It looks like what Kegsbreath wants is a .military completely made up of mindless drones who will blindly follow orders, no matter what the outcome. He wants, essentially, the SS instead of the US Army. And that can't be reinforced properly without reducing the diversity of of the Chaplain Corps to "Christian" and "Other", with other being phased out once the theocracy is fully in place. I forget exactly, which member of the Regime is Nehemiah Scudder?
He's also quite keen about not letting overweight people serve ("No fatties!," an intoxicated Hegseth spews). He likes being surrounded by lean, cut, sweaty manly men.
Booze Boy has underlying issues that should be addressed. But xtian chaplains might not be the ones to help him sort out his "special feelings."
I fully expect Petey to get all sorts of blowback from the Chaplaincy Corps, never mind from Mikey Weinstein and the MRFF. This is NOT one of those actions that's just going to go unchallenged.
“I’m here to tell you about a real problem facing our nation’s military. ..”
Suuuure it’s a real problem, I’ll get Santa and the tooth fairy right on it.
Just a reminder, I have more military experience than Kegsbreath, and I was honorably discharged from the military, he was drummed out.
“…But sadly, as part of the ongoing war on warriors, in recent decades, its role has been degraded. In an atmosphere of political correctness and Secular Humanism, chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers. …”
It wasn’t the humanists that wanted the chaplains to be therapists, this is a result of religious people pushing to replace counselors and therapists in all institutions, schools and military particularly, with chaplains and preachers. This is your problem, self inflicted and unwanted by everyone else.
“…The guide itself reports that around 82% of the military are religious. Yet, ironically, it alienates our warfighters of faith by pushing Secular Humanism. …”
Just because it added Secular Humanism to the options does not mean it is pushing it. There are over 100 options of Christianity and only one for humanism, one for Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, etc. There are exponentially more options for Christianity than all other religions and non-religion combined. It’s pushing Christianity more openly than any other.
“…In short, it’s unacceptable and unserious, so we’re tossing it.
I have a directive right here that I will sign today to eliminate the use of the Army Spiritual Fitness Guide, effective immediately. These types of training materials have no place in the War Department. …”
Yup, we don’t need to allow for anything reasonable or tolerant in the department of war. The purpose of the department is to force everyone to conform. We are warriors, not servicemembers, we’re fighters not peacekeepers, we’re here to rule.
“…Our chaplains are chaplains, not emotional support officers, and we’re going to treat them as such. …”
Wait. Chaplains don’t support the emotional needs of “warriors”? Then what the fuck are they doing? Mister, you seem confused, maybe put down the bottle and drink some coffee, get some rest and start over once you’re sober.
“… That’s why today at my direction, we are also simplifying the faith and belief coding system. In recent years, it ballooned to over 200 overly complex faith and belief codes. An overwhelming majority of the military population only uses six codes. Eleven are not used by anyone. We’re going to streamline it and move it to a new list of religious affiliation codes so that our chaplains can actually use it to minister better to the flock. …”
How does removing the codes that folks are using make it easier to minister to folks? If the folks can’t find a code that fits them, they end up with care that isn’t useful. It will be more like when I was in, disenfranchised soldiers feeling unwanted and getting attitude about it and never seeking out the chaplains when they need them, becoming belligerent and causing more problems. I know you want anyone who doesn’t conform to your white supremacist worldview to not join the military, but then you wouldn’t have a military if you got what you wanted. The folks who would be supportive of the white nationalist gestapo are not as prolific as you think, and they’re likely not the warriors you envision. Meal Team Six, the Gravy Seals, and the Mobility Scooter pilots aren’t really what I imagine would be good defenders of our interests. Sure you know a bunch of fit alpha males that support your dreams of dominance, but they really are not numerous enough to populate an effective army, let alone the Air Force, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard, Space Farce.. er Force, the Reserves and National Guard. You might get a personal security force out of it, but the rest will not be battle ready.
Anyway, Kgsbreath is probably doing this as a last ditch effort to keep his job.
That's why they lost their minds when some Democrats publicly reminded the military that they were obligated to disobey illegal orders. Notice how they glossed over the word "illegal" to suggest that the senators were advocating for disobeying all orders from Trump on down? If a soldier is allowed to think, they may question the legality of an order instead of blindly following it.
The reason the Russians haven't been able to overrun Ukraine is primarily because their military policy discourages independent thought. When an officer is taken out, the grunts have been conditioned not to take independent action, so that a loss of a command level means that everything falls apart. That is how a dictatorship runs things, and Hegseth is pushing the US military in the same direction. That will truly make the US a nation of losers.
While in France last month, my wife, my son (a veteran), and I visited the Normandy American Cemetery. There are 152 graves marked with the Star of David. These soldiers along with their fallen brethren died in the fight to defeat fascism. Something lost on this imbecile.
Je suis desole, mon ami. Nous n'avons pas passe beaucoup de temps a Paris. Nous avons plutot voyage dans le nord de France. Desole mon texte ne contient pas le accents.
There are ten officer grades in the U.S. military. Pete Hegseth peaked out at O-4, six grades below a four star. He compounds his limitations with religious nuttery and alcohol. Somehow this former Faux Noise news-actor is going to transform the military into something that will make this country great again?
He was an O4 in the National Guard, with 4 years service, and he was forced out of the military because of his tattoos. He doesn’t have a good military record, he has a known addiction that he has not addressed, and he is a full on dick head.
Most likely, the tattoos were an excuse to get rid of an unlikable, incompetent, aggressive jackass. He was a friendly fire casualty waiting to happen, but you can’t just discharge someone you don’t like, until they do something illegal, which was the tats in his case.
A different way of looking at this is that it’s all simply an attempt to impose conservative religion on people who don’t share their beliefs. But that’s what they’ve been doing for the entirety of my adult life. Conservative religion attempting to force its beliefs on people who don’t share them. Gay rights, transgender rights, abortion, birth control— it doesn’t matter.
“There’s zero mention of “virtue.” The guide relies on New Age notions, saying that the soldiers spirit consists of “consciousness, creativity, and connection.” there is no virtue in killing people. There will never be virtue in killing people. there is virtue in defending your country against an aggressor that wants to harm you. But it doesn’t negate the opposite-of-virtue inherent in killing other people. He merely justifies it.
And Hegseth proves this with the 99 people that he has caused to be murdered in the Caribbean. He proved that the moment he re created the department of defense in his own image as the war department.
It must be a terrible thing to live your life in so much fear of other people.
Back in the early '80's I learnt to keep my atheism tightly under wraps. Otherwise you'd get the shit details no one wanted or got assigned to. I remember many Sundays, when myself & another atheist guy kept getting assigned KP or latrine duty or mowing, etc. No one else got that. And we were flat out told why, because we were unbelievers. The whole barracks got to sleep on the pews while having churchly services, then got rest of morning off, sometimes the whole day. But not us two atheists. Eventually I talked the other guy to join me telling the sgt we had a conversion. PRESTO!!! We got to sleep sitting at the damned churchly services & got the perks churchlings got of getting Sunday mornings off & sometimes the whole day.
And no one took our spot in shit duties either, which shows it was done out of malice to enforce religionite conformity.
I'm angry I was forced to compromise my moral convictions to get out of a shitty situation I should have NEVER been forced into. FK religion!
My husband is retired military and an atheist. It's amazing when we go into a PX, Nex or any other exchange (like a big Target) that there are vendors in the hallways outside the entrances selling all sorts of paraphernalia on jesus or (jeebus as my husband calls him) god, being christian ("My home is protected by god and a gun" etc.) Inside the store you'll find whole areas of christian books, magazines and bibles. You cannot find ANYTHING on Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, or any other spiritual or religious tradition and definitely not Humanism. I have mostly encountered this is the Xs in the south, not when I've been to one in D.C., California, etc. My take is these soldiers face fear all the time and the military is promoting/encouraging/and recommending christianity as a way to face their fears.
So true of the UK, most churches are a small bunch of elderly members whom I describe as clinging onto the cliff edge by their finger nails desperate to keep their church from closing.
Of course, it is. But what I hear from so many cross-wearing military is “god gives me strength, my church and church community and my bible give me strength for the execution of my duties.” 😳
My father was Catholic, my mother was not. I was brought up Catholic, for a long time I worried about my mother since one of the nuns who taught me told me that my mother would go to hell because she wasn't Catholic.
Unfortunately the United States military as a budget in the millions of $ tax dollars $ to spend on and promote Religions. IMO time end the military supporting Religions and their insanity.
One of my uncles was a chaplain. He never struck me as an empathetic human being and extremely rigid in his attitudes (he was always right). I occasionally wondered if he ever was helpful to anyone.
My paternal uncle was a chaplain (I've commented about him elsewhere), and while he may have done some good things for soldiers (he served in both WWII and Korea¹), he was a bitter man who had a lot of hate in his makeup. Most of the family deferred to him because he was a priest, but at a family dinner he insulted my mother and I told him what I thought of that. I was the only family member to have ever stood up to his arrogance, and I think that if I already hadn't had my fill of Catholic assholery, that would have cemented it.
"We keep on being told that religion, whatever its imperfections, at least instills morality. On every side, there is conclusive evidence that the contrary is the case and that faith causes people to be more mean, more selfish, and perhaps above all, more stupid."
-- Christopher Hitchens, from his book "Hitch-22: A Memoir"
Folks like him think folks like us, anyone outside of his narrow view of "human", shouldn't exist and he is trying his damnedest to create a world where we don't.
It looks like what Kegsbreath wants is a .military completely made up of mindless drones who will blindly follow orders, no matter what the outcome. He wants, essentially, the SS instead of the US Army. And that can't be reinforced properly without reducing the diversity of of the Chaplain Corps to "Christian" and "Other", with other being phased out once the theocracy is fully in place. I forget exactly, which member of the Regime is Nehemiah Scudder?
He's also quite keen about not letting overweight people serve ("No fatties!," an intoxicated Hegseth spews). He likes being surrounded by lean, cut, sweaty manly men.
Booze Boy has underlying issues that should be addressed. But xtian chaplains might not be the ones to help him sort out his "special feelings."
I fully expect Petey to get all sorts of blowback from the Chaplaincy Corps, never mind from Mikey Weinstein and the MRFF. This is NOT one of those actions that's just going to go unchallenged.
MRFF for the win.
Onward Christian soldiers and Pete. 🤪
The way he talks it’s as though he fantasizes about fit, muscular, tough, men.
That's what all the fundies want.
“I’m here to tell you about a real problem facing our nation’s military. ..”
Suuuure it’s a real problem, I’ll get Santa and the tooth fairy right on it.
Just a reminder, I have more military experience than Kegsbreath, and I was honorably discharged from the military, he was drummed out.
“…But sadly, as part of the ongoing war on warriors, in recent decades, its role has been degraded. In an atmosphere of political correctness and Secular Humanism, chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers. …”
It wasn’t the humanists that wanted the chaplains to be therapists, this is a result of religious people pushing to replace counselors and therapists in all institutions, schools and military particularly, with chaplains and preachers. This is your problem, self inflicted and unwanted by everyone else.
“…The guide itself reports that around 82% of the military are religious. Yet, ironically, it alienates our warfighters of faith by pushing Secular Humanism. …”
Just because it added Secular Humanism to the options does not mean it is pushing it. There are over 100 options of Christianity and only one for humanism, one for Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, etc. There are exponentially more options for Christianity than all other religions and non-religion combined. It’s pushing Christianity more openly than any other.
“…In short, it’s unacceptable and unserious, so we’re tossing it.
I have a directive right here that I will sign today to eliminate the use of the Army Spiritual Fitness Guide, effective immediately. These types of training materials have no place in the War Department. …”
Yup, we don’t need to allow for anything reasonable or tolerant in the department of war. The purpose of the department is to force everyone to conform. We are warriors, not servicemembers, we’re fighters not peacekeepers, we’re here to rule.
“…Our chaplains are chaplains, not emotional support officers, and we’re going to treat them as such. …”
Wait. Chaplains don’t support the emotional needs of “warriors”? Then what the fuck are they doing? Mister, you seem confused, maybe put down the bottle and drink some coffee, get some rest and start over once you’re sober.
“… That’s why today at my direction, we are also simplifying the faith and belief coding system. In recent years, it ballooned to over 200 overly complex faith and belief codes. An overwhelming majority of the military population only uses six codes. Eleven are not used by anyone. We’re going to streamline it and move it to a new list of religious affiliation codes so that our chaplains can actually use it to minister better to the flock. …”
How does removing the codes that folks are using make it easier to minister to folks? If the folks can’t find a code that fits them, they end up with care that isn’t useful. It will be more like when I was in, disenfranchised soldiers feeling unwanted and getting attitude about it and never seeking out the chaplains when they need them, becoming belligerent and causing more problems. I know you want anyone who doesn’t conform to your white supremacist worldview to not join the military, but then you wouldn’t have a military if you got what you wanted. The folks who would be supportive of the white nationalist gestapo are not as prolific as you think, and they’re likely not the warriors you envision. Meal Team Six, the Gravy Seals, and the Mobility Scooter pilots aren’t really what I imagine would be good defenders of our interests. Sure you know a bunch of fit alpha males that support your dreams of dominance, but they really are not numerous enough to populate an effective army, let alone the Air Force, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard, Space Farce.. er Force, the Reserves and National Guard. You might get a personal security force out of it, but the rest will not be battle ready.
Anyway, Kgsbreath is probably doing this as a last ditch effort to keep his job.
“Playfulness, as a component of creativity, embodies the spirit of exploration and joy in overcoming challenges”
Christians hate creativity (and joy).
They also don't like independent thought!
Can’t have that! We need good obedient soldiers
That's why they lost their minds when some Democrats publicly reminded the military that they were obligated to disobey illegal orders. Notice how they glossed over the word "illegal" to suggest that the senators were advocating for disobeying all orders from Trump on down? If a soldier is allowed to think, they may question the legality of an order instead of blindly following it.
Dishonesty is their* MO.
*includes Trump, Trump officials, MAGAts, MAGAt-adjacent media. Who did I miss?
Why next the chaplains will be advocating following the edicts laid down by some long haired brown skin middle eastern radical.
A *Jewish* brown middle eastern radical, no less.
Who became white for your sins.
A Palestinian Jewish brown Middle Eastern radical, to boot.
The reason the Russians haven't been able to overrun Ukraine is primarily because their military policy discourages independent thought. When an officer is taken out, the grunts have been conditioned not to take independent action, so that a loss of a command level means that everything falls apart. That is how a dictatorship runs things, and Hegseth is pushing the US military in the same direction. That will truly make the US a nation of losers.
I've read they don't have much of an NCO corps either.
Everybody knows sergeants are the ones who get stuff done in a proper army. Except Russia.
Totalitarian countries run their militaries from the rear; can't have them thinking for themselves. Western militaries are run from the front.
The Name of the Rose…
While in France last month, my wife, my son (a veteran), and I visited the Normandy American Cemetery. There are 152 graves marked with the Star of David. These soldiers along with their fallen brethren died in the fight to defeat fascism. Something lost on this imbecile.
Et t'es même pas venu faire coucou 😝
Je suis desole, mon ami. Nous n'avons pas passe beaucoup de temps a Paris. Nous avons plutot voyage dans le nord de France. Desole mon texte ne contient pas le accents.
Your user name makes me think you've done the Duolingo Latin course.
Also, right on with your comment.
Je suis désolé BH&DMM -- the nesting failed me! But I'm sure PE knows.
At one point in that, I realized I'd learned the exact words to describe a scene in "The Big Lebowski" and that also can't be a coincidence.
("the robbers threw the weasel into the bathtub of the lazy man" IIRC)
Translation "You didn't even said hi".
Bonjour, ami. 👋
Not you, PE when he came to France 🤣
Et t'es même pas venu faire coucou = You didn't even said hi.
Sacre bleu!
(she said as if she were in an old movie, handkerchief to her brow)
There are ten officer grades in the U.S. military. Pete Hegseth peaked out at O-4, six grades below a four star. He compounds his limitations with religious nuttery and alcohol. Somehow this former Faux Noise news-actor is going to transform the military into something that will make this country great again?
He was an O4 in the National Guard, with 4 years service, and he was forced out of the military because of his tattoos. He doesn’t have a good military record, he has a known addiction that he has not addressed, and he is a full on dick head.
But other than that...
Most likely, the tattoos were an excuse to get rid of an unlikable, incompetent, aggressive jackass. He was a friendly fire casualty waiting to happen, but you can’t just discharge someone you don’t like, until they do something illegal, which was the tats in his case.
Does he have some objectionable tattoos or are tattoos in general not allowed?
Objectionable christonazi tattoos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Hegseth#Tattoos
Yuck. No wonder MAGA likes the bastard.
More like: Make America Grate (on our nerves) Again.
Proof that puty-put agent orange skin is doing his job.
Neo-Crusaders?
A different way of looking at this is that it’s all simply an attempt to impose conservative religion on people who don’t share their beliefs. But that’s what they’ve been doing for the entirety of my adult life. Conservative religion attempting to force its beliefs on people who don’t share them. Gay rights, transgender rights, abortion, birth control— it doesn’t matter.
“There’s zero mention of “virtue.” The guide relies on New Age notions, saying that the soldiers spirit consists of “consciousness, creativity, and connection.” there is no virtue in killing people. There will never be virtue in killing people. there is virtue in defending your country against an aggressor that wants to harm you. But it doesn’t negate the opposite-of-virtue inherent in killing other people. He merely justifies it.
And Hegseth proves this with the 99 people that he has caused to be murdered in the Caribbean. He proved that the moment he re created the department of defense in his own image as the war department.
It must be a terrible thing to live your life in so much fear of other people.
It's over 100 now.
Back in the early '80's I learnt to keep my atheism tightly under wraps. Otherwise you'd get the shit details no one wanted or got assigned to. I remember many Sundays, when myself & another atheist guy kept getting assigned KP or latrine duty or mowing, etc. No one else got that. And we were flat out told why, because we were unbelievers. The whole barracks got to sleep on the pews while having churchly services, then got rest of morning off, sometimes the whole day. But not us two atheists. Eventually I talked the other guy to join me telling the sgt we had a conversion. PRESTO!!! We got to sleep sitting at the damned churchly services & got the perks churchlings got of getting Sunday mornings off & sometimes the whole day.
And no one took our spot in shit duties either, which shows it was done out of malice to enforce religionite conformity.
I'm angry I was forced to compromise my moral convictions to get out of a shitty situation I should have NEVER been forced into. FK religion!
"And now Pete Hegseth wants to blow up that progress like it’s a fishing boat in the Caribbean."
ZING!!! Good one, Hemant.
Here, Petey, have another shot (to the nards):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJRiAxsFmlw
The fishing boat line jumped out at me too as Hemant on top of his game.
Hope Petey isn't thinking about trying a railslide. That could literally go south in a hurry.
At least he wasn't nearly killing an innocent bystanders with that skateboard like he tried with the axe throwing.
I love that for him. Almost as much as the axe toss.
If we're very good, Jeff Tiedrich gives us that GIF in his posts.
OT: Signing off for about a week, family issues.
Hope everything works out for the best.
All the very best, bro!
We'll miss you. Hope everything goes well.
Good luck. Family issues can be trying.
it works off of the faulty premise that religion is inherently good because it provides “inner strength.”
If you have “inner strength.” you need neither imaginary friends nor "faith."
Relying on something that doesn't exist for strength is a fool's errand.
My husband is retired military and an atheist. It's amazing when we go into a PX, Nex or any other exchange (like a big Target) that there are vendors in the hallways outside the entrances selling all sorts of paraphernalia on jesus or (jeebus as my husband calls him) god, being christian ("My home is protected by god and a gun" etc.) Inside the store you'll find whole areas of christian books, magazines and bibles. You cannot find ANYTHING on Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, or any other spiritual or religious tradition and definitely not Humanism. I have mostly encountered this is the Xs in the south, not when I've been to one in D.C., California, etc. My take is these soldiers face fear all the time and the military is promoting/encouraging/and recommending christianity as a way to face their fears.
"You cannot find ANYTHING on Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, or any other spiritual or religious tradition and definitely not Humanism."
In 'Murica, xtians don't like competition in the marketplace of ideas.
they are indeed terribly frightened of any actual competition for their cult and their particular version of their cult.
"yu find a bunch of old people. In many parishes the median age is over 60 and higher."
And that's just the priests...
So true of the UK, most churches are a small bunch of elderly members whom I describe as clinging onto the cliff edge by their finger nails desperate to keep their church from closing.
About 3,500 have closed over the last decade.
Some of the repurposing has been to nightclubs and swimming pools and food markets.
You’ve got that right. And humanism, agnosticism or atheism is on their hit list. And I don’t mean greatest hits.
Christianity as a way to face their fears? Christianity is a way to 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 their fears.
And amplify and exacerbate their fears!
Of course, it is. But what I hear from so many cross-wearing military is “god gives me strength, my church and church community and my bible give me strength for the execution of my duties.” 😳
Con-Artistry 101: Create the problem, then sell 'em the solution. Bonus points for 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 being fictional.
My father was Catholic, my mother was not. I was brought up Catholic, for a long time I worried about my mother since one of the nuns who taught me told me that my mother would go to hell because she wasn't Catholic.
Unfortunately the United States military as a budget in the millions of $ tax dollars $ to spend on and promote Religions. IMO time end the military supporting Religions and their insanity.
God bless the USA? 🤪
Please don't call it the Department of War. We don't need to enable their bullshit.
Same applies to the Kennedy Center, etc.
Slapping your name on everything just reeks of small dick energy.
And the Gulf of Mexico.
The other day I heard "Pink Houses" and you bet I sang along with "The Gulf of MEXICO!"
Speaking for myself alone, I never had a bit of use for chaplains. Not in a combat zone when the heat was on and not stateside when the heat was off.
Secular counselors would be of far more value to those who serve.
One of my uncles was a chaplain. He never struck me as an empathetic human being and extremely rigid in his attitudes (he was always right). I occasionally wondered if he ever was helpful to anyone.
My paternal uncle was a chaplain (I've commented about him elsewhere), and while he may have done some good things for soldiers (he served in both WWII and Korea¹), he was a bitter man who had a lot of hate in his makeup. Most of the family deferred to him because he was a priest, but at a family dinner he insulted my mother and I told him what I thought of that. I was the only family member to have ever stood up to his arrogance, and I think that if I already hadn't had my fill of Catholic assholery, that would have cemented it.
¹ He was no Father Mulcahey.
This is what happens when you give too much power to a man with a small dick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDQk4lGSEJQ
Time for this one
"We keep on being told that religion, whatever its imperfections, at least instills morality. On every side, there is conclusive evidence that the contrary is the case and that faith causes people to be more mean, more selfish, and perhaps above all, more stupid."
-- Christopher Hitchens, from his book "Hitch-22: A Memoir"
Sounds like he could be talking about Hegseth.
Folks like him think folks like us, anyone outside of his narrow view of "human", shouldn't exist and he is trying his damnedest to create a world where we don't.