Tag Archives: religious freedom

Mark Green Withdraws from Nomination for Secretary of the Army

Tennessee state senator Mark Green has withdrawn his name from consideration for the position of Secretary of the Army.

“To meet these challenges, there should be no distractions. And unfortunately due to false and misleading attacks against me, this nomination has become a distraction,” [Mark Green] said in his statement.

“Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain,” he continued. “While these false attacks have no bearing on the needs of the Army or my qualifications to serve, I believe it is critical to give the President the ability to move forward with his vision to restore our military to its rightful place in the world.”

Score:

  • Those who hold certain religious beliefs: 0.
  • Those who like to participate in specific sexual behaviors: 1.

What a backwards Read more

Gen Boykin Speaks Out in Defense of Mark Green

Secretary of the Army nominee Mark Green, who already enjoys the support of Secretary of Defense James Mattis, recently had retired LtGen Jerry Boykin speak up in his defense [emphasis added]:

Retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, an executive vice president at the Family Research Council, said Green has had the courage to stand up in a politically correct environment and state his religious views.

“I don’t think there is any question that he is being targeted for his Christian faith,” he said.

Meanwhile, Green, as a former soldier and Army surgeon, has great qualifications to be secretary and is a candidate who already understands troops, Boykin said.

It is telling that none of Green’s critics have Read more

President Trump on Military Religious Freedom

In the proclamation for the National Day of Prayer:

We are also reminded and reaffirm that all human beings have the right, not only to pray and worship according to their consciences, but to practice their faith in their homes, schools, charities, and businesses in private and in the public square free from government coercion, discrimination, or persecution. Religion is not merely an intellectual exercise, but also a practical one that demands action in the world. Even the many prisoners around the world who are persecuted for their faith can pray privately in their cells. But our Constitution demands more: the freedom to practice one’s faith publicly.

The religious liberty guaranteed by the Constitution is not a favor from the government, but a natural right bestowed by God…

That seems almost a direct affront to those who have claimed religious liberty in America was only freedom of “worship” — privately, within the four walls of your church, synagogue, etc.

At the signing of an Executive Order protecting religious freedom: Read more

Help for Moral Injury Requires Moral Authority

US Army Alaska chaplain recently participated in a “Holistic Healthcare Conference” that included discussions on PTSD and moral injury.

In a panel discussion, Chaplain (Maj) James Hall made a fascinating statement:

When asked about where service members could seek out help, Hall replied, “it usually takes a moral authority to help someone with a moral injury.”

At first it almost sounds arrogant — but, in fact, it’s true. Consider Read more

Yes, You Are a Government-Paid Missionary in Uniform

David Plummer, a chaplain-endorser with the liberal leaning Coalition of Spirit-Filled Churches, responded to the DoD’s decision to publish a new “Faith and Belief” list by making an aside that the

military chaplaincy is NOT about being a “government-paid pastor or missionary in uniform.”

Plummer is making a reference to a phrase made famous by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF, which copied (and slightly edited) a video from a 2004 chapel assembly at Dallas Theological Seminary by US Army Chaplain (Maj) Douglas Duerksen*. Chaplain Duerksen described the military society as “amoral” and “unchurched” — making it a “magnificent mission field.” He followed Read more

Are You a Christian Supremacist? Maybe You Should Be.

For the past few years, critics of Christians in America have been searching for a label that would catch on and advance their message of opposing Christian values and those who hold them.

For some time they’d tried “Christian extremist,” borrowing from Islamic extremists, but it faltered largely because few people see Christians strapping on suicide vests and blowing up shopping malls. Besides, what’s a Christian extremist going to do? Tell you Jesus really, really loves you?

More recently, activists have tried to label Christians as “supremacists,” presumably borrowing from the more commonly heard term “white supremacists”. Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has been using the term for quite some time to malign Christians in the military, and Tom Carpenter of the homosexual activist Forum on the Military Chaplaincy recently used it to criticize Ron Crews and the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty.

But what does it actually mean?

If we’ve learned anything over the past few years, it has been that words have meaning — at least, they’re supposed to, until such time as the culture starts to skew what the words were meant to say (see: discrimination).

So what is a “supremacist”?

Well, it depends.

According to Read more

Davis Monthan Does Diversity Differently

Apparently attempting to avoid the sometimes common stigma of “dial a special interest” month, Davis Monthan Air Force Base opted to have a “cultural awareness festival” that combined the celebrations of a variety of “diversities” normally held in different months:

The festival, titled Strengthening Resiliency through Diversity, was held as an alternative to the Department of Defense supported-observances by combining all monthly observances into a family-friendly, annual event…

The article listed some of the represented “diversities” as Read more

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