In what seems like one of the longest running military religious litigations in recent history (ongoing since 1999, or earlier), the DC Circut denied a preliminary injunction requested by chaplains who have sued over US Navy Chaplain promotion practices.
The short version is the plaintiffs allege the Navy procedures favor Catholic and liturgical chaplains. See prior discussions.
Via the Religion Clause.
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Following the recent kerfuffle over the National Guard and state laws regarding homosexual benefits, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel released a statement seeming to declare the matter closed:
On Oct. 31, I called on the chief of the National Guard Bureau to work with several states to fully implement Department of Defense policy by providing DoD identification cards to all eligible military spouses, regardless of sexual orientation. Following consultations between Read more
Update: The VA’s treatment of Christianity over the past Christmas has caught the attention of Congressman Jeff Miller (R-FL), among others.
A few reports have covered the Veterans’ Administration policy that requires Christmas to be filtered based on its Christian content:
A VA official quoted the policy which is in the Veterans Health Administration handbook:
“In order to be respectful of our veterans’ religious beliefs, all donated holiday cards are reviewed by a multi-disciplinary team of staff led by chaplaincy services and determined if they are appropriate (non-religious) to freely distribute to patients. We regret this process was not fully explained to this group and apologize for any misunderstanding.”
Apparently, this wasn’t the only Christmas event in which Christianity was Read more
As has been the trend for the past few years, issues of religion and the military seem to have largely fallen from the visibility they once had. This year, as religious liberty sites have compiled their “top tens” for the year, the focus has largely been on DOMA and the challenges to the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. The left-leaning Baptist Joint Committee included only one military story, saying the “Pentagon debunks rumors of a policy change on religious expression” in reference to the springtime controversy over Michael “Mikey” Weinstein “consulting” with the Air Force (#9 on the list below).
The Top 10 most-read stories on ChristianFighterPilot.com for 2013: Read more
A writer at the Engage Family Minute blog begins his post with an appropriate question:
How exactly is discrimination defined, and what constitutes discrimination?
As has been noted here before (“Of Bullies, Bigots, Homophobes: The Changing American Vocabulary“), it is not uncommon for people or groups to appropriate terminology — or even twist semantics — to support their cause. Prior discussions have already covered several: homophobe, bigot, bully, tolerance, and Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s use of “rape”.
“Discrimination” was also briefly mentioned, though it has again surfaced in incorrect usage (at least by its traditional definition). In short, it bears reminding that in order to discriminate, one has to act. By themselves, thoughts, beliefs, and words cannot be discriminatory — again, by definition.
An example: The Catholic Church discriminates when Read more
Occurring fairly regularly since the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, another news article characterizes the “non-event” of the decision to allow homosexuals to openly serve in the US military.
[Lt Jonathan] Roman and two other Fort Gordon personnel said they have experienced limited instances of discrimination since the repeal was enacted in September 2011.
Similar articles have come out every few months with the same caveats — interrupted occasionally by an article that says the military is “struggling” with this “non-event.”
One question the press hasn’t seemed to consider: Have heterosexuals or religious troops experienced discrimination since repeal?
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US Air Force SMSgt Philip Monk was the unit First Sergeant whose commander allegedly “agreed” that he should step away from his duties earlier than planned because he was unable to say that opposition to homosexuality was de facto discrimination in the military.
The Air Force found his allegations of religious discrimination “unsubstantiated” because “religion was never discussed between the two.” The Air Force released portions of an investigation alleging he made false, but not punishable, statements, though it has not yet released anything about his commander’s statements, including the allegation she called a fellow Air Force officer — and chaplain — a “bigot” because he did not affirm homosexuality.
“The right thing to do is often the most difficult thing to do…
We weren’t called to do what’s easiest for our career. [We’re] called to do the right thing.”
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On December 7th, the US Navy chaplain corps memorialized two chaplains who died in the line of duty during the attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Chaplain (CAPT) Leroy Kirkpatrick, aboard the USS Arizona, became the first Navy chaplain to die in what became known as World War II. Chaplain (Lt) Aloysius Schmitt, aboard the USS Oklahoma, was the first Roman Catholic chaplain killed in the war.
Few may realize that two years later the US Navy launched the USS Schmitt (DE-676) and the USS Kirkpatrick (DE-318), two of only seven US Navy warships named after chaplains.
The Chaplain of the Marine Corps, Chaplain (RADM) Margaret Read more