“If I win, I shall defend to the death your right to be wrong”
Category Archives: Religious Freedom
I’m Sick Unto Death of Hearing about Protecting the Religious Liberty of Military Chaplains
I remember something that my Drill Sergeant said to me, my first day of Basic Training some 20 years ago, when I was an 18 year old private at Ft. Leonard Wood Missouri. We were all in one of our first formations, and he asked us if any of us … Read more →
Is the Constitutionality of Military Chaplaincy in Danger?
This week, I received an email from an organization I track, known as the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. It is an organization that advocates both legally and in the media, for the protection of the Free Exercise of Religion in the military, often with more passion than restraint. Yet, over … Read more →
The Role of Faith for the Military Chaplain
In the fall of 2011 I was honored to attend the first ever OutServe Leadership Conference. This was the first time for this organization of LGB persons actively serving in the military to gather publicly, since such public gatherings and recognition was made possible by the repeal of Don’t Ask, … Read more →
I’m a Liberal and I’m a Patriot who Loves God… Deal with It!
I think this topic is becoming a regular 4th of July weekend tradition of mine, mainly because I have had it with the idea that unless someone is a Fox News watching, gun toting Tea-Party Republican they are not a “Real American”. Beyond the fact that such definitions of “Real … Read more →
It Does Not Feel Like a Victory
As a civilian pastor and as a military veteran, I think I was pretty clear over the years that I thought the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was unjust, unfair, and asked service members to violate their own honor by lying about such a core part of their identity. I … Read more →
“Government-Paid Missionaries for Christ”
Recently I received a letter from a fellow Unitarian Universalist who is very concerned by incidents and attitudes he perceives among some military chaplains, where they seem to understand themselves as “government-paid missionaries for Christ”. The letter details some of his own research into the issue of some chaplains who … Read more →
Customized Military ID Tags
I was reading through the stories on Military.com this evening, and came across a story on the young soldier, now facing a court martial, who leaked classified information to Wikileaks.com. The story made me sad in so many ways… sad that this young man felt he had to do this, … Read more →
Religions of Differentiation
At around 18 years old I decided I was no longer a Southern Baptist. There were many reasons for that decision. At the time I would have said that I just could no longer accept the contradictions inherent in accepting the Bible as literal truth, or that the hypocrisy I … Read more →
Evangelicals are Praying for Me!
I can rest easier in this world knowing that each and every night, and perhaps even in the morning, there are Evangelicals associated with Liberty University praying for me. Why? Because I am a Liberal. I am not only a liberal, I am a flaming, NPR loving, socialized medicine supporting, … Read more →
Faith and the Strategic Corporal
Recently, the media have connected with several stories regarding enlisted soldiers who have conducted themselves in Iraq in ways that bring into question the religious motivations behind their service. In one story, a soldier at a checkpoint was handing out proselytizing coins that ask, in Arabic, where someone is going … Read more →
Tribal Gods
You might have noticed that Celestial Lands has calmed down (less blog posts) over the past week or so. That is because my mom came to Chicago to spend a week with us and hear me preach on Mother’s Day. It was the first time she has come to visit … Read more →
They Won’t All Become Religious Liberals
A couple of weeks ago, in a conversation with a fellow Unitarian Universalist, my friend said “Won’t the world be better when everyone becomes a UU?” She seemed a little shocked at my “Never gonna happen” response. I guess it did sound a little defeatist, though I certainly did not … Read more →
Unitarian Universalism and Military Chaplaincy
A few years ago, at a Unitarian Universalist Houston Network event, a young woman challenged in a loud and public way how I could dare call myself a Unitarian Universalist, and be willing to serve in the military. I was not actually in the military at the time; I had … Read more →
Many Mere Christianities
As I was walking into a store a few nights ago here on the South Side of Chicago, a woman was yelling at a homeless man who had obviously just asked her to spare some change. She yelled “I don’t give money to beggars because I’m a Christian!” She then … Read more →
Fingers and Moons
“All instruction is but a finger pointing to the moon; and those whose gaze is fixed upon the pointer will never see beyond. Even let him catch sight of the moon, and still he cannot see its beauty.” — Buddha I can imagine the Buddha, seated in the Jeta Grove, … Read more →
The Word Between Us
One of the most common questions I have been asked by those new to Unitarian Universalist worship is why the sermon is so central to our faith? For many it seems incongruous… that in this faith of inherent worth and dignity, where the responsibility for spiritual growth is placed on … Read more →
Living an Oath
“I, David Glenn Pyle, having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of Second Lieutenant, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I … Read more →
The Military and Religious Freedom — Sermon by the Rev. David Pyle
Last preached November 3rd, 2007 This is my first Sunday morning back here at the Great Lakes Recruit Training Center in over four months. You see, this past summer I was in Basic Training myself. It was my second time going through basic. My first time was in 1991, at … Read more →