Although, Atheists Say They're Short on Lawyers to Sue ALL Christians
UPDATE 12/19/13: Army & Navy Take Orders from Atheists
Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Army has temporarily stopped all troop briefings on extremist organizations after myriad media reports from soldiers that they were being instructed to consider Christians as the worst terrorists.
“. . . Army leaders [shall] cease all briefings, command presentations or training on the subject of extremist organizations or activities until that program of instruction and training has been created and disseminated.”For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:
-- Col. David Patterson, Jr., Army spokesman
Air Force Engages War on Christianity, Say Lawmakers
Lesbian Officer Punishes Airman for Moral Beliefs
President Obama's Army Says Christians are Worst Terrorists
West Point Study Warns of Christian Terrorists
Pentagon Gay Agenda: Christians are 'Hate Groups'
Pentagon Says Following Jesus' Command is a Court Martial Offense
-- From "'So help me God' optional in Air Force oath" by The Associated Press 10/25/13
[Air Force Academy] officials said Friday the words were made optional after a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation [MRFF], an advocacy group.
Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson says the change was made to respect cadets' freedom of religion.
The oath states, "We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does. Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and to live honorably, so help me God."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Air Force Academy decides to make ‘in God’ portion of oath ‘optional’" by Thomas Hendrick, KDVR-TV31 (Dever) 10/25/13
Last week, the Colorado Springs Independent newspaper published a photograph of a poster at the academy which included the oath. The newspaper then forwarded the photo to MRFF President Mikey Weinstein.
Weinstein wrote a letter to Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson. Weinstein said she responded 68 minutes later.
“The Prep School poster has been taken down,” she wrote in an email reply posted by the Independent.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "'So help me God' part of Air Force Academy cadet oath made optional" by Travis Ruiz, KXRM-TV21 (Colorado Springs) 10/25/13
Late Friday morning, officials said they had reviewed the Cadet Honor Oath and decided to make the final clause optional, in the 'spirit of determining a way ahead that enables all to be true to their beliefs.'
In 1984, the Cadet Wing voted to add an "Honor Oath," for all cadets to take and it is administered to fourth class cadets (freshmen) when they are formally accepted into the Wing at the conclusion of Basic Cadet Training.
The Honor Code is a vital part of cadets’ development as military professionals. It also represents a broader aspect of ethical maturity which will serve them throughout their lives. As the bearers of the public trust, both as cadets and as officers, it is the Honor Code which helps build a personal integrity able to withstand the rigorous demands placed upon them
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Academy makes 'God' optional in cadets' oath" by Stephen Losey, Air Force Times Staff Writer 10/25/13
. . . But Weinstein said nothing short of eliminating the “so help me God” language from the oath is acceptable. Making it optional would not be good enough, he said, because airmen who chose not to say it would feel pressure.
“The Air Force Academy took the cowardly route,” Weinstein said after the announcement. “From our perspective, it still creates a tremendous amount of unconstitutional turmoil ... for anyone who is a religious objector.”
Weinstein pledged earlier in the week to bring a lawsuit against the academy if the religious language is not dropped entirely from the oath.
Weinstein graduated from the academy in 1977, and spent 10 years in the Air Force as a judge advocate general, and more than three years as legal counsel for the Reagan administration. His two sons, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law also graduated from the academy. Weinstein, who is Jewish, said his younger son experienced anti-Semitic prejudice while attending the academy in 2004, after the movie “The Passion of the Christ” was released. He said cadets were being pressured to see the movie. He founded MRFF later that year.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Army halts training program that labeled Christians as extremists" by Todd Starnes, FoxNews.com 10/24/13
The Secretary of the Army has ordered military leaders to halt all briefings on extremist organizations that labeled Evangelical Christian groups as domestic hate groups. The shutdown comes just four days after I reported exclusively about a briefing at Mississippi’s Camp Shelby that labeled the American Family Association [AFA] as a domestic hate group.
Last week soldiers at Fort Hood were warned that participating in or donating money to evangelical Christian groups or Tea Party groups could result in military punishment.
So where did the Army instructors get their talking points?
“None of these slides were produced by the Army, but by soldiers who included information found during an Internet search,” Patterson told me.
“The Army does not maintain or publish a list of organizations considered extremist; and after a similar incident earlier this year, commanders and other leaders were cautioned that they should not use lists of ‘extremists,’ ‘hate groups,’ ‘radical factions’ or the like compiled by any outside non-governmental groups or organizations for briefings, command presentations, or as a shortcut to determining if a group or activity is considered to be extremist.”
But the Army does provide a list of organizations that do list groups like the AFA and FRC as domestic hate groups – specifically the Southern Poverty Law Center. And the SPLC is featured in the military’s Equal Opportunity Advisor Student Guide.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
For background, read SPLC Labels Christian Hate Groups for Bible Honesty and also read SPLC Spawns Homosexualists' Terrorist Attack on Christians
From "Army stands down on Christian bashing" by Bob Unruh, World Net Daily 10/25/13
The Camp Shelby episode also drew the attention of Congress, where Reps. Doug Lamborn, Steve Scalise, John Fleming, Joseph Pitts and Tim Huelskamp joined in a letter to the Pentagon stating: “This most recent mislabeling of a Christian organization reflects what appears to be a troubling trend of religious intolerance in the military.”
Tim Wildmon, president of AFA, one of the country’s largest Christian ministries, said: “We are probably going to be taking legal action. The Army has smeared us. They’ve defamed the American Family Association.”
AFA’s [Brian] Fischer suggested that if the “military wasn’t headed by a commander in chief who is hostile to Christian faith, these allegations would be laughed off every military base in the world.”
The Obama administration’s attacks on conservatives date back to just weeks after he took office.
Judicial Watch, a government corruption monitor, said it obtained records regarding the “preparation and presentation of training materials on hate groups or hate crimes distributed or used by the Air Force.”
The teaching claimed: “In U.S. history, there are many examples of extremist ideologies and movements. The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule and the Confederate states who sought to secede from the Northern states are just two examples.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 10/28/13: From "Army Briefing Labels Christians, Tea Party as Terror Threats" by Todd Starnes, FoxNews.com
A soldier who attended the Oct. 17th [pre-deployment briefing at Fort Hood] told me the counter-intelligence agent in charge of the meeting spent nearly a half hour discussing how evangelical Christians and groups like the American Family Association were “tearing the country apart.”
The soldier told me he fears reprisals and asked not to be identified. He said there was a blanket statement that donating to any groups that were considered a threat to the military and government was punishable under military regulations.
The soldier said they were also told that the pro-life movement is another example of “radicalization.”
Another soldier who attended the briefing alerted the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. That individual’s recollections of the briefing matched the soldier who reached out to me.
And while a large portion of the briefing dealt with the threat evangelicals and the Tea Party pose to the nation, barely a word was said about Islamic extremism, the soldier said.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
For further background, read President Obama Redefines 1st Amendment Freedom of Religion and yet President Obama Denies Leading War Against Christianity, and so Congress Responds to Obama's Military Attack on Christians
In addition, read Christians in President Obama's Military? Don't Ask, Don't Tell and also read President Obama Raises the Gay Agenda in the Military above Religious Liberty as well as President Obama Shuts Down Catholic Church, with Government
