief of Staff to retired General Colin Powell when he was Secretary of State from 2002 to 2005. Wilkerson’s most recent role has been as voice for Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which has a long history of calling for restrictions on Christians in the US military.

After the recent hullabaloo over Mikey Weinstein’s demand for Major General Craig Olson’s court-martial, Wilkerson wrote a piece at the Huffington Post which was entitled “The ‘Taliban’ in Our Midst.”

The article began with a wide-ranging indictment of religion in the military:

Military officers who wear their religion on their sleeve are a danger to our country at any time, but especially after the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001.

Wilkerson probably doesn’t realize he just called every US military chaplain, many US military Jews, and even the rare US military Sikh a “danger” to the United States of America. The rest of his article focuses solely on Christians:  Read more

Chaplain Becomes CGO of the Year, Mikey Weinstein Target

US Air Force Chaplain (Capt) Sonny Hernandez was recently selected as the AFLCMC IMA CGO of the year.

Two days after the announcement, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein slammed the chaplain as “homophobic [and] anti-Semitic.”

Why Weinstein was monitoring the AFLCMC CGO ranking is a mystery. It’s possible he knew of Chaplain Hernandez from the chaplain’s time at USAFA, which was his last assignment until November of last year. Weinstein also has family in the Wright-Patterson area, which is where the 445th Airlift Wing is based and where the announcement would have been made.

Finally, Weinstein came to his conclusions about Chaplain Hernandez from viewing the publicly available sermons he gave to his home church. (As an IMA Reservist, the Chaplain’s primary job is civilian.)

Weinstein slams the chaplain for “putrid, bigoted Read more

Report: Military Atheists Outnumber Southern Baptists

Christianity Today recently cited December 2014 DoD statistics to state that atheists outnumber Southern Baptists in the US military:

According the latest Department of Defense statistics on religion, there were 12,360 Southern Baptists among the US military’s 1.3 million members on active duty as of December 2014. There were also 12,764 atheists—an advantage of 404 over Southern Baptists.

By contrast, Southern Baptists outnumbered atheists by about 10,000 in 2009, with 16,975 Southern Baptists and only 6,702 atheists on active duty.

In contrast with prior stories on “religious hostility” in the military, using historical data columnist Bob Smietana also said there was no evidence of a “mass exodus” of Christians from the military:   Read more

Religious Hostility toward Christians Hurting US Military

It started with a statement by Michael Berry, a former Marine JAG and now counsel with the Liberty Institute, cited in the Washington Times regarding the prosecution of US Navy Chaplain Wes Modder:

Michael Berry…said recent high-profile cases of military chaplains facing punishment for private counseling sessions that reflected the teachings of their religion could cause devout Americans who are qualified for military service to think twice about joining the military.

That statement has now been paraphrased across the internet to say “Christians are leaving the military” or there is “an exodus of Christians from the military.” The Washington Times article itself says US military “morale [and] retention [have been] devastated.”

To be accurate, that isn’t exactly what Berry said. Further, while the current perception of the US military’s attitude toward religious freedom has certainly impacted both recruitment and retention, support for that conclusion is entirely anecdotal. As has been said here before, the plural of anecdote is not “data.”

Still, Berry’s original statement is not unreasonable. His assessment even found its way into an interview with potential Presidential Read more

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