Open Discussion: Blog-within-a-blog (the month of June)

During the month of June, feel free to comment and/or discuss any of the "blog-within-a-blog" topics that have been posted (right-hand column).

Comments

[Wanderer]

Regarding: Chaplain Faces Court Martial I have to say that this isn't the pciture of the oppression on christians that many will paint it to be. As a former member of the armed forces, I am aware, and so are all members of the armed forces, that not all right afforded to U.S. Citizens are afforded to members of its military. Many rights are voluntarily waived when you enter the military. Why? Because extreme discipline is needed to save lives.

Now I won't get into why Jesus name is not allowed in public prayer, although I suspect the story is misleading and no specific god's name is allowed at all, because the court martial is made the issue here, so I will address it.

The Naval Secretary ordered something. A Naval Officer refused to comply. He is facing trial.

Now if you look at the base points of this case, is this so outrageous? Would you be so quick to post out here this incredible story if the crime had been speaking to the press about some innoccuous on-base picnic? Or any other violation of regulations and of the oath he took as an officer in the Navy?

[Chris]

Wanderer, my interest in this story is more connected to issues of freedom of religion, free speech, and justifiable civil disobedience (or similar disobedience for conscious sake). The military is not the only institution with bans in place regarding the use of "in Jesus' name" -- many local governments (i.e. cities, counties) disallow the use of "in Jesus' name" in conjunction with invocation prayers offered up at the beginning of official meetings.

In our out-of-control, egalitarian culture, I find this particular protest very interesting.

[Wanderer]

Unfortunately, as I said, the joining of the military voluntarily suspends such rights to protest. This context is extremely important to the story. If many other such stories exist, it would seem to help you more to post them instead of this one. Just my thought.