Tag Archives: Prayer

Congress to Codify Religious Rights in Funerals

Last year a Houston Veterans’ Cemetery director was accused of banning all religious references from funerals occurring at her facility (as well as using the chapel as a storage shed, among other things).  A lawsuit was filed, and settled.  The consent decree prohibited the cemetery, then run by Arleen Ocasio, and the VA from interfering with or prohibiting religious references in the ceremonies.

This year, Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) has sponsored a bill that would codify in law the ruling in that consent decree.

Problems arose in Houston when the cemetery director misinterpreted [the] law to prohibit all religious speech.  Read more

Former West Point Cadet Challenges Cadet Prayer

In 2010 West Point Cadet Alan Spadone was disenrolled for failing to participate in a remediation program after admitting to violating the Honor Code.  He was directed to begin serving as an enlisted soldier, as he had already begun his third year at West Point when he committed his violation in the fall of 2009.

He filed civil complaints on multiple counts, including everything from the remediation program was unreasonable to the government was trying to “enrich itself” by making him serve as a soldier.  Those claims were all dismissed in a recent ruling:

Spadone has not established that his suspension and disenrollment from West Point violated the APA or his right to due process, and Spadone failed to demonstrate a waiver of sovereign immunity for his claim of unjust enrichment.

Interestingly, however, Spadone is permitted to continue his claim that the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution was violated when Read more

Faith in the Face of Tragedy: Sioux City, 1989

The Peterson AFB chapel recently hosted its annual National Prayer Luncheon to “honor [the] freedom” of religion guaranteed by the US Constitution.  Their guest speaker was Jerry Schemmel, a survivor of the crash of United Airlines Flight 232.  UA 232 is famous for its crash landing in Sioux City, Iowa, after it lost all hydraulics and the pilots (including a non-crew member pilot from the passenger deck) managed to “land” the crippled aircraft using only differential thrust.

While 184 passengers and crew survived, 112 were killed.  Schemmel was warned Read more

Honor Their Memory this Memorial Day, 2012

Members of the US military have defended human liberty, at the cost of their own lives, around the globe.

They have protected people they don’t know, rights they often can’t practice, and the freedom of others to advocate ideologies with which they disagree.

They have fought, and died, for something greater than themselves.

Remember their sacrifice this Memorial Day.

From the President:

Today, we join together in prayer Read more

Chaplain: Must I Pray in Jesus Name?

Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has an interesting and lengthy response to a chaplain’s letter asking if its ok not to pray in Jesus Name — one of the points of controversy for chaplains in the US military:

Praying in Jesus’ name isn’t simply a cultural addendum at the end of a request…We pray in Jesus’ name because Jesus commanded us to do so (Jn. 14:13)…

Moore notes that men of faith are expected to pray in accordance with their faith.  No one expects a Muslim to pray like an Episcopalian, just Read more

Michael Weinstein Loses Fight with USAFA. Again.

It is easy to forget that Michael Weinstein was an Air Force JAG “for 10 years” (if you can figure out how that timeline works, you win the Christmas turkey).  In a recent press release conducted through his trusted Colorado Springs Independent, Weinstein claimed USAFA was now obligated to cancel its National Prayer Breakfast observance (the same event over which he sued — and lost — last year).  Referring to the Colorado Court of Appeals ruling that said Colorado National Day of Prayer proclamations were unconstitutional,

Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, says the ruling means Read more

Obama Issues 2012 National Day of Prayer Proclamation

Consistent with US law, President Barack Obama proclaimed Thursday, May 3, 2012 to be a National Day of Prayer.  He also called specifically for prayer for US troops:

Let us pray for the continued strength and safety of our service members and their families…

I invite all citizens of our Nation, as their own faith directs them, to join me in giving thanks for the many blessings we enjoy, and I call upon individuals of all faiths to pray for guidance, grace, and protection for our great Nation as we address the challenges of our time.

His proclamation for a day of prayer contained a subtle Read more

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