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The Air Force will now allow airmen to omit ‘so help me God’ from enlistment oaths
The Washington Post ^
| September 17, 2014
| Abby Ohlheiser
Posted on 09/17/2014 10:41:07 PM PDT by right-wing agnostic
After an airman was unable to complete his reenlistment because he omitted the part of a required oath that states so help me God, the Air Force changed its instructions for the oath.
Following a review of the policy by the Department of Defense General Counsel, the Air Force will now permit airmen to omit the phrase, should they so choose. That change is effective immediately, according to an Air Force statement.
We take any instance in which Airmen report concerns regarding religious freedom seriously, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said in the statement. We are making the appropriate adjustments to ensure our Airmens rights are protected.
The Air Force will be updating the instructions for both enlisted and commissioned Airmen to reflect these changes in the coming weeks, but the policy change is effective now. Airmen who choose to omit the words So help me God from enlistment and officer appointment oaths may do so.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
TOPICS: Religion; Society
KEYWORDS: oaths; sohelpmegod; usairforce
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To: right-wing agnostic
Whose Constitution?
Morality in the Army and Navy
Congress was apprehensive about the moral condition of the American army and navy and took steps to see that Christian morality prevailed in both organizations. In the Articles of War, seen below, governing the conduct of the Continental Army (adopted, June 30, 1775; revised, September 20, 1776), Congress devoted three of the four articles in the first section to the religious nurture of the troops. Article 2 "earnestly recommended to all officers and soldiers to attend divine services." Punishment was prescribed for those who behaved "indecently or irreverently" in churches, including courts-martial, fines and imprisonments. Chaplains who deserted their troops were to be court-martialed.
Morality in the Navy
Congress particularly feared the navy as a source of moral corruption and demanded that skippers of American ships make their men behave. The first article in Rules and Regulations of the Navy (below), adopted on November 28, 1775, ordered all commanders "to be very vigilant . . . to discountenance and suppress all dissolute, immoral and disorderly practices." The second article required those same commanders "to take care, that divine services be performed twice a day on board, and a sermon preached on Sundays." Article 3 prescribed punishments for swearers and blasphemers: officers were to be fined and common sailors were to be forced "to wear a wooden collar or some other shameful badge of distinction."
21
posted on
09/18/2014 5:21:02 AM PDT
by
DJ MacWoW
(The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
To: right-wing agnostic
Thanks to
Debra Lee Jones. From Dec 2013.
WASHINGTON Deborah Lee James will be installed as the new Air Force Secretary next Tuesday, following a Senate confirmation vote Friday.
Although Ms. James was not a controversial nominee winning approval on a 79-6 vote Friday her confirmation has been held up for months.
22
posted on
09/18/2014 5:54:36 AM PDT
by
Arrowhead1952
(Guns are like parachutes. If you need one and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again.)
To: right-wing agnostic
I entered the U.S, Air Force in January, 1964. Among the things I was issued was a pocket-sized Bible. It was not forced on me, and I was never forced to attend church. The military did nothing to force religion on any of us.
The Bibles were of our personal preference, I.e. “Protestant, Catholic”, etc.
This whacked out notion that the military forced religion on anyone is as absurd as it is untrue.
23
posted on
09/18/2014 6:09:41 AM PDT
by
FrankR
(They will become our ultimate masters the day we surrender the 2nd Amendment.)
To: headstamp 2
To: pepsionice
“The Pentagon legal staff really didnt do anything except ask what Air Force idiot made the change, and how theyd come to that rational decision,”
Nobody forces the “lost” to join the greatest military on earth. They do it of their own accord. If the “Chair force” has become the ‘shrinking violet’ of the armed forces, who’s next, to follow their unGodly example?
It’s no wonder the world laughs at us.
To: American in Israel
It doesn’t work for me nor my friends of Israel.
If someone wants to deny God that’s their personal problem.
26
posted on
09/18/2014 9:54:58 AM PDT
by
Vendome
(Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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