Free Republic

MISSOULA - Captain (Chaplain) Matthew Christensen, a 1992 graduate of Flathead High School, was awarded the Soldier's Medal last week for his actions that resulted in saving the lives of two soldiers. When Christensen went to counsel a soldier who was having a hard time, he didn’t realize it would escalate into a dangerous hostage situation. Christensen spent much of the night counseling the soldier. Later, the soldier's roommate and another chaplain showed up at the barracks. Things got worse. The soldier called some family members, cursing them for abusive situations in the past. Christensen said, "And then he just...

Lt. Col. Khallid Shabazz will become the first Muslim division-level chaplain in the history of the U.S. military – a Muslim spiritual leader for more than 14,000 mostly Christian soldiers [I am re-posting to include information on Shabbazz's connection to Ft. Hood terrorist Nidal Hasan. (Link and information in comment below).] Original Post

In January, Lt. Col. Khallid Shabazz received the call every Army chaplain dreams of, the call that validates years of intense study and hard work toward keeping the U.S. military in good spiritual health. He was offered the job of chaplain for an entire division, an honor for anyone in his field but a milestone in his case. After a ceremony this summer, Shabazz will become the first Muslim division-level chaplain in the history of the U.S. military – a Muslim spiritual leader for more than 14,000 mostly Christian soldiers. He’d like to think his transition will be as smooth...

Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Former Catholic Priest Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Production and Distribution of Child Pornography A former U.S. Navy Lt. Commander and ordained Catholic priest was sentenced to 30 years in prison today for charges involving the sexual exploitation of children, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III of the District of Delaware. John Thomas Matthew Lee, 51, of Millsboro, Delaware, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leonard P. Stark...

LOS ANGELES -- William Christopher, the actor best known for playing Fr. Francis Mulcahy on the smash sitcom “MASH,” has died, CBS Los Angeles reports. He was 84. Christopher’s son confirmed his death to CBS Los Angeles.

Washington D.C., Dec 15, 2016 / 03:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- You might have seen an Army chaplain devoutly praying the rosary on the sideline during Saturday's Army-Navy football game. Who was he and what was he praying for? “I always pray for both our teams, for no serious injury on either team. And I pray for the kids on both teams, and just for their holiness and their salvation,” Fr. Matthew Pawlikowski, chaplain of the United States Military Academy at West Point, told CNA. “And then I ask for Army's victory,” he added. Saturday's Army-Navy game was the 117th meeting...

An All Souls Day Traditional Latin Mass was celebrated Wednesday on the Fort Hood Military base. The Mass was offered on the hood of a military humvee, the traditional way Mass is offered during time of battle. With some 60 people in attendance, the Mass was especially offered up for the fallen 1st Cavalry Division soldiers who died in the Battle of Unsanin during the Korean War on November 2, 1950. The Mass was held on the grounds of the 1st Cavalry Division Museum and was also in honor of Fr. Emile Kapaun, 1st Cavalry Division chaplain and Medal of...

The U.S. Navy chaplain who was removed from the military for disobeying a “lawful” order banning prayer “in Jesus’ name” has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and overturn a decade of rulings in his case. The petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court was filed by attorney John B. Wells on behalf of Gordon J. Klingenschmitt. His case was filed back in 2011, after his removal from the military over the issue of praying “in Jesus’ name” sparked years of battles. Since his removal, Klingenschmitt has been leading the PrayInJesusName.org ministry, and he also has been serving...

On January 13, 1947, U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall stated: "The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or disintegration. I am rather tired of hearing about our rights... The time is come to hear about responsibilities... America's future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God's government."

'We prayed. We cried. We thanked the Lord' Lt. Commander Wesley J. "Wes" Modder, a decorated Navy chaplain with nearly 20 years of unblemished service, remembers vividly the moment he told his wife he could go back to the calling he loved, having been reinstated after a bitter battle that pitted religious freedom and individual conscience against the mandate to respect gay and women's rights. Chaplain Modder said he drove home Sept. 3, took his wife into the bedroom and told her about the reinstatement letter he received that day. "We prayed. We cried. We thanked the Lord," he said...

A Navy chaplain who voiced his biblical beliefs about homosexuality during a counseling session is no longer facing the threat of a career-ending punishment after the Navy disapproved a captain's request to bring the chaplain before the Navy's Board of Inquiry, where he could've been forced out of the service. The troubles for Navy Chaplain Wes Modder began in 2014 when he was assigned a married gay sailor to be his chaplain's assistant. After about a month as the chaplain's assistant, the assistant began asking Modder questions about his biblical beliefs on human sexuality. After explaining that his Pentecostal faith...

Navy Chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Wes Modder won't be forced out of the Navy for his religious views, according to the Independent Military Times. His commander, Capt. Jon Fahs, had been pushing for Modder's ouster, citing comments Modder allegedly made in counseling sessions critical of premarital sex and homosexual relations. In a letter, the Navy Personnel Command said the evidence doesn't meet the standard of gross negligence or complete disregard for duty needed to boot out an officer. It also cited a lack of documentation in his personal record backing charges of poor performance. "There was no record of counseling. There...

Over here [Vietnam] there is a written policy that if you get three Purple Hearts you go home within 48 hours. On Labor Day, our battalion ran into a world of trouble- when Father C. (Capodanno) arrived on the scene it was 500 Marines against 2500 North Vietnamese Army Regulars. Needless to say, we were constantly on the verge of being completely overrun and the Marines on several occasions had to advance in a retrograde movement. This left the dead and wounded outside the perimeter as the Marines slowly withdrew. Casualties were running high and Father C. had his work...

One month after Father Emil Kapaun, a heroic Korean War chaplain, received the Medal of Honor posthumously during a White House ceremony, he was remembered at a special outdoor Mass celebrated at St. Jude Regional Catholic School in Rockville. Father Paul Lee - the pastor of the Shrine of St. Jude Parish whose own family had escaped Communist North Korea as refugees - celebrated the Mass on May 9 with a makeshift altar set up on the hood of an olive-colored Jeep, just as Father Kapaun had done when ministering to soldiers on the front line more than six decades...

Chaplain Wes Modder spends his days basically alone in the base chapel. He is no longer allowed into his office. By order of his commanding officer, he is not allowed even to speak to the sailors in his unit. If anyone from his unit comes into the chapel, he may not speak with them. His commanding officer, Captain Jon Fahs, has taken this unusual step because of complaints lodged against Modder by a handful of sailors who claim he is “unable to function in a pluralistic and diverse Navy.” Modder ran into the buzzsaw of political correctness related to human...

Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Modder... removed from his counseling duties at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command because he "failed to show tolerance and respect" and discriminated against students who were different

Just one year short of his retirement and a pension. It could be the guy's a jerk about it but it certainly seems like his warnings about premarital sex and homosexuality are pretty standard boilerplate Christianity. Or at least what was standard Christian beliefs up to a few years ago and is now a fire-able offense. The Military Times reports:

Maybe it is her short, spiky hair, or the cigarettes, which she gives to the men repairing the wiring in her Brooklyn apartment. Maybe it is because she swears. For whatever reason, the Rev. Ann Kansfield does not fit the stereotype of a minister. Not that she is worried about meeting anyone’s expectations for what a clergywoman should say or do. “We shouldn’t have to hide ourselves or worry about being judged,” Ms. Kansfield, who ministers at the Greenpoint Reformed Church, said. In her newest ministry, that self-assuredness is likely to serve her well. Ms. Kansfield, 39, is to...

The mayor of Atlanta Kasim Reed announced today the firing of the city's fire chief for the crime of being a Christian, according to news reports. It seems the fire chief, Kelvin Cochran, wrote a book for his Bible study group in which he espoused actual Christian beliefs. How dare he? But his firing doesn't infringe on religious freedom at all, so says the mayor. "This is not about religious freedom, this is not about free speech" the mayor reportedly said. "Judgement is the basis of the problem." So there you have it. If you're fired for being a Christian...

Traditional values groups are rallying around an Army chaplain who was rebuked by his commander for distributing information on Christianity during mandatory suicide prevention training. Twenty nonprofit organizations dedicated to religious freedom have signed a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh, urging him to overturn action against Capt. Joseph Lawhorn, an evangelical and onetime infantryman. His commander, Col. David Fivecoat, who heads the brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia, that molds new Rangers, issued a “letter of concern” on Thanksgiving. He took action after one soldier complained to the website MilitaryAtheists.org, which posted an article. The atheist group later said it...