Tag Archives: Obama

Military Atheists, Sexual Activists Torn over Mattis as SecDef

Military and veteran atheists, transgenders, and homosexuals are in conflict over President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to nominate retired Gen James Mattis for Secretary of Defense.

Military atheists have been generally supportive of Gen Mattis, noting he was wildly popular as a leader and, speaking to their primary concern, never gave them reason to worry over issues of religion.  (As an example of the conduct that helped his subordinates respect him, consider how he reacted when his pilots landed at the wrong airport.)

This has put some atheists at odds with their sometimes allies in the LGBT movement, who see Mattis as a potential means for Trump to undo their “progress” over the past few years — though they can’t directly connect it to a religious issue over which to complain.

That said, Don Branum, a former US Air Force Academy Public Affairs staffer who has implied he was improperly treated for speaking his views against Christians, still managed to claim Mattis is  Read more

US Army Posts “Under God,” Atheists Complain

The US Army 3rd Infantry Regiment — better known as The Old Guard — recently posted a US Army graphic by SPC Taylor Lutheran to Facebook which combined a photograph of President Obama at the Tomb of the Unknowns with a flag and the phrase “One Nation Under God:”

obamaundergod2

The image ended up irritating both “sides of the aisle,” as critics of President Obama questioned his acknowledgement of God, and critics of religion questioned Read more

Navy Chaplain Experiences Religious Freedom — after Retirement

The military now leads the way in a lot of immoral behavior, where five years ago it led the way in honor, courage, and commitment. We need a moral fighting force.

US Navy Chaplain (LtCmdr) Wes Modder — almost drummed out of the service in 2015 after homosexuals complained about his religious beliefs — recently retired, and he expressed frustration that his career was essentially ended by the unjust homosexual complaint:  Read more

US Military Declines to Support Radio Christmas Show

sixstringsoldiersTodd Starnes made news last week when he announced he’d invited the US Army’s Six-String Soldiers to perform at his annual Fox Radio Christmas Show — and the Army denied his request because it determined the event was “religious.”

Starnes didn’t dispute the characterization:

I’ve been busted, folks. What the Army alleged is the gospel truth.

My Fox Christmas show unashamedly proclaims that Jesus is the reason for the season. We are loud and proud.

In my defense, though, the reason my Christmas show is religious is because Christmas is in fact a religious holiday.

Former Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, though, rejected the Read more

President Obama on Religious Freedom

I think that we should foster a culture in which people’s private religious beliefs, including atheists and agnostics, are respected and that’s the kind of culture that I think allows all of us then to believe what we want. That’s freedom of conscience. That’s what the Constitution guarantees.

And where we get into problems typically is when our personal religious faith or the community of faith that we participate in tips into a sort of fundamentalist extremism in which it’s Read more

US Military Changing to Match Morality of Society

In its ultimate form, the military is an institution of government-sanctioned violence to achieve the Nation’s objectives. The military requires legitimacy for its actions, and its institutional morality forms the “high ground” from which it can wage war.

As has been obvious for the past few years, that institutional morality has been changing. As noted in a recent article on loosening standards for recruitment:

The Pentagon is…scrambl[ing] to keep up with America’s changing social mores…

One specific quote within the article noted the weakness of such a goal:  Read more

US Military on Trump Election: Like the Day Osama was Killed

The Washington Post (repeated at the Stars and Stripes) spoke with a variety of US troops following the election last Tuesday (anonymously, due to restrictions on active duty troops speaking on political topics), and it seems many were supportive of President-elect Donald Trump.  In one case, the feeling within the military was equated with “the day Osama was killed.”

While noting the US military tends to lean conservative anyway, the Post drilled this apparent positive reaction down to two issues: the shrinking budget and forced social change [emphasis added]:  Read more

Marine F-18s Collide Off California, One Ejects

Two US Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets collided off the coast of San Diego last week. One of the pilots ejected and was recovered; the other was able to land at Naval Station North Island.

This marks the latest in a steady stream of Marine Corps Hornet incidents that have claimed more than a half-dozen aircraft and several lives over the past year. Some media reports have implicated cost-cutting budget issues reducing training hours and Read more

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