One of the following was officially promoted by the US Army. The other was banned by the US Army.
Care to guess which one?
The picture of BGen Tammy Smith — sometimes vaunted Read more
The US Army post at Fort Riley recently cancelled a scheduled prayer breakfast because Michael “Mikey” Weinstein complained about the speaker: Retired LtGen William “Jerry” Boykin.
A wide variety of people have come out in support of LtGen Boykin, including Franklin Graham, Ted Cruz, and Congressman Tim Huelskamp — the Representative for the District encompassing Fort Riley.
LtGen Boykin is now calling for an apology from the US Army — not for him, but for the troops [emphasis added]:
What is really important about this is that the leadership of Fort Riley caved to pressure by these extremists and denied every person who planned to attend this event their own First Amendment rights.
I am told that there were many people who planned to attend and that 80 percent of the soldiers at the Fort self-identify as Christian. Attendance was totally voluntary, and no one was compelled to be there…
The Commanding General of the 1st Infantry Division, Maj. Gen. Wayne Grigsby, should apologize to the soldiers of Fort Riley and assure them that the leadership of Fort Riley will stand up to the anti-religious freedom agitators and defend their rights of assembly and the right to believe and live out their faith.
LtGen Boykin’s call for an apology is an outstanding reminder Read more
Retired LtGen William “Jerry” Boykin was scheduled to speak at Fort Riley’s prayer breakfast next Monday. Michael “Mikey” Weinstein — president of his self-founded Military Religious Freedom Foundation — found out and demanded the Army withdraw the invitation.
The Army post at Fort Riley responded by cancelling the event, saying it would be rescheduled later — without General Boykin:
“Due to a number of scheduling conflicts … the breakfast will be rescheduled for a later date,” 1st ID spokesman Master Sgt. Mike Lavigne said in a Wednesday email…
Citing Fort Riley’s “diverse community,” Lavigne said 1st ID “will pursue the invitation of a different speaker for the prayer breakfast once it is rescheduled.”
The move may placate Read more
UPDATE: Various media outlets published coverage of the hearing, which generally appeared to go well for Sterling. Noted at the Religion Clause, FoxNews, Washington Post, Stars and Stripes, ChristianPost, Bretibart, the Daily Caller, and NC Register, among others. The ACLJ discussed it here.
The Family Research Council announced retired US Army LtGen Jerry Boykin would attend the oral arguments today for the appeal of US v Sterling, in which former Marine Monifa Sterling is attempting to defend the public display of Bible verses on her desk.
In this case, the court will decide whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) protects a Marine…lance corporal [who] desired to post the verses to give her inspiration and strength, but military superiors ordered her to remove the verses she posted.
A lower court refused to protect her religious expression, interpreting RFRA in a constrained manner to protect only certain types of religious exercise. FRC and numerous other religious freedom advocates are urging the court to overturn this harmful decision.
In point of fact, a lot of people — including 10 US states — filed briefs in support Read more
The American Military Partner Association (AMPA) is a homosexual “charity” that lobbies on behalf of sexual liberty in the US military. It purports to “represent the modern military family,” in which “modern” is presumably “homosexual,” judging by the photos adorning its website.
The AMPA has a history of using uniformed military members in roles that likely violate military regulations. For example, last year the AMPA used photos of “AMPA members” in military uniforms to encourage opposition to legislation — something uniformed military members (and charities) aren’t supposed to do. It fills its Facebook page with AMPA endorsements by uniformed service members, while troops aren’t allowed to endorse other groups.
The AMPA also hosted a “national gala” last year — at which a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense was the keynote speaker — and has used the photos of its leadership committee from that event to promote its cause:
Standing out, of course, are the two people in military uniform. According Read more
In an interesting twist to an old tale, Allen West — a retired Army LtCol and former Florida Representative — compared the “covert action of atheist groups” in the United States to the militant attacks by the terrorist group ISIS in Syria and Iraq:
What is the difference between the violent actions of ISIS and the covert actions of these atheist groups? Let’s be honest, the desired end state and result is the same — the death of Christianity.
Citing Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s attacks on religious liberty (specifically, his support for the Navy lodges banning Gideon Bibles), West said Read more
A petition sponsored by the Family Research Council and the Restore Military Religious Freedom coalition garnered more than 100,000 signatures before it was delivered to the US Air Force Academy last week.
The petition seems nobly intended:
The petition calls on the Air Force Academy to protect the First Amendment rights of cadets, after a recent incident in which a cadet was censored for writing a Bible verse on a white board outside of his dorm room.
and its text calls for USAFA to “protect the religious expression” of cadets:
Recently, a handwritten Bible verse on a United States Air Force Academy cadet’s dry-erase board was removed after a complaint by an anti-Christian activist group…As an American, I trust the Air Force Academy to train up the best young men and women our nation has to offer…Part of that trust hinges upon the notion that the Academy would protect the religious freedom Read more
Retired US Army LtGen William “Jerry” Boykin was apparently reprimanded last year for his 2008 book Never Surrender (reviewed here years ago):
According to the Jan. 23, 2013, memorandum, the Army determined that Boykin’s book disclosed “classified information concerning cover methods, counterterrorism/counter-proliferation operations, operational deployments, infiltration methods, pictures, and tactics, techniques and procedures that may compromise ongoing operations.”
Interestingly, General Boykin seemed to downplay, rather than rebut, the reprimand. By the same token, he noted there was more to the story: Read more