Tag Archives: Military

Mikey Weinstein Claims Credit for Banning Jesus Candy

The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), which runs the retail store base exchanges on Army posts and Air Force bases, responded to Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s complaint about the religious-themed Christmas candy he’d found in the Colorado Springs area Peterson AFB.

Earlier this month, Weinstein’s lawyer Donald Rehkopf had asserted that selling the candy was “illegal” and violated the US Constitution.

As quoted by the MRFF’s Chris Rodda, AAFES said they would not re-stock the candy after their “very small quantity” was exhausted due to “limited historical demand.” (One of the pictures provided by the MRFF even had the red clearance mark-down sticker on Read more

Sikhs Enlist in US Air Force, Will Wear Turbans, Beards

In June, A1C Sunjit Rathour became the first Sikh to graduate US Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB while wearing his turban and beard. In September he was the first to graduate from the Security Forces course.

Similarly, Gurchetan Singh will soon go to basic training before he joins the 194th Air National Guard wing as a Sikh wearing the articles of his faith.

While the ability to exercise one’s faith is important to one’s own religious practice, A1C Rathour also explained why it can be important for others:  Read more

Pagan US Soldiers Discharged over White Supremacy

Brandon Trent East of the Alabama National Guard and Dalton Woodward of the Georgia National Guard were recently discharged over their connections to white supremacist groups.

Oddly, they were both supposedly pagans — and white supremacists:

Earlier in 2019, the Atlanta Antifacists group published a report saying East and Woodward were leaders of the Norse pagan group Ravensblood Kindred. The group is part of the Asatru Folk Assembly, which researchers say endorses white supremacy.

East said he had just been looking for an alternative to Christianity:  Read more

Navy to Use Pearl Harbor Names for Newest Submarines

The US Navy is set to name its newest submarines for two of the most famous vessels from the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941:

Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly [said]:

“I am honored and humbled to name the next two Virginia-class nuclear fast-attack submarines to be built as the USS Oklahoma (SSN-802) and the USS Arizona (SSN-803). It is my fondest wish that the citizens of the great states of Arizona and Oklahoma will understand and celebrate our Navy’s desire to memorialize the 1,177 heroes who perished in USS Arizona (BB-39) and the 429 more in USS Oklahoma (BB-37) in Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941.”

Naming vessels for such Read more

Former SecDef Explains Transgender Policy: We had no choice.

President Obama’s Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has been doing interviews to hawk his book, Inside the Five-Sided Box: Lessons from a Lifetime of Leadership in the Pentagon, and spoke with the Military Times in September. In the interview he explained away the complexities, morality, and responsibility of some of the key DoD decisions with the simple “we had no choice.”

On the continuing presence of US troops in Afghanistan [emphasis added]:

I really do believe we’ve been on the best course, and the only course available to us.

On integrating women in combat arms within the US military [emphasis added]:  Read more

US Military Celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah Around the World

Sometimes lost in the “scandals” regarding religion in the US military is the fact that religion is still practiced frequently, and freely, by US troops around the world.

For example, in a variety of locations the US military supported Christmas celebrations, operations, and events. Notably, the camera often pointed away from some of the more direct Christmas iconography — but it was there.

Such discretion apparently wasn’t necessary for the worldwide celebration of Hanukkah, in which US troops were photographed celebrating the Jewish holiday from Japan to Afghanistan. Yes, even though Read more

ChristianFighterPilot.com: Looking Forward to 2020

The year 2020 looks to be a promising one, if the momentum of religious liberty in America can be maintained from 2019. The effect of the Trump Administration has been largely positive on religious liberty in the US military, though it has sometimes taken a bit of time for the “new” policy perspective — that is, the constitutional one — to trickle down to action officers.

Multiple websites noted that one of the highlights of church/state issues this year was the ruling on the Bladensburg Cross — a Supreme Court ruling that defended the right of the cross to continue to stand. While encouraging, particularly in that it wasn’t a “close” decision, it is notable that two Read more

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