Posted on 12/12/2006 6:19:34 AM PST by Bulldawg Fan
It is correct, you are employed by the Military 24 and 7, altho you do have time for yourself and for relaxation, you are on Duty 24 and 7, 365 days a year.
I'm sure he's a card-carrying ACLU member.
"The military distinguishes on-duty and off-duty, and does provide many accommodations to religious practices. However, there are many restrictions that distinguish when and where religious practices are authorized."
Restricting the practice of religion can be construed as denying a service man the right to pray or read his scriptures before going into battle. Shall we do that also? They are on duty (btw they are on duty 24 and 7, otherwise their Liberty and Leave cannot be cancelled for reasons known only to the command, and the command Can and does do that).
"For example, proselytizing is completely forbidden in the entire overseas CENTCOM region of operations. And any extraneous conversation may be restricted during a mission cycle, for obvious reasons."
Agreed, no argument there.
"If objections are made by someone who has been approached to discuss religion, then the advocate may be directed to not approach them again."
Agreed, again no argument there.
I sure hope you are right.
BFLR = Bump for later reading
Hey, the Army denied me and my buddies that right all the time when we were in Vietnam. We couldn't read scriptures (or anything else not directly related to the mission at hand) when we were on perimeter sentry duty, engaging in a Mad Minute while Mr. Charles was paying us a social call, or delivering suporting fires to friendly units.
A hypothetical case for you:
Private Willie Lump-Lump's religion requires him, just before going into battle, to light a bonfire and prosletyze all within 100 yards of my position, maintaining sufficient volume in his voice that all within 100 yards may clearly understand what he is saying.
A requirement to maintain light and noise discipline, therefore, by your construction, would be an unreasonable infringement on Private Lump-Lump's religious freedom.
But one can't expect the likes of sniviling little pr!cks like Mikey Weinstein to see that. It is to the utter shame of the AF Academy they graduated a twerp like that.
Its not accident that the AF Academy has been ground zero for this fight. With Cadets like Mikey, its a wonder they even take a break for Chirs.......Winter.
Despite heavy vetting, klinkers do sometimes get through. It is the same with all the Service Academies. Usually idiots like this get weeded out in the four years there, but not always. This guy Mikey apparently has an ACLU lawyer type for a father and they are on a personal crusade to change the military world into something which will meet all PC standards, minus any semblance of religious freedom of expression.
He's pure poison, and I'm very surprised he has lasted this long in uniform. No doubt part of it is the fear factor he will sue anybody in sight who he senses "discriminates" against him or his agenda. He has all the free Liberal trial lawyers in the world at his beck and call. Most military people can't afford months in court while they're being sued by Mikey and his ACLU buddies in a civil discrimination lawsuit. They would be financially ruined, and they know it.
He's a pr!ck, First Class, no doubt about it. Unfortunately for the Air Force, there is no "side" for him to accidentally go over in the middle of the night watch. Pity.
The current US policy is that Israel is an ally, both politically and militarily. It is not a formal agreement, like NATO, but that is probably more a function of the intensely complicated and hostile political climate in the Middle East, rather than a reluctance on either side to formalize the agreement. The US also gives Israel monetary aid in the billions of dollars annually, (exact figures hard to calculate).
It seems our biggest disagreement is over on duty/off duty times. The military legally recognizes off duty times, in which service personnel can do many things not permitted while on duty, such as drink alcohol. However, if they are called back to duty, and they are inebriated, they may still be subject to punishment.
There are far fewer travel restriction on active duty, non-combat theater personnel on weekends and holidays, as long as you provide a telephone number where you can be reached.
But being on call, and being on duty, are two very different things.
Why is it bigoted to point out that the jewish 1% of the population is responsible for the majority of the attacks on Christianity? Is it bigoted to say that the majority of world conflicts involve muslims who cannot get along with their neighbors, or that most terrorists are muslim these days?
There is a townhall article written BY A JEWISH MAN on the same subject.
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