Tag Archives: religious freedom

Rock Beyond Belief Drops “Atheist Anthem” from Website

In what appears to be a site-wide revamping, Rock Beyond Belief — the atheist counter-event to the Christian Rock the Fort — has dropped the controversial Aiden song that recently caused a media firestorm from its website.  The YouTube video was originally called an “atheist anthem” and was the only introduction to the band on the site, though after FoxNews highlighted it organizer Justin Griffith said they would not be performing that particular song.

Also absent is the plea for civilians (“as many people as possible”) to come to the event.  A recent article quoted Justin Griffith saying he “counts about 100” atheists at Fort Bragg, meaning he is likely relying on the event to draw far more civilians than members of the military.  For a rough comparison, the Fort Bragg chapels host about 2,000 congregants in 17 services every week (both Christian and not); the Christian Rock the Fort had an estimated attendance of 3-4,000.

In another interesting twist, a revealing but obscure comment was made by a pseudonymed military officer presenting himself as part of Rock Beyond Belief Read more

US Army Hosts National Prayer Breakfasts in Afghanistan

Despite being in a combat zone on the other side of the world from home, the US military facilitated servicemembers’ participation in the National Prayer Breakfast.  Retired US Army Colonel Danny McKnight was invited to speak at 12 different locations in the country.  McKnight is famous for his role in Somalia in 1993 — in what the rest of the world now knows as Blackhawk Down.

Col Danny McKnight and his Hollywood alter-ego, Tom Sizemore

National Prayer Breakfast is an annual interfaith tradition started in 1953 by members of U.S. Congress to get Read more

US Army Censors Catholic Chaplains

Update: The Army defended its actions, with FoxNews saying it was a “cautionary move to preserve “military order and discipline,”” not censorship.

In a surprisingly underreported story, the US Army reportedly censored — and then admitted the wrong of censoring — US military Catholic chaplains during their performance of their Catholic Mass.  Catholic priests were apparently given letters to read to their parishes explaining the Catholic opposition to the Department of Health and Human Services mandate requiring insurance coverage for things that violate Catholic beliefs.

On Thursday, January 26, Archbishop Broglio emailed a pastoral letter to Catholic military chaplains with instructions that it be read from the pulpit at Sunday Masses the following weekend in all military chapels. The letter calls on Catholics to resist the policy initiative, recently affirmed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, for federally mandated health insurance covering sterilization, abortifacients and contraception, because it represents a violation of the freedom of religion recognized by the U.S. Constitution.

The US Army’s Chaplaincy office responded:  Read more

President Obama and the National Prayer Breakfast

According to articles on the event, the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, was unique this year:

In a town where just about everything is scripted, the sight of the President, Vice-President and members of Congress singing “Amazing Grace,” during the 60th Annual National Prayer breakfast was one of several off script moments that was almost refreshing today.

According to another source, the talk of the town was the speech delivered at the breakfast — but not President Obama’s speech:  Read more

Richard Dawkins Should Disinvite Aiden from Rock Beyond Belief

The controversy over the “glam goth” band Aiden being invited to play to a military audience at the atheist Rock Beyond Belief at Fort Bragg has seen comments on a wide variety of websites.  In the tradition of “crowd-sourcing” solutions, one commenter came up with a unique idea to ameliorate the scandal:  Richard Dawkins should ask that Aiden be removed from the lineup.

Much of the discussion seems to be centered on whether Aiden Read more

Homosexual Army Veteran Sues for Spousal Benefits

Tracey Cooper-Harris, a US Army veteran, has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  Though the precise cause of MS is unknown, the VA determined her disease was service connected, qualifying her for disability benefits.  However, her request for spousal benefits was denied because she is in a homosexual relationship not recognized by federal law.  She has now filed a lawsuit as a result.

The couple’s lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in Los Angeles, argues that a federal law and military policy that resulted in the denial of benefits are discriminatory and unconstitutional.

If the couple were straight they would receive Read more

LtGen Boykin “Pressured” Out of West Point Prayer Breakfast

Fox News and Commentary indicated retired LtGen William Jerry Boykin withdrew from the February 8th National Prayer Breakfast at West Point — after West Point asked him to withdraw.

The U.S. Military Academy pressured a retired U.S. lieutenant general to withdraw from speaking at a West Point prayer breakfast after Muslims and atheists complained, Fox News & Commentary has learned…

“[Boykin] asked them to rescind the invitation, but they were reluctant to do that so he said he would take them off the hook.”

The article also noted Michael Weinstein jumping the shark Read more

General Boykin Withdraws from West Point Prayer Breakfast

The Associated Press reported a West Point press release indicating General Jerry Boykin had withdrawn from the upcoming West Point National Prayer Breakfast:

Late Monday afternoon, West Point issued a brief statement saying Boykin had decided to withdraw speaking at the Feb. 8 event and that another speaker would be lined up in his place.

The choice of Boykin to speak at the event was criticized by several groups because of his prior statements about Islam:

CAIR also asked West Point officials to retract Boykin’s invitation

“It gives Islamophobes a platform Read more

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