Tag Archives: religious freedom

Mikey Weinstein Threatens DoD with More Letters

When the DoD declined to respond to Weinstein’s letter demanding they withdraw participation from the National Day of Prayer held by Congress, he declined to make his normal vitriolic demands that the military would have to “tell it to the judge.” Instead, he threatened…more letters:

Weinstein [said] that “it is likely there will be more letters” sent to the Pentagon regarding their objection to the involvement of the Pentagon with the task force.

True to his word (this time) Weinstein wrote another (long) letter (PDF), claiming the National Day of Prayer event not only caused the DoD to violate the law, but also put Congress in violation of the law.  Despite some concerted efforts on his part, the letter Read more

US Government to Defend Mount Soledad Cross

The Department of Justice has said it will “strongly” defend the Mount Soledad cross (as it has said before), the subject of a continuous legal battle for more than 25 years.  The cross was ruled unconstitutional again in December 2013.

Obama administration lawyers have told the Supreme Court they will strongly defend the 29-foot-tall cross atop Mount Soledad in San Diego as a memorial to the nation’s war veterans and not an unconstitutional promotion of Christianity by the government…

The cross was aloft more 35 years before a 1989 lawsuit claimed Read more

DoD Rebuffs Mikey Weinstein Criticism on National Day of Prayer

As he has occasionally done before, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has complained about the upcoming National Day of Prayer to be held at the Capitol, equating the National Day of Prayer Task Force, which is helping to organize the event, with al Qaeda.  Weinstein “respectfully demands” not only that any DoD participation be prohibited, but that the DoD

aggressively investigate and appropriately punish any of the individuals and/or organizations that would have allowed for uniformed personnel to participate in this sectarian spectacle

The Defense Department appears non-plussed:

Army officials on Friday said there were no plans to back out of the event. The Army still intends to send Read more

Army ROTC to Hold Lecture on Religion and the Military

The University of Arkansas Army Reserve Officer Training Corps is planning a lecture on April 24th specifically on the issue of religious freedom in the US military.

The lecture and discussion will provide a platform for students to learn more about religious freedoms in the military and discuss experiences with other veteran students. The event will give students and future service members the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the lecture topics and the speakers’ life experiences.

The speaker will be Read more

Congressmen Call Air Force Religion Rules Unconstitutional

Update: Congressman Lamborn’s potential political rivals reacted, with Republican Bentley Rayburn, a retired Major General and 1975 USAFA graduate, saying Lamborn hasn’t done enough to support religious freedom at USAFA, while Democrat Irv Halter, also a retired Major General and 1977 USAFA graduate, says Lamborn has gone too far.

A few weeks ago congressmen asked the Secretary of the Air Force to document and explain the Air Force religious policy and its application at the US Air Force Academy, following USAFA’s command decision to pull down a Bible verse on a cadet’s whiteboard. As noted then and in a subsequent congressional hearing, the Air Force has relied heavily on AFI 1-1, a Chief of Staff level AFI published in the final days of General Norton Schwartz’s tenure in 2012.

Now, Congressman Doug Lamborn of Colorado (home to the US Air Force Academy) has written a letter signed by 22 other congressmen asking Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James to revise the policy at issue:

The August 2012 Air Force regulations which govern religious freedom and expression (AFI 1-1) are inconsistent with Congressional intent and current law…

The first issue Lamborn cites is the “undefinable” standard the Air Force uses [emphasis added]:  Read more

Chuck Norris: Air Force “Airbrushes” Religious Liberty

Chuck Norris, a former Air Force Airman among other notable achievements, recently expressed disappointment at the Air Force’s decision to pull down a US Air Force Academy cadet’s Bible verse. He quotes and then agrees with retired General Jerry Boykin of the FRC, who noted

Once the academy allowed cadets to use these whiteboards for their personal use, censorship of religious commentary is unacceptable…

Norris then listed 10 examples of “prohibition of religious expression” in the military over the past few years, including USAFA’s Operation Christmas Child, Just War theory in ICBM training, the Camp Pendleton Cross, and the live Nativity in Bahrain.

He concluded the list with the perception that it gave him:  Read more

Air Force Reverses, Will Review Religious Freedom Policy (Video)

View the video from approximately 4:10.

How’d you like to be the cadet who posted Galatians 2:20?  You are personally responsible for influencing religious liberty policy in the US Air Force.  Nicely done.

A few weeks ago the US Air Force Academy made the news when a Bible verse was stripped from a USAFA cadet’s dry erase board. The incident led Congressmen to question the Air Force leadership about the incident when they appeared for a budget meeting. Secretary James and Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh were initially defensive, citing AFI 1-1 as the justification for the command action against the cadet, though they did agree to provide a written explanation for the action. General Welsh famously expressed his “single biggest frustration” over what he called the untrue “perception [of] religious persecution” in the Air Force.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, Secretary James seemed to have tweaked the Air Force reaction.

In response Read more

1 … 155 156 157 158 159 … 286