Tag Archives: religious freedom

Chaplain Highlights Fighter Pilot Experience in Ministry

Chaplain (Maj) Kenneth DeVoie is the Wing Chaplain of the 104th Fighter Wing, which flies F-15s out of Massachusetts. He recently spent a year in Korea as the Command Chaplain for Special Operations Command Korea (SOCKOR) in Seoul. While his story is interesting, this paragraph stands out:

This Spiritual Guide credits some of his ability to succeed in that environment back to his experience working with the F-15 Fighter Jet pilots here at the 104th Fighter Wing.

“I think Read more

Military Chapels Winning Souls through Financial Peace

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University has found a unique — and large — following within the military chapel community. While not a “Christian” financial program per se, Ramsey is a Christian and ultimately bases his ideas on his faith. (He even connects financial “peace” to the “Prince of Peace” every day on his radio show.) This — and its success — has made the program popular among churches — and the US military.

In just one example, the chapel Read more

Mikey Weinstein’s John Compere Schooled by ACLJ. Again.

John Compere is a bit of an oddity at Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF. Like many in Weinstein’s circle, he flaunts his credentials, choosing to anoint himself with this byline:

Brigadier General John Compere, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, US Army (Retired), former Chief Judge, US Army Court of Military Review, disabled American veteran (Vietnam), MRFF Advisory Board Member & Texas rancher

(Run by a man whose ego knows no bounds, humility seems to run deep at Mikey Weinstein’s MRFF. In another example, Weinstein disciple Greg Petrequin frequently, and humbly, introduces himself as a “retired senior military officer.”)

Compere — who is otherwise unknown to anyone — never really gives anyone a reason to understand why they should listen to him, and his writings certainly don’t help. While Compere beats out compatriot Chris Rodda’s writings by actually having a point, he appears to borrow from both Rodda and Weinstein as he lets obtuse wording, word count, and pithy quotations pass for supporting a thesis.

And, of course, Compere believes he cannot be wrong.

Thus, when the ACLJ’s Skip Ash wrote a lengthy and thorough rebuttal to a Compere piece in 2016, Compere responded by saying the very fact anyone would dare to critique his position confirmed the piece’s “accuracy”:  Read more

OCF, First Liberty Team Up on Military Religious Freedom

Officers’ Christian Fellowship and First Liberty Institute recently participated in an episode of OCF’s fledgling Crosspoint podcast in which retired Navy JAG CAPT Chris Blake and First Liberty lawyer (and Reserve Marine JAG) Mike Berry discussed the “religious rights of those in uniform.”

At one point, CAPT Blake asks “what has changed” over the past few decades that makes it seem the support for religious freedom has waned since the unashamed exercise of faith years ago. To that, Mike Berry had a witty reply:

The opponents of religious freedom have become louder…but that doesn’t make them more correct.

That was an observation Read more

In Clever Move, President Trump Rescinds Military Transgender Ban

Though it isn’t being reported this way, last Friday President Trump actually rescinded the ban he previously implemented on transgenders in the military last August.  The new memorandum (PDF) explicitly withdrew his prior policy:

I hereby revoke my memorandum of August 25, 2017, “Military Service by Transgender Individuals,” and any other directive I may have made with respect to military service by transgender individuals.

The new memo did not institute a new presidential directive.  Rather, the President deferred to the Department of Defense — that is, the “independent judgment” of the DoD — with regard to its policies.  He said [emphasis added]:

These [DoD-produced] documents set forth the policies on this issue that the Secretary of Defense, in the exercise of his independent judgment, has concluded should be adopted by the Department of Defense.

It’s a clever move.  Lawsuits and Read more

Holy Cross Abandons the Crusader

The College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts has decided to abandon their historic mascot, The Crusader.

The Jesuit school said they had decided to retire its beloved Knight for the sake of “inter-religious understanding and dialogue.”

“For some, knight imagery alone could convey nobility, chivalry and bravery. However, the visual depiction of a knight, in conjunction with the moniker Crusader, inevitably ties us directly to the reality of the religious wars and the violence of the Crusades. This imagery stands in contrast to our stated values,” College president Philip Boroughs said in a statement.

Apparently the College is going to retain the name Crusaders, but Read more

Chaplain Costin Speaks on Value of Sermon on the Mount

Chaplain (MajGen) Dondi Costin, US Air Force Chief of Chaplains, spoke at a spiritual resiliency luncheon at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, in March — and he highlighted the practical value of the Sermon on the Mount:

To bring awareness on the importance of spiritual wellness, Maj. Gen. Dondi Costin, the Chief of Chaplains Headquarters U.S. Air Force…spoke of how the Sermon on the Mount, generally considered as the foundation for ethical conduct, relates to every day life.

“The thing about this entire speech, which Read more

US Navy Again Rejects Humanist Chaplain Jason Heap

For the second time, the US Navy has denied the application of Dr. Jason Heap to become a “humanist chaplain” in the sea service. A Navy board had supported his appointment; when word of that decision leaked, members of both the House and Senate wrote the Navy in protest. Those congressmen have now revealed that the Navy has rejected Heap’s application, again.

Heap’s application as been widely opposed by religious liberty groups, largely because humanism isn’t a religion — and the chaplaincy is religious.

On that point, Hemant Mehta, the poorly Read more

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