Tag Archives: religious freedom

US Military Shares Religious Celebration in Japan

While much of the recent focus has been on Christmas in Afghanistan (and nativities), members of the US military celebrated another holiday over last month:

Chag Sameach is a common saying heard during the holiday months, it’s Hebrew for “joyous festival,” and is being uttered in abundance in Jewish households all over the world as we enter into the Hanukkah season. It’s a saying also being heard around Camp Sendai, Japan.

The DoD article makes a point of saying those supporting the troops’ religious exercise weren’t exclusively Jewish:  Read more

Homosexual Websites Claim Military Censorship

A few homosexual advocacy websites have used their military members’ access to DoD networks to claim the US military is censoring websites identified as “LGBT.”

It’s bad enough the United States Department of Defense censors Towleroad and AMERICAblog – banning the gay civil rights Web sites from being accessed on DOD computers – and it’s even worse that the Pentagon has no problem permitting their computers to access Ann Coulter’s and Rush Limbaugh’s hate-filled Web sites…

While claiming persecution is all the rage, this is actually really old news.  The ACLU has been going after libraries and public schools for years for using the same web filtering software — BlueCoat and its categories — the DoD uses.  So much ire has been aimed at BlueCoat it has revised the wording of its filter and made a point of publishing its ‘neutral stance’ on the topic.  It only provides a service; its customers choose how to employ it.

Also, as noted before (when an Air Force Sergeant tried to get ChristianFighterPilot.com blocked from military servers as “hate speech”), it is difficult to Read more

The Balance of Religion and the Military

While it potentially raises more questions than it provides answers, a Wall Street Journal opinion piece does a reasonable job of trying to present a balanced portrait of religion in the US military as it pertains to the requirements of the Constitution.

Isn’t it a First Amendment-violating “establishment of religion” for the military to appoint religious officials? No, it isn’t…The chaplains exist not for the military or the government generally, but to give military men and women access to their religion.

The problem is how to achieve this objective without creating an environment that seems to associate the military with particular religious views…

Although military personnel can’t be forced to muffle their religious beliefs, courts have long given the military more flexibility than other employers to regulate freedom of expression. The military can therefore discourage officers from expressing their faith in ways that create pressure on their subordinates…

Author David Skeel, a University of Pennsylvania Law School professor, even grants the military might be a model for society in its handling of religious freedom:  Read more

Top Australian General on Christmas, Christian Fellowship

In early December the Military Christian Fellowship posted a Christmas message from its “patron,” General David Hurley:

Christmas is a time of great celebration for Christians everywhere as we celebrate the birth of our Lord….Regardless of where you are next year I encourage you to seek the friendship and fellowship with Christians through MCF or the other military Christian ministries; with old friends and with workmates…I value the work of the MCF and was privileged to attend the Defence Christians Dinner and the MCF Spiritual Boot camp Seminar with my wife Linda this year. Wherever you are serving this Christmas I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and God bless you and your family in 2013.

For those unaware, General Hurley is the highest uniformed member of the Australian military.  Due to differences in structure, there isn’t a direct American equivalent, though the closest would probably be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Read more

The Psychology of Christmas in Afghanistan

An otherwise common article on Christmas in Afghanistan — which covers a variety of services performed for packed chapels for US troops — has a unique start.  The first person mentioned in the article isn’t a chaplain; its the “brigade psychologist:”

“We usually expect to see an increase in family and relationship problems following the holidays,” said Capt. Justine Majeres, the brigade psychologist. “The stress of being away from family Read more

Homosexual Denied Membership in Army Spouse’s Club

Update: The Fort Bragg spouse group says some of the public accusations against them are “misrepresented.”

A homosexual woman lodged a public complaint after being denied membership in Fort Bragg’s “Association of Officers’ Spouses.”

[Ashley] Broadway said the social group — which is not an official military organization — told her she could not join because while she has a marriage certificate, she doesn’t have a military spouse ID…

Broadway says the clause about the ID card was added after she was denied, in what she believes was an effort to exclude same-sex spouses.

Broadway has indicated that she “has a case…because the group violated their by-laws.”  Notably, that hinges on the definition of the word spouse.   Federally, homosexuals are not recognized as “married.”  In North Carolina, which is where Fort Bragg is located, the state Constitution defines marriage as a man and woman.  In that regard, Broadway’s argument fails because she isn’t a “spouse,” though that may still depend on one’s political leanings.

Conveniently, Broadway works for the American Military Partner Association — which, just coincidentally, is a homosexual advocacy group focused on obtaining benefits for homosexual partners of military members.

Naturally, her group publicized the decision and condemned it:  Read more

Top 10 ChristianFighterPilot.com Stories for 2012

It’s the time of year for lists and summaries, and various sites and groups are compiling their “best of” and “mostest” lists for 2012.  Consistent with last year’s apparent trend, issues of religion and the military seem to have largely fallen from the visibility they once had.  For example, BJC online lists their “Top Religious Stories of 2012” — not one of which references the military.  Likewise the Christian Post.  The Religion Clause and the Stars and Stripes lists both made only one relevant reference, to the much delayed Fort Hood massacre trial.

Curious as to what others were reading here this year?  The Top 10 most-read stories on ChristianFighterPilot.com for 2012 are Read more

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