Tag Archives: religious freedom

US Military Receives Torah Scroll in Afghanistan

The lengths to which the US military will go to protect the free exercise of its troops have been noted here many times before.  From delivering fresh palm fronds at Easter to helping servicemembers build a Sukkah, the military generally does an admirable job of trying to provide religious resources to those it separates from those resources in the call to war.

Recently, the base chapel in Kandahar, Afghanistan, received its first Torah scroll, created in memory of fallen servicemembers.  Chaplain (LtCol) Avi Weiss explains the significance of the scroll:

Capt Rubin at Jews in Green recognized this for the support of religious freedom that it is.

Military atheist Justin Griffith, on the other hand, Read more

Mikey Weinstein’s Friends and Allies in Military High Places, Part 3

Despite his claims the US military is overrun by Christians trying to take over the world, Michael Weinstein seems to have more public allies in military leadership positions than he has public enemies. In addition, Michael Weinstein seems to have some very well-placed friends in the US military, despite his claims he is a David fighting an institutional Goliath.

Weinstein’s “close personal…relationship” with an Air Force base’s commanding general has already been discussed, as has his unusual access to an Air Force Colonel’s non-releasable records.  It turns out Weinstein also counts the recently retired JAG of the Air Force as a cheerleader for his cause.

In fact, Weinstein’s apparently unfettered access to military leadership is so unusual Congress has been asked to investigate it.

The most interesting example of Weinstein’s friends in high places was Read more

Mikey Weinstein’s Friends and Allies in Military High Places, Part 2

Despite his claims the US military is overrun by Christians trying to take over the world, Michael Weinstein seems to have more public allies in military leadership positions than he has public enemies. In addition, Michael Weinstein seems to have some very well-placed friends in the US military, despite his claims he is a David fighting an institutional Goliath.

Weinstein’s “close personal…relationship” with an Air Force base’s commanding general has already been discussed.  It turns out Weinstein is also miraculously able to discern the private content of an Air Force Colonel’s non-releasable records.  Read more

Chaplain on Spiritual Resilience: Ask “Why?”

Air Force Chaplain (Maj) Kent Schmidt has an article on spiritual resilience, part of the four-pillar Comprehensive Airman Fitness, in which he encourages his readers to “focus on the why:”

It’s all too easy for those of us serving in a high tempo Air Force to get driven and consumed by the “What?”…Getting caught up in the reactive world, some call it the tyranny of the urgent, can cause us to lose sight of the “Why?” The “Why” becomes subsumed by the “What.”

I’d like to encourage you to make it a point to daily, take a deep breath or two, close your door, dim your computer screen and close your eyes and ask yourself “Why?” Why am I doing what I’m doing today? Why am I on this current trajectory?  Read more

Justice Dept will Not Fight Lawsuit for Same-Sex Benefits

Attorney General Eric Holder has informed Congress that the Obama administration will not defend lawsuits against the US military that seek the benefits of marriage for same-sex couples.

Attorney General Eric Holder [wrote that] the 1996 federal law that defines “spouse” as “person of the opposite sex” is a violation of the Fifth Amendment right to equal protection under the law.

This is consistent with the administration’s previous decision not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, which is now being defended by lawyers from Congress.

NATO Investigates Disposal of Korans, but not Bibles

Update: A State Department spokesman has said the burn pit disposal “does not represent our values or our view of how the Quran ought to be treated.”  While it is understandable the US government would support a respectful treatment of religious articles, it is unclear why it holds unequal views of respect depending on the religion, as described below.  Protests continue.

NATO commander in Afghanistan Gen John Allen has reportedly called for a probe of the treatment of Korans and other religious items used by detainees at the American run Bagram Air Base:

Local Afghan leader, Ahmad Zaki Zahed, says U.S. military officials have given him about 30 Korans and other religious books that were used by detainees once incarcerated at the base.

He says some were burned, but others were retrieved from the trash before they were burned.

The response of the Afghans was typically reported:  Read more

Mikey Weinstein’s Friends and Allies in Military High Places, Part 1

Despite his claims the US military is overrun by Christians trying to take over the world, Michael Weinstein seems to have more public allies in military leadership positions than he has public enemies.  In addition, Michael Weinstein seems to have some very well-placed friends in the US military, despite his claims he is a David fighting an institutional Goliath.

In just one example among several, Weinstein claims a “close personal…relationship” with one Air Force base’s commanding general.

In a recent spat Read more

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