Free Republic

RNS) — More than 100 chaplains signed a letter urging local Texas school boards to vote against putting chaplains in public schools, calling efforts to enlist religious counselors in public classrooms “harmful” to students and families. The letter comes just days before a bill allowing public schools to hire school chaplains becomes law in Texas, the first state in the country to pass such a measure. The legislation, which had been pushed by activists associated with Christian nationalism, gives the state’s nearly 1,200 school boards until March 1 of next year to vote on whether to employ chaplains. The letter...

A disturbing report by the Justice Department Inspector General has revealed that incarcerated terrorists associated with international jihadist groups like al-Qaida, ISIS, and al-Shabaab have been allowed to lead religious services in Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) chapels. "We found that some institutions permitted inmates with a known nexus to international or domestic terrorism to lead religious services," said the report, which was issued earlier this month. The Inspector General investigated the BOP's overall Chaplaincy Services Program (CSP), and how it balances inmates' rights to faith-based activity with security risks. Not only did prison administrators allow terrorists to run religious services,...

A senior Army chaplain earlier this month emailed other chaplains the text of “Coronavirus and Christ,” a brief book by famed author, podcaster, and pastor John Piper. The command chaplain of U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea, Col. Moon H. Kim, wrote in his email: “This book has helped me refocus my sacred calling to my savior Jesus Christ to finish strong. Hopefully this small booklet would help you and your Soldiers, their Families, and others who you serve.”This email and the attached book have led to complaints from 22 other chaplains, who’ve enlisted the help of the Military...

Catholic Military Chaplains: America’s Forgotten Heroes “War is Hell” General William Tecumseh Sherman once noted. Indeed there is nothing to celebrate about warfare; however unfortunately it has been present with mankind in his fallen nature since departing from the Garden of Eden. War was a common affair throughout the Old Testament.Saint Augustine understood the sometimes unfortunate necessity of war and as a result outlined the “Just War” clauses to allow moral principles to still be applied. Later in more modern periods Saint Joan of Arc was called to battle by Our Lord, and in the twentieth century Our Lady noted...

Editor's Note: This column is co-authored by Joseph P. Infranco, Senior Counsel and Vice President for Alliance Coordination at Alliance Defending Freedom.The German submarine struck in the wee small hours, and despite all the precautions of its captain and crew, the USS Dorchester was hit hard and deep, and went down like a stone. The torpedo destroyed the ship’s electrical system, plunging those of the 900-plus soldiers aboard still alive into near total darkness, even before it took them down into the icy sea. Only 230 would survive the sinking; many of them owed their lives at least in part...

Medal of Honor: Catholic Chaplains in CombatJonathan Burgess In the early hours of a humid September day in 1967, warriors of the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 5th Marine Regiment descended on more 2,500 North Vietnamese soldiers near the village of Dong Son in Vietnam. Swiftly navigating the fray amid the sweaty, tired, battle-hardened young Marines, Fr. Vincent Capodanno tended to the souls of the wounded and dying in his care. Fr. Vincent Capodanno In just five hours of Operation Swift that early September day, twenty-six Marines were confirmed dead. The fighting grew more and more intense, hand-to-hand at...

If they have a "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" contest at the Bridgeview Mosque, Kifah Mustapha will probably win. Sheikh Mustapha, the Imam in charge, was in summer school. At the FBI. By one measure, Mustapha was a perfect fit for the FBI's Citizens' Academy. The 10-session regimen is intended for business, civic and religious leaders in Chicago and the 55 other FBI field offices where it is offered. Mustapha is the well-known leader at one of the nation's most popular mosques and is a national figure in American Islam. So considering his civic stature, it isn't surprising...

The U.S. Navy turned down the application of an atheist chaplain to serve in the Navy Chaplain Corps. The move comes after 43 members of Congress signed a letter warning that the very definition of what it means to be a chaplain is at stake. Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn (R) and Missouri Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R) explained in a joint statement on Wednesday that the Navy made the right call in turning down the appointment of Dr. Jason Heap, the national coordinator for the United Coalition of Reason based in Washington, D.C., who first made the attempt under the Obama...

If there aren't atheists in foxholes, why should we put them in the Chaplain Corps? Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) can't imagine. Like most leaders, he's astounded that the Navy is even considering letting someone who doesn't believe in God join the chaplaincy. Three years ago, the idea was so absurd that even Obama's military attorneys went to court to stop it. Now, with Secretary Jim Mattis at the helm, no one can quite understand why the topic is even up for discussion. The bizarre storyline started in 2015 when Jason Heap tried to sue his way into the chaplaincy. Not...

Radical atheist Jason Heap is hoping to become a Navy chaplain. The US Navy is seriously considering the approval of this anti-Christian activist for a spot in its Chaplain Corps. In February Heap retweeted a post by radical secularist group trashing Rev. Billy Graham after his death. ... Within a week of re-assigning (and possibly firing) one chaplain for expressing traditionalist Christian beliefs, the Navy is seriously considering the approval of an avowed “non-theistic humanist” for a spot in its Chaplain Corps. Conservative U.S. House and Senate members are formally urging the Navy not to approve the atheist for the...

Join Freepers throughout the world to pray for PRESIDENT TRUMP and VICE-PRESIDENT PENCE and for AMERICA: All Levels of Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, Health Care Systems and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. —1 John 5:14 Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. Please join us today as we pray for America's chaplains.

The Ministry of Justice is recruiting pagan chaplains to provide “religious care” at prisons across the country – with annual salaries of up to £29,ooo – despite many of the recruiting prisons facing guard shortages, Islamic extremist inmates, and drug epidemics. “The job holder will provide for the religious care of prisoners and staff in the Pagan faith tradition and appropriate pastoral care for all irrespective of faith or tradition,” one job description for a role covering Dartmoor, Channings Wood, and Exeter prisons reads. Applicants would be expected to “lead open ritual, officiate in Rites of Passage, and run workshops...

“The imam said he frequently gives money to needy people, particularly former members of his mosque.” Yes, the jihadi for whom he was buying the weapons was very needy. He needed to kill some Infidels. “Feds link Detroit terror suspect to ISIS supporter,” by Robert Snell, Detroit News, August 22, 2017: Detroit — Federal prosecutors Monday linked Sebastian Gregerson to a Virginia man who threatened to commit a domestic terror attack in support of the Islamic State. The link was revealed in a 47-page federal court filing that more fully describes ties between Gregerson and like-minded associates, including a radical...

Former University of South Florida Professor Sami Al-Arian was on the inside of an elaborate international network designed to conceal funding for terrorist organizations, a federal investigator claims in a newly released court document. The network used ``a convoluted web of multiple transactions'' by a network of companies, trusts and charities - mostly run by the same few people - to hide money going to two militant Palestinian groups, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the investigator says. The suspect organizations were part of ``a complex coalition of overlapping companies in northern Virginia controlled by individuals who have shown support...

Congressional panel directs Navy to rescind policy barring 'sectarian' prayers A Navy chaplain court-martialed for wearing his uniform during a public event in which he prayed in Jesus' name is declaring victory after a congressional conference committee agreed on a compromise rescinding a Navy policy that barred "sectarian" prayers. "This is a tremendous victory for religious liberty," said Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt in an interview with WND. "Chaplains are free again to pray in Jesus name." The conferees, working out differences between House and Senate versions of the Defense Appropriation Act, are directing the secretary of the Navy to rescind...

William Christopher, the actor best known as Father Mulcahy on the classic sitcom M.A.S.H., died today following a battle with lung cancer. He was 84, and died in his Pasadena home according to his son, John, who made the news public.

Five Chaplains Lose Jobs for Praying 'In Jesus' Name' ... Virginia Governor Tim Kaine Urged to Stop Persecuting Christians Contact: Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt, 719-360-5132 cell, chaplaingate@yahoo.com RICHMOND, Virginia, Sept. 25 /Christian Newswire/ -- Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is defending why his administration forced the sudden resignation of five Virginia State Police Chaplains because they prayed publicly "in Jesus' name." Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty single-handedly created then enforced a strict "non-sectarian" prayer policy at all public gatherings, censoring and excluding Christian prayers, then accepted the resignation of five chaplains who refused to deny Jesus or violate their conscience...

White House Holds Meeting With Muslims And Sikhs by KRISTIN DONNELLY, CHRIS JANSING and CORKY SIEMASZKO President Obama's top advisers held a series of meetings Monday with Muslim and Sikh religious leaders to discuss the fallout their communities are facing in the wake of the deadly San Bernardino shootings. Senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, Domestic Policy Council director Cecilia Munoz, and Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes took part in the White House sit-downs — a dozen days after a radicalized Muslim couple fatally shot 14 people and wounded 21 more in California. The Chicago-born Syed Farood and his wife Tashfeen...

An atheist group is demanding that publicly funded universities take immediate steps to bar Christian coaches and chaplains from “converting football fields into mission fields.” “The words of coaches and chaplains make clear that their purpose is to instill Christianity in vulnerable young men,” the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) says in a new report, titled “Pray to Play.” “Public universities and their employees cannot endorse, promote, or favor religion,” the report states. “Yet, many football coaches at public universities bring in chaplains—often from their own church or even members of their own family—to prey on and pray with students,...

Prison officials in the state of Kentucky have told chaplains that they are not allowed to speak of homosexual activity as sinful. The Department of Juvenile Justice revoked the credentials of a Baptist chaplain, citing his refusal to comply with a policy that forbids reference to homosexuality as sinful. Chaplains who do not agree to abide by that policy will not be allowed to work in prisons, officials said. The Kentucky policy stipulates that "staff, volunteers, interns and contractors shall not imply or tell LGBTQI juveniles that they are abnormal, deviant, sinful or that they can or should change their...