Tag Archives: religious freedom

Commander Who Pulled Chaplain Post Issues Statement

Update:  An Army Chaplain weighed in with a response to Col Duffy’s decision to pull Chaplain Reyes’ article, and a comment on the Commander’s statement from a recently retired Air Force Colonel takes Col Duffy to task:

Sir…Can you understand how your actions in kowtowing to [MRFF] threats now opens you and your fellow Blue Suiters up to even more insidious actions? Do you think this group will just roll over after having demanded that you take administrative actions against Lt Col Reyes for having had the audacity to write and publish this article? After they labeled his use of “no atheists in foxholes,” as a “… bigoted, religious supremacist” phrase? I believe we both know the answer to that question.

Sir, you hit the nail right on the head when you stated that you must protect the constitutional right of free speech and the free practice of religion…Where you go wrong is when you decide that this article, regarding faith and one’s perception of it in their own life, somehow is “governmental establishment of religion.”

The Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Facebook page was inundated with criticisms of Col Brian Duffy’s decision to pull Chaplain (LtCol) Kenneth Reyes’ column and issue an apology to Michael Weinstein. Those criticisms appear to have been completely deleted and replaced with a statement from the Colonel.

In short, the Colonel admits the article was removed out of concern for “those who may have been offended,” and called his decision a

“balance…between constitutional protections for free exercise of religion and the constitutional prohibition against governmental establishment of religion.”

A few commenters called that out, given that not even the MRFF claimed the Air Force was violating the First Amendment with the article.  Besides, the Constitution says nothing about “offense,” which is the stated reason the article was pulled (which caused a spate of responses claiming various things were offensive, and demanding Col Duffy remove more content from his website).  Several atheists chimed in and criticized the censorship as well — noting it wasn’t an “atheist vs Christian thing” — but a Weinstein vs Christian thing.

Then, though, the Colonel turned stern and took the unusual step of commenting on potential punishment — something normally rebutted with a “we make no comment on personnel matters.”  In short, this time Col Duffy flatly refused Michael Weinstein’s demands and says he has “not and will not reprimand anyone.”  The entire statement follows:  Read more

Rep Keith Ellison Keynote Speaker at Pentagon Iftar

US Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minn) was this year’s keynote speaker at the Pentagon’s annual Islamic iftar, which it celebrates during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Given the state of world affairs, it is notable that the headquarters for the entire US military participates in such a celebration, but it means something even to the troops:

The significance of celebrating Iftar at the Pentagon is two-fold, said Air Force Col. Shakir Kahn. First, it informs Muslim Pentagon employees that the Department of Defense supports them. Second, Read more

Non-Theists Argue Titles, Chaplain Amendment

In a revealing outcry, many “non-religious” persons have criticized the vote by the US House to prevent non-religious personnel from becoming chaplains.

In that vein, atheist Jason Torpy has tried to promote the premise that the Defense Appropriations amendment proposed by US Rep John Fleming (R-La) didn’t actually do anything, demonstrating the “ignorance” of the Congressman.

“The [amendment] only requires adherence to the applicable instruction, which in no way restricts chaplains to only those who believe in some higher power,” he said. “Their amendment does nothing…It just shows their ignorance about atheists, humanists, and military regulations.”

Actually, Torpy’s statement demonstrates his ignorance.  The clear language of the amendment indicates it wasn’t written to restrict chaplains to “those who believe in a higher power.”  Torpy simply erected a straw man.  What it was intended to do was prevent non-religious personnel from entering the religious field of the chaplaincy — and that it clearly does.  The amendment simply requires the DoD to continue Read more

Air Force Chief Scrubs Unit of Religious Resources

A high ranking member of the Air Force tears down posters at his base because he disagrees with their religious viewpoint.  Think that’s actionable?

Michael Weinstein’s research assistant, Chris Rodda, once railed against a group of military Christian officers who had the gall to publicly state their Christian beliefs to an audience of fellow believers.  Weinstein himself called for a General officer to be court-martialed for telling his subordinates about the ‘life rules’ he lived by — which included references to God.  In these and other cases Weinstein and his acolytes have decried as illegal and unconstitutional the words of military members expressing portions of their religious faith. To be clear, there were no actions involved — only words consistent with the protected exercise of religious liberty.

It seems for a couple of military atheists, though, there’s certainly some action — and thus far, Weinstein has yet to defend “religious freedom” from their conduct:

An enlisted Airman recently introduced himself by his name and rank to a group of like-minded military atheists:    Read more

Air Force Pulls Chaplain Column, Atheist Article Remains

Update: The Air Force has restored the censored article.  Read more here, or the chaplain’s original article here [updated link].

Update: The Air Force has reportedly declined to explain what regulations prohibit the chaplain’s column, which Liberty University School of Law fellow Ken Klukowski says “looks like expression protected by the free speech and religious freedom provisions of the First Amendment.”

 A chaplain has been censored for expressing his beliefs about the role of faith in the lives of service members.  There has to be a recognition that this is discrimination against Christians… When anti-Christian activists like Mikey Weinstein are dictating the rules for what chaplains are allowed to do, then we must ask the question why we [even] have chaplains.

– LtGen Jerry Boykin, USA, Ret

The US Air Force reportedly pulled down an official article written by a Chaplain because someone claimed to be offended by the title.

A chaplain at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska was ordered to remove a religious column he had written titled, “No Atheists in Foxholes: Chaplains Gave all in World War II,” because it allegedly offended atheists serving on the Air Force base.

Col. Brian Duffy, the base commander told Fox News the column was removed “out of respect for those who considered its title offensive.”

The article notes that the column, written by Chaplain (LtCol) Kenneth Reyes, did not “attack or insult” anyone — it simply began with the question of the origin of the phrase.  It seems a few critics didn’t read beyond the title, and criticized a caricature of what Chaplain Reyes wrote, such as atheist Jason Torpy, who makes a point of addressing the “no atheist” cliché wherever he finds it on the internet:  Read more

Former Marine Pilot Opposes Religious Freedom Bill

Pentagon spokesman Nate Christensen stressed that the Defense Department celebrates religious diversity and that military personnel have the full right to exercise their religious beliefs, as long as doing so does not negatively affect the military’s mission or other individuals’ rights.

Tom Carpenter is a co-chair of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — a group that advocated for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — a 1970 US Naval Academy graduate, and a former US Marine A-4 pilot.  He recently came out against religious freedom legislation now supported by the endorsing bodies of the vast majority of US military chaplains.  (Carpenter recently repeated near-verbatim atheist talking points rebutting some of the most recent claims of hostility toward religious freedom in the military.)

In apparent shock, Carpenter said, for example:  Read more

Marines Allow Uniforms in “Pride” Parade, DoD Quantifies Homosexuals

The US Marine Corps permitted its members to wear their uniforms in the San Diego homosexual “pride” parade.

As noted at the Air Force Times,

According to the Pentagon, an estimated 5,600 active-duty troops and 3,400 National Guard and Reserve members are in same-sex marriages and relationships.

Notably, in the run-up to DADT repeal, the Department of Defense had repeatedly said it would not attempt to quantify the sexuality of US troops.  From the Support Plan for Implementation

The Department of Defense and the Services should continue their policy against requesting, collecting, or maintaining information about the sexual orientation of Service members.

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