Saint Martin's Cloak

In a previous post I described the problem with existing religious preference codes and affirmed the idea of reorganizing and streamlining the list. I also criticized the revised list published by the Pentagon.  Some of the new labels are specific denominations, some are groupings of denominations with similar names, and some are theological orientations. For many, the labels will continue to overlap.  Most importantly, the religious requirements of people in each group vary widely. Southern Baptists and American Baptists (USA) and and National Baptists are all Baptists, but they will not necessarily practice their faith in the same way. The previous list contained 29 Baptist labels, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod are both Lutherans, but the latter church's rules make it impossible for them to commune together. The Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches and the Coalition of Spirit Filled Churches are both Pentecostal, but couldn't...

Religious preference codes only exist to give commanders and chaplains a big, one-over-the-world view of the religious needs of the unit as a whole. They reside in the big Army database of personnel records as useful data points for generalized planning. They are not terribly useful for individual religious support where people don't always fit their labels. There, chaplains need to get to know their soldiers personally.  Soldiers entering the Army are overwhelmed by an avalanche of administrative requirements. It’s a normal human response to proceed through that process without much thought.  I found that Soldiers had often chosen their religious preference codes hastily, and the religion coded in the personnel database did not accurately reflect their religious identities.  The previous list of religious codes was long (5 single spaced pages) and not logically organized. It was a jumble of institutional identities and religious categories, most of which were going to be...

On April 29, the White House released a statement commemorating commemorating the erection of a cross on Cape Henry in 1607 by the founders of Jamestown, Virginia. I’ll return to that statement in a moment, but first I want to talk about the Christian mythology and the false narrative that has grown up around that event. Facts and Myths Here’s what we know about that event and how we know it. George Percy was one of the settlers who at the Virginia coast on April 26, 1607. In 1608 he wrote, The nine and twentieth day we set up a Cross at Chesupioc Bay, and named that place Cape Henry. So that’s all we know. That’s the only contemporaneous witness to the event who wrote about it, and that’s the entire description in a very word narrative about the first days of Jamestown. We don’t know who was present on Cape Henry on April 29. Most of the settlers were living on the ships while landing parties searched for a suitable place to settle. We don’t know what was said or done as the cross was...

Performative civil religion was on full display this week during the America Reads the Bible series of public Bible readings. The performance is supposed to commemorate the 250th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence. During the event, a series of politicians, MAGA supporters, and other ostensibly notable figures will read aloud the entire Protestant Bible in piecemeal fashion. The readers are using the King James Easy Read Bible, one of many obscure revisions of the KJV. The live readings take place at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Tickets are $50. You can also register to watch a live stream. I cannot understood why anyone thinks merely reading the words of the Bible aloud will mean anything to God, have a positive effect on the nation, or draw anyone to Jesus. On Tuesday, President Trump read from Second Chronicle. The organizer's website features a recording of the president's reading on the home page of it's website and declares, As...

When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:33-34) Don’t oppress the alien who has come to live among you. In fact, love the alien as yourself. That last part is an echo of Leviticus 19:18, which Jesus identified as the second great commandment.  Does Leviticus 19:33-34 only apply to some immigrants? Of course not, but like the lawyer who asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor,” (Luke 10:29) some people will always look for ways to excuse themselves from love’s demands. John Piper recently posted these verses in his social feed and the online pushback from a certain sphere of American Christians was immediate. Piper is Reformed and Baptist in his theological outlook. Until recently, Piper has been a popular writer in those circles. I am neither, so I do...

At the Secretary of Defense’s personally-led, monthly worship service in January, he quoted Psalm 144 in conjunction with a military operation.  Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle, my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under me. … Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke. Make the lightning flash and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them. … May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace. May our barns be filled with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields, and may our cattle be heavy with young. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets. Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the LOR...

The president spoke to the National Prayer Breakfast on February 6, 2026. The event is sponsored by a Christian organization, but its official website says that it is open to people of all faiths. It is supposed to bring national leaders of faith together regardless of political affiliation.  As a Christian pastor, I would like to respectfully offer some reflections on the president’s 77 minute speech. This essay is long because the speech was long. What’s In the Speech What was the tone of the speech? Uplifting? Inspiring? Unifying? Spiritual? I would characterize it as political. It’s tone matched the tone of all his speeches, if you know what I mean. Most of it echoed themes and talking points common to every speech he makes. Little of it had any bearing on on the purpose of the assembly, and I can’t begin to address those parts of the speech. Simply put, I found much of it objectionable.  But what about the rest, the parts that talked about religion? In over 12...