Tag Archives: religious freedom

California Designates LGBTQ Veterans Memorial

The Sacramento Bee reported that the local community of Cathedral City, California, dedicated the nation’s first “LGBTQ Veterans Memorial” at the end of April:

“It’s kind of a holy place. This is a place to pray for people who died in wars,” Tom Swann Hernandez of Cathedral City told The Sacramento Bee on Tuesday. The gay Marine veteran has been at the forefront of the state designation effort for nearly two decades.

This was the ceremonial designation; the legal designation was noted here last fall.

The short version is if you Read more

Air Force Chapel Seeks to Integrate with Squadrons

The chapel leadership at Offutt Air Force Base is instituting a program to better integrate itself with the military units it serves. Reacting largely to the need for military readiness and suicide prevention, the effort by Chaplain (Maj) Kevin Humphrey includes a focus on personal responsibility:

“I looked deeply and believed that how we have traditionally viewed resiliency was wrong,” Humphrey said. “We have removed personal responsibility…I think we need to do a better job of showing our people how they are the stake holders and change really starts with them.”

The effort will designate hand-picked Read more

Col Linell Letendre to be Next USAFA Dean

The US Air Force Academy announced that Col Linell Letendre was the sole “finalist” to become the next Dean of Faculty at USAFA:

“This is wonderful news for our cadets, our faculty, and our Academy,” said Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria. “Linell’s leadership and commitment to world-class education and leader development will be invaluable to the USAFA team. She has a tremendous perspective that will integrate and elevate our institution and our Air Force leaders of tomorrow.”

The elevation of Col Letendre, a USAF JAG, to Permanent Professor and Department Head was highlighted here four years ago, largely because of her public record on issues of religious liberty within the Air Force. She was, for example, one of a few Air Force lawyers who advised the Air Force on Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s complaints against ChristianFighterPilot.com.  She has reportedly towed the Read more

Update: USAFA Gen Goodwin Fired over IG Complaint

LtGen Jay Silveria addressed the Air Force Academy’s Board of Visitors today and said an IG complaint was the cause of Gen Kristin Goodwin’s removal as the USAFA Commandant [emphasis added]:

Goodwin was removed by her boss and the school’s head, Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria, amid an investigation…

The general later told The Gazette that an academy staff member filed a complaint with the Inspector General’s Office, which launched the investigation.

“I only know fractions of (the complaint),” he said. “I have not seen it.”

The investigation has since expanded beyond the single person who filed the complaint, Silveria said.

One does not normally get fired over Read more

Army General Takes Swipe at Mikey Weinstein at Prayer Breakfast

Fort Knox held its National Prayer Breakfast last month. The closing speaker was US Army MajGen John Evans Jr, commander of US Army Cadet Command and Fort Knox. He noted the value of the liberty being exercised at Fort Knox that day — despite critics who might seek to restrict that liberty:

“We gather here today, each one of us to worship in our own way,” Evans said. “There are some who would probably not agree with those in a secular society having a prayer breakfast, but we have the right to do that, just as others have the right not to…”

“I am reminded Read more

USAFA Fires the Commandant of Cadets

The US Air Force Academy has relieved its Commandant, BrigGen Kristin Goodwin, of command of the Cadet Wing and its support personnel. As reported in the Colorado Springs Gazette:

The first openly gay general at the Air Force Academy has been removed as commandant of cadets, but leaders were mum Monday on the exact cause of the apparent firing…

“Effective immediately, Brig. Gen. Kristin Goodwin is no longer performing her duties as the commandant of cadets pending the results of an ongoing investigation,” the academy said in an email to The Gazette. “We cannot provide additional information on the investigation at this time.”

Since no reason was given, the few articles published on the removal contain speculation about her “stormy relationship” with subordinates who anonymously described her as Read more

A Bible on the POW/MIA Remembrance Table

To think Michael “Mikey” Weinstein thinks he is the one who gets to dictate whether or not a Bible is appropriate for a POW/MIA table.

It seems these Fort Carson Gold Star Spouses — they’ve had a spouse killed in the military — weren’t flustered by Weinstein’s blustering from behind his keyboard.

Photo by Scott Prater

The ACLJ’s Skip Ash recently took on the issue of POW/MIA Bibles, noting Read more

Appeals Court: No Requirement for Atheist Invocation

The US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit ruled last week that the US House of Representatives was not required to permit an atheist to “pray”. Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion Foundation had sued Patrick Conroy, the former House Chaplain, for denying him the opportunity to “pray” at the opening of the legislative day.

Importantly, the court made a point of saying the House’s exercise was a religious exercise — and since Barker wasn’t offering a religious exercise, he had no claim: Read more

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