HMMMmmm...
Just tape a dollar up...
Posted on 11/30/2015 6:51:30 AM PST by BlackFemaleArmyColonel
The highest U.S. military court will hear the case of a Marine who was punished for refusing to remove a Bible verse from her workstation.
In May, 2013 then-Lance Cpl. Monifa Sterling kept a Bible verse on her computer in three places. The verses read "No weapon formed against me shall prosper," a modification of the Isaiah 54:17, according to the Catholic News Agency.
Ms. Sterling's staff sergeant demanded she remove the verse, but Ms. Sterling refused, saying she had the right to express her religious freedom.
The next day Ms. Sterling arrived to find the verses had been ripped down from her station. She put them up again. The cycle repeated until Ms. Sterling was court-martialed on Feb. 1, 2014.
She was convicted of disrespecting a superior commissioned officer, failing to go to an appointed place of duty, and disobeying a lawful order on four separate occasions, The Daily Caller reported.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals also sided against Ms. Sterling, saying significant damage could be caused by forcing military employees to be exposed to a religious quotation, CNA reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
There is a political purge of our military these days. It is occurring at all levels.
Isaiah 55:11
...so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
The question I have is whether ALL personal stuff was supposed to be eliminated from your work area.
The 'court' did nothing.
Actual men/women did.
What are their names?
1 Peter 4:12-19 King James Version (KJV)
12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.
16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
"within limits"
-- Powers That Be
Just tape a dollar up...
Surely a copy of one of his statements would be permissible; right?
Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society.
May have been a different translation.
Isaiah 54:17 King James Version (KJV)
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
If it were a verse from the Koran would she have been ordered to remove it? I doubt it.
Her purpose in being the Marines was to be a Marine and to perform her desk job and other duties as assigned as an active duty Marine and as ordered by her superior officers and command chain; her main job being that of helping her fellow Marines with their CAC problems; something she found to be so frustrating and something that she had very little patience for or for her fellow Marines, hence her feeling the need that she had to post, not once, twice but three times - and all over her workstation that she shared with others but also FWIW outward pointing so others would see it, not her - the "No weapon formed against me shall prosper" as a reminder, not perhaps as not a reminder to her to be a good and patient Christian herself as she claims, but it would seem but more as a warning to others including her superior officers, not to mess with her. And note she made it all about "ME" and not about "GOD".
And aside from the Bible verses, follow orders and performing her job duties was something she evidently didn't like doing very much if you read the transcript of her court martial appeal - there was a lot more involved here than just her posting Bible verses on her desk; she had a long history of being "locked in an antagonistic relationship with her superiors" that extended before and beyond the dispute with over the biblical phrases, and she faced several charges of disobeying orders on at least four separate occasions not related to religion in her Court Martial and her behavior and refusal to obey orders and being antagonistic and surely toward superior officers had become a bone of contention with other Marines who felt the many times she wasn't disciplined for not following orders in the past, getting away with it, was a cause for them to do the same. There was a breakdown of morale and of discipline based not on how hard they were on her but how lenient they had been on her in the past.
She's only playing the "religion" trump card now in her 2nd appeal and not challenging the other reasons for her dismissal from the Marines because she has no good defense against the other charges that got her booted out.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3366317/posts?page=58#58
If she wanted to be an evangelist for her faith and get paid for it, there are jobs out there for that too. And I hope she finds a job in that line of work as she was not well suited for being a Marine.
Exactly.
Amen.
More evidence that liberalism is infectious and a mental disorder.
Not today, no. At least not for military members in their work spaces.
Now if they wanted to quote Bruce Jenner or BLM or the koran, it wouldn’t be a problem. Quoting dead white non-transexual males, especially Christian ones? No dice.
Note that CONgress in it’s oversight role has done nothing. If anything they’ve facilitated the current situation. WYSIWYG.
Sounds like there was some tension already within the command. It happens...trust me:) So I agree there were other more Christian and professional ways to handle the situation. One is what you suggest. Obey the order and then put your Bible in your workspace. I did that for most of my career.
If the command allowed sports team displays and other such "personalizations" in personal workspace, then the Marine has cause for complaint. But I would have advised her to do as you suggested. For as Christians we are to be at peace with non-believers as much as possible.
Now if she took my advice and had her Bible in her workspace and THEN was pressed to remove it...wow yes that would be a violation of her religious liberties. She would then have recourse to use the chain of command and commander's open door policies to report such.
Again we should consider the command climate. If the Marine had a zealous supervisor 'looking' for a reason to make hay with a Christian, I am sure the chain of command will find out such in an inquiry.
On the matter of UCMJ punishment (non-judicial or not) I think is an over reaction. These matters should be handled by cooler heads up the chain.
Oh and for those who are still on active duty...having your Bible on your desk is good for Christians to do. Every spare moment it should be opened and studied. Also, I found out that the verbal profanity rate of others reduces significantly within visual range.
She did this wrong, bringing it on herself.
She should have started with the IG and worked her way through the system. By disobeying an order the spotlight was shifted onto her as being the troublemaker.
What I suggested is more tedious, but it would have kept her within the system designed to protect a Servicemember’s rights.
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