Tag Archives: quaker

Supreme Court Stays Injunctions on Transgender Policy

The Supreme Court ruled (5-4) yesterday that injunctions preventing the Department of Defense from implementing a change to President Obama’s transgender policy were stayed while the case worked its way through the courts. This allows the DoD Policy proposed by then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis to take effect.

Previously, lower courts had ruled in both directions on the policy.

While the policy is about medical and mental conditions, critics of the ruling blamed it on religion — that is, Christianity.

Tris Mamone, a member of the awkwardly named LGBTQ Humanist Alliance, is quoted saying [emphasis added]

Today’s ruling is another example of bigotry and Christian nationalism overriding legal protections for all Americans.

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein similarly called it a product of the [emphasis added] Read more

There are No Agnostics in Foxholes (but there are Quakers)

In an article on the recent changes in DoD policy regarding religious accommodation, USA Today made this observation:

The wide variety of worship or lack thereof is reflected in the ranks of the 1.3 million active-duty force. Troops aren’t compelled to report but many do. The most popular affiliations: Christian, no denomination chosen, 346,752; no religious preference, 277,563; Roman Catholic, 262,248.

Elsewhere in the ranks, there are 301 Quakers and 1,561 troops who practice witchcraft. But you won’t an agnostic in the Army. There are 3,126 atheists but not one agnostic.

To be fair, the same demographics note there are more than 6,000 agnostics in the other three services.  Apparently everyone in the Army is certain — one way or the other.

Repeated at the Air Force Times.

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Religious Freedom Critic Weinstein Admits Targeting Christians

In a shockingly blunt piece, Michael Weinstein seems to have inadvertently undermined his own defense against those who claim he’s “anti-Christian” by essentially admitting that he’s opposed to a vast swath of American Christianity.  Said Weinstein [emphasis added]:

Do you know that in this country in 1970, we only had ten mega-Evangelical churches, meaning those with 2,000 or more members? But after 9/11, a new mega-Evangelical church has opened up in our country every 48 hours.
 
That is their right. That’s fine. But when they engage the machinery of the state and the people in the government, that’s when we have a terrible, hideous problem.
 
And this is coming right down from the DoD, up and down the chain of command…

Weinstein seems to clearly convey Christians from these ubiquitous “mega-Evangelical churches” (as opposed to Evangelical megachurches?) are the ones “engaging Read more

Quaker Loses Challenge to Tax Support for Military

The government’s use of tax monies from its citizens is frequently an issue for debate, even on non-religious topics.  The discussion can become more significant when people question whether the government’s use of their money is “moral,” and if they should therefore not pay taxes.

In an interesting federal district court case, Moore-Backman v. United States, the complaint of Quaker Christopher Moore-Backman that his tax support of the military “burdens his religious exercise in violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act” was dismissed.

As noted by Howard Friedman, the court’s conclusion was somewhat broadly stated:

The court concluded that there was no free exercise or RFRA violation because under relevant case law the Government is not required to conduct its own internal affairs in a way that comports with an individual’s religious beliefs.