US Army BGen Miguel Castellanos, the CJTF-HOA deputy commanding general, recently hosted an Islamic iftar to celebrate the breaking of the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The event began with US Navy Chaplain (Cmdr) Abuhena Saifulislam leading some foreign troops in Islamic prayers. (Saifulislam had recently performed the same ritual for the State Department in Djibouti.)
BGen Castellanos made an interesting statement Read more
Update: After outcries of persecution due to President Trump’s silence, the acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel Anthony M. Kurta issued a DoD gay pride month celebration announcement. Ironically, this contradicts information posted on the DEOMI website, which indicates the observance is “established by Presidential Proclamation” — which means the DoD is “celebrating” something that does not (yet) exist this year.
The US Navy got out in front of its own commander Wednesday when it issued a press release celebrating homosexuality for the month of June — something the Commander in Chief, President Donald Trump, has yet to do:
The Navy joins the nation in recognizing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month throughout June…
“The Navy needs men and women who are the right fit for the right job regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, creed or gender identity,” said Capt. Candace Eckert, Special Assistant for Inclusion and Diversity.
Notice Capt Eckert didn’t include “religion” — but she did include three different variations of sex. That’s “diversity” in the Navy, it seems.
President Trump has yet to have his nominee for Secretary of the Navy, Read more
Ed Brayton, a long-time secularist blogger and ally of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein and Chris Rodda, recently wrote a post entitled “Klingenschmitt’s Cluelessness on Religious Tests for Office.”
One of Brayton’s pastimes is keeping up with former Navy Chaplain and former Colorado state legislator Gordon Klingenschmitt, himself a prolific public speaker and writer.
Brayton quoted Klingenschmitt from a LifeSite news article in which Klingenschmitt was commenting on the decision by Tennessee state legislator Mark Green to withdraw from nomination as Secretary of the Army. Klingenschmitt said
The bully left is now openly creating an unconstitutional religious litmus test for public office. If you believe the Bible, or quote the Bible in public, they claim you are unfit for office and apply their political labels until you quit.
Brayton mocked Klingenschmitt’s statement as “absurd,” and then followed it with his own absurdity: Read more
Paula Neira — who served in the US Navy as Paul Neira — has helped stand up Johns Hopkins’ Center for Transgender Health this Spring.
Most articles on the new Center have said little of substance, but one report quoted Neira making a potentially unintentional but fascinating admission:
Under [his] leadership, the Center for Transgender Health will serve transgender patients, teach health professionals and research health concerns facing the transgender community.
And this last point has some urgency. Neira notes that there is still a lot unknown for transgender patients related to gender-affirming care as well as to general health. “You know — what is the health effect of testosterone dosage? What is the most effective dose? There’s all kinds of pieces of information that we want to know…”
Neira, and by extension Johns Hopkins, is essentially admitting society is Read more
US military defense contractor Electric Boat is reportedly laying out the designs for future submarines that will be [emphasis added]
built specifically to accommodate female crewmembers.
This may be “fake news,” since the genesis of the “women in combat” argument was that women were there already, and that there would be no actual logistical changes necessary to legitimize what was already happening. Still [emphasis added]: Read more
As reported by the Navy, aptly named US Navy CAPT Steve Moses took over the Naval Chaplaincy School and Center at the end of March. (Last year, it was CAPT Moses who said requiring US Sailors and their families to mirror Islamic customs during Ramadan “support[s] religious freedom.”)
The Navy Chief of Chaplains, Chaplain (RAdm) Margaret Kibben, was the guest speaker, and she had the notable quote for the day [emphasis added]:
She challenged Capt. Moses to, “Wear the mantle, and do so with authority, with the responsibility that has been granted to you by the One who is the author of all these things.”
Had Chaplain Kibben been a white male Southern Baptist (as Read more
An official DoD article recounts the interesting story of Aroon Seeda, a 13-year-old Buddhist monk in training in 1988 who met a group of US Marines — and then decided he wanted to become one.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2008 with the goal of becoming a chaplain. He received his citizenship several months after completing basic training and attained his goal in two years and seven months.
Chaplain Aroon Seeda is the only Buddhist chaplain in the Department of the Navy…
Now-Chaplain Seeda returned to Thailand recently in Read more
A few days ago a Navy atheist took to the internet in search for ideas for a nightly prayer.
The US Navy still performs nightly prayers over the ships’ intercoms, much to the dismay of groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation. It seems one chaplain decided to give the local unit atheist the chance to chime in:
we normally have Chaps read an evening prayer each night. While it doesn’t necessarily bother me to hear the overwhelmingly Christian prayers every. Single. Night. I’d like to change things up a bit. Our chaplain is open to other beliefs, so Read more