The RecordOnline reports on the many faithful members of the US Military Academy’s football team:
They sprint onto Blaik Field and head directly to the north end zone. About 20 or so Army teammates take a knee and pray individually.
Some prayers last a few seconds. Others are deeper. They ask for both teams to be safe. They express how thankful they are for Read more
The Mission Aviation Fellowship blog has a short post on a medical evacuation by float plane in Borneo:
After flying over four hours in the middle of Borneo navigating low rivers, reverse currents, boaters, swimmers, logs, docks, and shooting eight landings, this is why we do it Read more
In a rare break from his focus on Christianity, Military Religious Freedom Foundation “president” Michael Weinstein has called for US Air Force Academy Chaplain (Col) Robert Bruno to be court-martialed for his attempts to convert cadets…to Buddhism:
US Air Force Chaplain Colonel Bruno…should face immediate criminal charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for these disgusting, prima facie examples of dereliction of duty by flagrant violations of the solemn oaths they took…
Actually, strike that, Weinstein didn’t display that intellectual integrity. Instead, he continued his focus on Christianity:
[Chaplain Bruno is a] heinous Poster Child[] of unconstitutional, fundamentalist Christian supremacy Read more
Dustin Chalker, an Army Sergeant and MRFF “client,” publicly announced that he started a petition on the whitehouse.gov “We the People” website calling for an “End [to] the Military’s Discrimination against Non-Religious Service Members.”
The petition wording reflects some of the sentiment behind Chalker’s failed lawsuit against the Army — a lawsuit that was tossed out because Chalker failed to use the internal grievance systems the Army has in place. The petition contains similarly vague claims of illegal conduct, which are (still) unsupported to date by any public facts: Read more
Addressing Regent University’s Robertson School of Government, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Richard Land told students God calls some into public service — with the express intent of influencing the culture. Referencing Romans 13, Land said
God “does call some of us to be involved in government, because you cannot write laws that will protect you from bad application by evil people…We need for godly men and women to be willing to be open to the prospect that God’s will for your life may be to go into public service, to serve Read more
In a little-reported conclusion to the lawsuit accusing a Texas Veterans’ Affairs cemetery of censoring religious content, Federal District Judge Lynn Hughes signed a consent decree largely acknowledging the validity of the accusations.
The consent decree contained 50 individual points, though it applied only to the Houston National Cemetery, and the VA reiterated it felt some of the decrees were already VA policy.
Notably:
The Mount Soledad war memorial cross in San Diego has been previously ruled as unconstitutional, violating the Establishment Clause. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently refused to rehear the case or grant an en banc review. Notably, however, 5 of the 11 judges dissented in the denial of an en banc rehearing. The premise of their dissent was that the court had inappropriatelly analyzed the memorial: Read more
In a case that has been going on for a couple of years, the Thomas More Law Center has been advocating for Poway teacher Brad Johnson’s right to display banners that quote founding documents with the word “God” in them.
The district court ruled in his favor in 2010, saying the school district displayed unConstitutional viewpoint discrimination when it required him to drop his banners, but did not do the same for other religious viewpoints that Read more