Update: The DoD article on the event can be seen here.
The Joint Base Lewis-McChord chapel will host the Buddhist New Year celebrations on 31 March 2012.
The event is being sponsored by Chaplain (Capt) Somya Malasri, one of the few Buddhist chaplains in the US military, and will feature Read more
Though an outcry over a Christian concert event at Fort Bragg inspired a demand for a non-religious equivalent, it turns out the US military has been quietly slipping non-religious events onto military bases for some time.
Mollie Gross, a comedienne and former military wife, recently visited Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC, to bring a little humor home.
“A lot of different comedians and musicians go overseas to Read more
Reuters reported last week that Afghanistan wants NATO to put the “Koran burners” on trial — and Afghanistan reportedly claimed NATO had agreed to a trial, though Reuters qualified the statement as not “immediately verified.”
“NATO officials, in response to a request for the trial and punishment of the perpetrators…promised this crime will brought to court as soon as possible,” Karzai’s office said in a statement.
While it is unlikely NATO actually made such a concession — NATO has already said the burning was “inadvertent” and there is no crime against burning Korans in the Western world — the confusion may be understandable. Even President Obama’s Read more
A Department of Defense article highlights the unique story of Daniel J. Houten, an enlistee with the Georgia National Guard. He’s now in basic training — but he hardly took the traditional route to get there:
Houten…wanted to join the U.S. Army — but without a GED and 15 hours of college credit, he was ineligible.
An acquaintance told Houten the Israeli Army recruited new soldiers simply because they were Jewish…
Although his religious faith had diminished somewhat, he still identified himself as a Jew and felt strong connections to Israel, the homeland of his people, culture and religion. He decided this should be his next step in life.
Houten learned Hebrew and was Read more
The Thomas More Law Center has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Center for Military Readiness:
The purpose of the lawsuit is to obtain records believed to show intentional deception by the Pentagon to gain congressional support for repeal of the 1993 law regarding open homosexual conduct in the military, usually called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
The TMLC alleges the Pentagon has
engaged in a pattern of deception in its efforts to persuade Congress to allow open homosexuality in our military.
The lawsuit centers around the premise the Pentagon leaked information to the Washington Post in 2010 to sway public opinion and Congress Read more
US Navy Sailors and Marines congregated on the USS New Orleans to take advantage of the chaplains’ support for Ash Wednesday. Navy Chaplain (Lt) Paul Armstrong supported the practice of the sailors’ and Marines’ religious beliefs:
“Freedom of religion is one of our constitutional Read more
Michael Weinstein took a pay cut in 2010, so it looks like he felt the need to write a book to try to make up the difference. He wrote an “op-ed” printed on the Washington Post website, though it was characterized by a fairly solid theme: No new material, except for hawking Weinstein’s book.
It was refreshing, in some respects, to see Weinstein eschew the subtlety of some of his supporters and just come right out and say he and his “religious freedom” group are targeting Christians: Read more
The Jewish Community Centers (JCC) Association has decided to present its Jewish Military Leadership Award to Rear Admiral Herman Shelanski, commander of USS Harry S Truman strike group. The group said the reasons include RAdm Shelanski’s
consistent concern for the ability of Jews in the Navy to fully express their Jewish identity while they serve their country.
As commander of the carrier USS Harry S Truman, RAdm Shelanski Read more