Tag Archives: religious freedom

Chaplain Sponsors “Duty Day with God”

Chaplain (Capt.) Tony Cech came up with an innovative way to introduce himself to the men and women he serves.  He has led trips to the local Mount Mauna Kea observatories, which are the highest peaks in the area at nearly 14,000 feet.  These “Duty Day with God” trips serve several purposes:

The Army has developed innovative ways to help improve and maintain a soldier’s mental health throughout the years. One way is to help strengthen the spiritual health of a soldier with the help of Army chaplains…

[Cech’s] ‘Duty Day with God’ helps reduce stress and serves another purpose for Cech.

“I wanted to be able to take soldiers on a trip to help them relax and for me to try and build a relationship with them,” said Cech. “I wanted the soldiers to see an approachable chaplain for anything that is bothering them. I also wanted them to see that the chaplain goes everywhere the soldiers are.”

Read the full story.

Fort Bragg Issues Statement on Atheist Rock Beyond Belief

After Col Stephen Sicinski’s letter approving the atheist “Rock Beyond Belief” event was publicized, the Fort Bragg Garrison Commander reportedly responded directly to both RBB and the Secular Coalition for America, which has been publicly critical of his decision.  His message has not been made public by those organizations, despite the fact multiple groups continue to inaccurately portray Fort Bragg’s decision.  (Col Sicinski previously lamented the fact Fort Bragg was being “misrepresented.”)

Col Sicinski’s message, which reaffirms some points and contains some interesting details not previously made public, is below in its entirety (unedited):

Message from Col. Stephen Sicinski, Fort Bragg Read more

Chaplain Team Reaches Troops through Holy Crap

Enter any military unit (but especially an aviation one) and you’re likely to find the bathroom stalls stuffed with reading materials.  In some cases you might find laminated copies of aircraft emergency procedures; in others, it might just be generic left over magazines ranging from Guns and Ammo to Newseek; in almost all cases you’ll find copies of the most recent safety publications.  (In years past, various levels of adult magazines could be found in most fighter units.  That practice has largely, though not entirely, faded away).

A US Army Chaplain’s team composed of Chaplain (Capt) Jason Hohnberger and his assistant Sgt David Cavazos recently took advantage of the traditional practice:

Holy Crap: Chaplain’s Thought of the Week, where Read more

USAFA Religious Environment to be Reviewed, Again

According to the local Colorado Springs Independent, and repeated at other news sites, a former US Air Force Academy commandant and retired four-star General has been tasked to return to USAFA and review the religious climate.

As requested by the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Ret. Gen. Patrick Gamble will visit the academy to assess the religious climate.

“His visit is not an investigation or compliance inspection, but an independent, subjective look at the overall climate at USAFA relating to free exercise of religion,” the Air Force says in a statement. “A detailed report is not expected.”

Many of the networks that repeated the story, however, missed the far more interesting details…

Also noted at the Religion Clause.

The Military’s “Duty to Accommodate”

Mad Padre, a blogging Canadian military Chaplain, posted a link to an interesting article in The Maple Leaf, the Canadian military paper.  Entitled “Duty to accommodate in the CF,” the short article touches on the Canadian Forces’ policies on religious (and other) accommodation.

The article includes a picture of a Sikh Army officer.  The US Army has currently made few uniform exceptions for Sikhs within its ranks, both enlisted and officer.

Can Atheist Rock Beyond Belief meet Army Restrictions?

The truth of the US Army’s equitable treatment of “Rock Beyond Belief” has already been addressed.  Oddly, though, many people don’t know that RBB may not be able to meet the restrictions imposed upon it by the Army even if it does find the funding it needs to proceed.

What restrictions are those?  Well, the same ones put on the Christian “Rock the Fort,” of course:  Content.

Unnoticed by many has been the fact Fort Bragg restricted the content at “Rock the Fort.”  As noted in the After Action Report:

The bands and speakers stayed within the parameters that we gave them as directed by LTG Helmick, Read more

Rock Beyond Belief: Funded by the Christian Collection Plate?

The question of equitable treatment of “Rock Beyond Belief” has already been addressed in general terms.  What follows below is a more in-depth discussion on some of the specifics of the “Rock Beyond Belief” controversy, including Affiliation, Attendance, Funding, and Content.  It will certainly be referenced for the MRFF case file (Chris Rodda has undoubtedly been waiting for this), and Fort Bragg may even take a peek at it; it’s here for all to see.

If you only have a few minutes, recommended reading is the section on Funding, though Content is also enlightening.

There’s one interesting qualifier:  At least two of the issues below, about which supporters of RBB are only now complaining, were known last year.  Guess who brought them up?  “Rock Beyond Belief”…

Affiliation: “Rock Beyond Belief” organizers Read more

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