Tag Archives: Prayer

Retired Chaplain Norris Burkes Wrong on Gen Costin, Religious Freedom

Retired US Air Force Chaplain Norris Burkes first came to the attention of this site in 2009, when the syndicated chaplain wrote a column about the burning of Afghan-language Bibles by American troops in Afghanistan (a controversy discussed here). In essence, Burkes approved, and noted:

The possession of such religious material violates something the military calls General Order No. 1.

Though he was dismissive of most input, he did finally concede that he was wrong — General Order Number One says no such thing.

Despite the admission, Burkes declined to change the article, and it can still be found on his website, with the unchanged statement that even Burkes admitted was wrong.

Chaplain Burkes recently popped up again, and for some reason he Read more

Christian Fighter Pilot Defends Football Coach Fired for Praying

High School football coach Joe Kennedy was fired for praying at the 50-yard line after his team’s games. He has since sued the Bremerton School District for illegally terminating him for his religious expression.

In November, Chad Hennings, a Christian and former Air Force A-10 pilot, filed an amicus brief (PDF) supporting the call for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the injunction requiring the school district to reinstate Coach Kennedy.

Mr. Hennings attributes much of his success to lessons imparted to him by the men who coached him throughout his scholastic and professional athletic endeavors, and who encouraged his dreams to serve his country and to play professional football. He thus shares [the] concern about judicial decisions that may impair a coach’s ability to speak freely and abide by his or her conscience and religious convictions.

It is admirable and noble that Read more

Top Air Force General Explains the Pilot’s Prayer

Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein recently explained how modern technology has changed the “pilot’s prayer”:

“When I grew up flying F-16s, the pilot’s prayer was, ‘Please God, let me find my target and not let my buddies down,’” Goldfein said. “It’s changed. In precision warfare and the information age, it’s ‘Please God, let me hit the right target, and not let my buddies down…”

(Not to be confused with the Fighter Pilot Prayer, also known as “The Lord is my Crew Chief.”)

General Goldfein’s point was that technology has advanced to the point that pilots almost always hit what they aim at — so their prayer now is that they’re aiming at the right target (a surprisingly difficult challenge in the fog and friction of war, sometimes).

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein will now Read more

US Military Launched Investigation into Content of Chaplain’s Prayer

costin

The US Department of Defense Inspector General recently revealed it had ordered the Air Force to investigate the content of a chaplain’s prayer.

The context was the now well-known complaint by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein against US Air Force Chief of Chaplains (MajGen) Dondi Costin. In response to Weinstein’s complaint, the DoD IG said [emphasis added]:

We asked the Air Force IG to examine both the act of giving the benediction and its content. After conducting interviews and gathering additional facts, the Air Force IG found that Maj Gen Costin’s benediction was a generic, non-sectarian prayer seeking God’s blessing on the event’s honoree…

This is a shocking revelation, particularly in light of who did it. What business does the DoD Inspector General have analyzing the content of a chaplain’s prayer? Under what authority Read more

Chaplain Trains for Combat

hornbackUS military chaplains aren’t just sitting in offices or behind lecterns. And when their units train for combat, they go with them, because they, too, need to exercise how they will operate in the combat environment:

Allied Spirit is a series of combat exercises centered on battlefield realism and international cooperation. But the authentic nature of the U.S. Army Europe training isn’t confined to combat arms personnel…

Too often, the role of chaplains Read more

West Point Cadets in Sombreros OK. They Just Can’t Pray.

westpointhatA US Military Academy Facebook photo from their University of Texas at El Paso football victory raised the ire of activists, as it showed the cadets wearing sombreros while being hosted by the largely Hispanic community [emphasis added]:

The school should apologize for the image and take it down, said Lisa Navarrete, an official with the National Council of La Raza, a nonprofit group in Washington that focuses on immigration and other Latino issues. The use of sombreros to represent Latino people is an “old-school and dated stereotype” that offends many people, Navarrete said.

“I am a huge sports fan, so I understand that trashing your opponents in silly and not-so-silly ways is part of the game,” she said. “But I am also old enough to remember when banana peels were thrown at Georgetown University basketball players. Ugly bigotry is still ugly and offensive, even in the context of entertainment.”

With regard to the public Read more

General Marty Dempsey: There Are No Atheists in Foxholes

dempsey3Almost exactly a year ago, US Army General Martin Dempsey was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — the top ranking uniformed member of the US military and primary military advisor to the President. Known for his humility and his penchant for singing, he was not as publicly known for his faith — something that appears to be showing now that he is retired.

Appearing at Duke University on September 8th, now-retired Gen Dempsey spoke of his experiences with morality, religion, and faith in the US military — including his agreement with the belief that “there are no atheists in foxholes” [emphasis added]:

“You know that thing about ‘there’s no atheist in a foxhole?’ It’s true,” Dempsey said.

“There was none of this, ‘oh my gosh you shouldn’t be praying in your uniform, let’s keep separation of church and state’ — you go into something like Baghdad, you’re going to say a prayer before, during and after.”

The timing was surely a coincidence, but General Dempsey’s Read more

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