Call for fasting causes Passover concern
An Army chaplain is being criticized for calling a day of prayer and fasting today, the first day of Passover.
The Religion News Service reports that Maj. Gen. Douglas Carver, a Southern Baptist and Army Chief of Chaplains, issued his call for prayer and fasting in response to the rising suicide rates among soldiers.
Last year, the RNS reported, the Army reported the highest suicide rate since record-keeping began in 1980.
“I therefore call the Chaplaincy to a Day of Prayer and Fasting, in keeping with your religious traditions, to be observed on 8 April 2009 that the united cry of our Corps will be heard and answered regarding the protection, preservation, and peace for our Soldiers and Families,” Carver said in his proclamation, which was issued March 2.
The RNS reported that Carver told Baptist Press, the Southern Baptist Convention’s official news agency, that “April 8 is a Wednesday and prayer meeting night for Southern Baptists, so we really encourage not only Baptists but all local churches to pray for the military.”
The Religion News Service pointed out that Carver, as chief of chaplains, has oversight of Army chaplains of all faiths, including Jewish rabbis.
The news service said dozens of Jewish soldiers and chaplains have filed complaints with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a watchdog group that advocates religious neutrality in the military. Mikey Weinstein, president of the group, told the RNS that there has been a “tsunami” of complaints against the Day of Prayer, and believes the conflict with Passover is inexcusable.
“The fact that this would fall on this same day is not just wrong or bad, but unforgivable, and Carver should be severely disciplined,” Weinstein said.
Weinstein’s group is currently suing the Department of Defense for a “pernicious and pervasive pattern and practice of unconstitutional rape of the precious religious freedoms” of those in the military, and the group believes the Day of Prayer is just the latest example, the RNS reported.
The Jewish holiday of Passover begins at sundown. It commemorates the Israelites exodus from Egypt. A seder, a ceremonial meal traditionally held during Passover, is typically held on the first and second nights of the holiday.
(PHOTO above taken by Jaconna Aguirre, The Oklahoman)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
On TV: The Last Templar
“The Last Templar,” a four-hour mini-series set for 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25 and Monday, Jan. 26 on NBC, might be of interest to people familiar with the history of the templars.
This is not an endorsement, simply an update.
According to NBC’s Web site, the templar knights were a wealthy military force, serving as protectors of Christian pilgrims who traveled to the Holy Land in the Middle Ages.
The templar knights were said to be about nine in number, according to templar history.com. The men gathered together after the First Crusade (1095-1099) and were lead by Hughes de Payens. They offered their help to the Patriarch of Jeruselam and had the mandate of protecting Christians attempting to visit shrines sacred to their faith in the Holy Land, according to the site.
It will be interesting to see how TV translates author Raymond Khoury’s book “The Last Templar” to the small screen.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Oklahoma’s “Most Inspiring Person” nominee
Master Sgt. William “Spanky” Gibson, originally from Pryor, is one of 10 nominees for Beliefnet.com’s ”Most Inspiring Person of the Year” honor.
Gibson, now on fellowship in Washington, D.C. and, according to Beliefnet, the first full amputee to return as a soldier to a war zone, joins contemporary Christian recording artist Stephen Curtis Chapman, Olympic swimming medalist Dara Torres, actor Paul Newman and others who made the list of this year’s “Most Inspiring Person” nominees.
“Hope, selflessness and human kindness live within each and every one of us and this year’s nominees for Most Inspiring Person of the Year demonstrate the dramatic impact those qualities can have when called into action,” Beliefnet Managing Editor Michael Kress said in a news release.
“Individually, these10 whole-hearted spirits embody the greatest depths of human dignity and self-sacrifice. Shedding light on their stories reminds us that there are heroes everywhere we look, leaving legacies that will last for generations to come.”
The online community can vote for Gibson or any of the other nominees through Dec. 5 by going to www.Beliefnet.com. Visitors may vote once daily. The winner will be announced on Dec. 10.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Atheists make requests of president-elect
The Secular Coalition for America and Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers unveiled a new proposal on religious accomodation at a pre-Veterans Day briefing today at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The new policy recommendations regarding religious discrimination and accomodation in the U.S. Armed Forces were presented in a memo for President-elect Barack Obama as he considers staffing and policies regarding the military.
According to the coalition and association, atheists and others with no religious affiliation make up 21 percent of the U.S. Armed Forces, and yet they suffer harassment, discrimination and proselytizing in a military increasingly dominated by a powerful minority of evangelical Christians.
Other military personnel who do not hold a born-again Christian belief are similarly marginalized, the groups said.
While some existing regulations support the free exercise of religion, they are silent on accommodating the hundreds of thousands of atheists, agnostics, humanists and other nontheists currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces who have no religion to exercise, the groups said in a news release.
“Commanders, chaplains, and other officials simply interpret nontheists out of the protected religious categories,” said Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers.
“What we are asking is that nontheistic service personnel be extended the same institutional protections and support that traditional faith groups enjoy. That is why we ask for a new directive that explicitly identifies nontheistic personnel as protected.”
The policy recommendations released today focus special attention on the chaplain corps in the U.S. military.
“Not only do chaplains often fail to intervene when subordinates are harassed, denied promotions, proselytized or threatened, they often are the worst offenders,” Lori Lipman Brown, the secular coalition’s director, said.
Brownsaid one of the groups’ goals with the new proposals is to make chaplains accountable for the religious climate on military bases, on ships and anywhere members of the U.S. Armed Forces are serving.
The policy recommendations memo addressed to President-elect Obama is entitled “Secular Coalition Urges Changes To Religious Accommodation Practices In The Military,” and is signed by Lori Lipman Brown. It contains an “Action Plan to Protect Religious Liberty and Freedom of Conscience” consisting of four detailed sections which are summarized below:
1. Vetting New Appointments and Promotions to ensure that appointees are committed “to fostering a secular military that protects the religious liberty and freedom of conscience of our soldiers.”
2. A Directive from your New Secretary of Defense that would “demonstrate your administration’s commitment to implement the change we need” and require all branches to update their regulations with regard to promoting religion over non-religion, proselytizing, discrimination and the role and training of chaplains.
3. Conduct a Survey of Military Personnel “in order to determine the pervasiveness of the problems of religious discrimination and proselytizing.”
4. Establish a Commission for Religious Accommodation charged with, among other things: creating effective channels for reporting failures to accommodate religious and nonreligious service members’ beliefs; investigating such failures and ensuring corrective actions are taken; reporting annually to Congress on complaints; recommending improvements in training and regulations; and ensuring diversity among the chaplain corps that represents the diversity of the military.
The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers is a member of the Secular Coalition for America.
The complete policy memo can be viewed in PDF form at www.secular.org.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Military chaplain wants YOU…
Uncle Sam may have wanted you at some time or another, but there is now an Army chaplain who has a request.
Capt. Graham B. Glover is asking Americans to come together in prayer on Sept. 7, the Sunday before Sept. 11.
Glover is leading the non-denominational “Prayer for Our Troops” to unite Americans in prayer to support the men, women and families of the U.S. Armed Services.
He has a prayer that is posted at www.AmericaUnitedInPrayer.com and he wants people of all faith traditions to join in collective prayer by signing their names in support. 
The goal is to have at least 1 million names by Sept. 7.
Glover currently serves as the battalion chaplain to the 1st Battalion-41st Field Artillery, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division in Ft. Stewart, Ga.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
