Religion Dispatches
…probably conjure up images of a dark and smoggy sky when they think about air pollution, in fact indoor air pollution may be nearly as dangerous as outdoor pollution, particularly in developing countries where people routinely burn coal and biomass fuel for cooking and heating their homes. Indoor air pollution also provides the context for one of the most bizarre examples of a religious practice that has created environmental problems in the Unit…
Read More…that discriminatory remarks on the basis of sexual orientation are against Air Force Policy. He should also have known, while Air Force members do have the right to speech and religion, that right does not mean airmen can say whatever they want, whenever they want.” Ouch. However, the military determined neither Monk nor his commander would be punished, which is kind given Monk’s very public, very willful attempt to tarnish their reputation. Perh…
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…cognate, “textualism”) peppers the Federalist Society website, with nearly 1,000 references associated with Federalist Society events, videos, and publications. What one might be more surprised to discover, however, is that a search for “natural law” and related substantive matters such as “religious freedom” outpaces “originalism” with more than 1,000 mentions. Recent law school lectures sponsored by the Federalist Society include University of…
Read More…own mission of preparing Academy cadets to be the very best United States Air Force ocers possible, these very same Air Force Academy cadets and staff will still be consigned to hell unless they accept former Lt. McClary’s own version of Christianity. Such statements are not only antithetical to the clear mission of the United States Air Force Academy, they are totally anathema to the purportedly globally inclusive purpose of this National Praye…
Read More…he publicly insisted he had been “essentially fired” for his beliefs (Parts 1 and 2 are here.) When the Air Force released the investigation into Monk’s case, which stated what was then obvious (Monk had lied) but did not punish him, I figured Monk’s defenders would just stop caring, since the story no longer fit their worldview. I was very, very wrong. The Liberty Institute, which represents Monk legally, is doubling down. After the release of th…
Read More…s aren’t affiliated with either political party, which leaves approximately 19.5 million voters to be courted. CARA also found that Catholic voters’ attitudes had shifted dramatically on issues such as the use of military force and tax increases for the wealthiest Americans, between 2002 and 2006. Over the past several weeks, while McCain has been dodging evangelical Christians (most notably Pastors John Hagee and Rod Parsley, after spending time…
Read More…ticle mentioned previously, shows that he’s more upset than ever about the Air Force’s investigation into Monk, an investigation that, ironically, his own poor reporting directly contributed to. As of September 10th, the original article stands without correction. With stories like these it can be difficult to tell whether the religious right’s persecution narrative creates a distorted lens or, more cynically, whether cases that have the potential…
Read More…t case, Parker v. Levy, he explained, which in turn guided the creation of Air Force Instruction 1-1, Paragraph 2.12: Leaders at all levels…. must ensure their words and actions cannot reasonably be construed to be officially endorsing or disproving of, or extending preferential treatment for any faith, belief, or absence of belief. [emphasis added] In contrast, the JAG opinion stated: [A] commander may: briefly thank a Supreme Being (either gener…
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…at other kinds of ethical considerations—about prioritizing education and fair recruitment practices, about caring for the health and welfare of college student athletes, about betraying the team when violations of moral principles and abuses of power are witnessed and reported—fall by the wayside. The religious dimensions to this story are more complicated than the simplistic, though relevant, attention to the breakdown of ethical responsibility…
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…to mass in any given week and there were nearly 60,000 Catholic priests and 135,000 nuns, with the nation’s 18,800 parishes boasting an average of two priests each. The sacraments were still a major part of most Catholics’ lives: there were nearly 1 million baptisms and 350,000 Catholic marriages. The controversy over Humanae Vitae ten years earlier had largely subsided; most Catholics used birth control and most priests ignored the issue. The Cat…
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