Religion in the news

[Parale]

On 6/7/2026 at 3:55 PM, Doug said:

Senator Lee from Utah isn't happy that the LDS was left out of the 'Christian' section.  But we are there!

 

Yes........ but 🤣 the list has now been updated .... "Last week, a proposed list of simplified faith codes was released to the media. The Pentagon list included redundant and unnecessary labeling, and the mistake has been fixed." 

 

Except I didn't think it actually was presented as being a "proposed" list, but rather it was signed off as being the new list? 🤷‍♂️

 

[Jim Jam]

I don't understand the point of this list since there's a "other religions" section, so doesn't that basically mean that every religion that exists  is on the list?

[Tortuga]

57 minutes ago, Jim Jam said:

I don't understand the point of this list since there's a "other religions" section, so doesn't that basically mean that every religion that exists  is on the list?

It seems they could have reduced it to just three categories.

Christian

Non-Christian

Non-Religious 

 

Or maybe just two

Religious 

Non-Religious 

 

Edited June 8 by Tortuga

[LeolaRootStew]

On 6/7/2026 at 11:39 AM, Brandon said:

It’s a list the US military keeps in order for clergy inside the military to provide “spiritual support” to military members who want it.

 

I really don’t see why any country’s military would want to recognize our religion in this way… it makes no sense to me. If you’re a member of the military you should definitely not be identifying as a Witness. 

 

Someone could be studying.

Edited June 8 by LeolaRootStew

[BLEmom]

On 6/7/2026 at 12:39 PM, Brandon said:

It’s a list the US military keeps in order for clergy inside the military to provide “spiritual support” to military members who want it.

 

I really don’t see why any country’s military would want to recognize our religion in this way… it makes no sense to me. If you’re a member of the military you should definitely not be identifying as a Witness. 

There are some who become Jehovah’s Witnesses while in the military. They have to go through a process to leave in order to be baptized and be official, but they could begin to identify as a witness before they are officially out.  
As part of the consciencious objector process, you are assigned a chaplain to verify the validity of your claim. My husband went through the process. He was no longer on active duty but was still part of the military and could have been called up.  If he hadn’t of left when he did he would have been part of desert storm.

 

It’s still odd in the sense there’s no JW chaplains in the military but I’m guessing that’s one of the reasons we got on the list. 

[Parale]

Seattle’s Incredibly Loud Street Preachers Eagerly Await the World Cup

 

New York Times, 7 June 2026

 

Long the bane of Mariners and Seahawks fans, evangelical ministers with large speakers are preparing for the “incredible opportunity” of screaming the word of God at 750,000 soccer fans.

 

Evangelical Christian street preachers have become a fixture at Seattle’s biggest public events... Now the ministers are preparing for the prospect of 750,000 soccer fans descending on the city, many of them to cheer on Iran, Egypt, Qatar, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, all Muslim-majority countries with games scheduled in the city.

 

“It’s an incredible opportunity,” said Justin Symons, a preacher with Gospel Invasion Ministries. “God puts us where we’re supposed to be.”

 

FULL ARTICLE - gift link 😎

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/07/us/seattle-street-preachers-world-cup.html?unlocked_article_code=1.o1A.Sf32.iqKLcRqW3Xm2&smid=url-share

[Barbllm]

Texas makes reading Bible passages mandatory in school.

 

Because of course they did. Maybe they'll memorize Jesus's words about how difficult it is for rich people to inherit the kingdom. Or about saying prayers publicly for attention (Matthew 6:5-7)

 

The article states, "Supporters argue that Judeo-Christian traditions played a central role in the country’s founding and should be represented in public school teachings."

 

This again? "The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." - John Adams, Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli, signed unanimously by the U.S. Senate in 1797.

 

[kejedo]

51 minutes ago, Barbllm said:

Texas makes reading Bible passages mandatory in school.

 

Because of course they did. Maybe they'll memorize Jesus's words about how difficult it is for rich people to inherit the kingdom. Or about saying prayers publicly for attention (Matthew 6:5-7)

 

The article states, "Supporters argue that Judeo-Christian traditions played a central role in the country’s founding and should be represented in public school teachings."

 

This again? "The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." - John Adams, Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli, signed unanimously by the U.S. Senate in 1797.

 

When  I started school, first grade, the teacher read Psalm 23, daily. She was Catholic and divorced, so limited in church participation. Psalm 23rd is not the shortest, but it is rather short. Later, I was allowed to keep a Bible in my desk  at  one school (high school completion) b/c the principal said they are supposed to be adults and you should be able to answer their questions.     Keeps on changing. My youngest son, not in the truth, lives in Texas.  I will use this in conversation. Thanks  for the link.

 

[Julsey]

1 hour ago, Barbllm said:

The article states, "Supporters argue that Judeo-Christian traditions played a central role in the country’s founding and should be represented in public school teachings."

 

This again? "The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." - John Adams, Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli, signed unanimously by the U.S. Senate in 1797.

 

So a few things here…

 

If you have truly delved into American history, you will know that most of the founders were deeply religious men. Secularists and atheists like to paint them as deists, but this is not the case. While no specific ‘Christian’ denomination was set up as a national church, such as the Anglican Church in England, attending a church was important to them. 
 

As for the treaty, its actual name is, “The Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary.” It set out the amount of tribute (protection money) that that the US would pay to the Bey of Tripoli to allow American shipping to continue uninterrupted, and keep American sailors from being kidnapped. Here is the complete reading of Article 11:

 

“As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion, as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen, and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.” In other words, religion will not be used as a reason to violate the treaty. 

 

On March 23, 1798, during his presidency, the same John Adams made a proclamation recommending a national day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer. Part of it reads:

 

”I have therefore thought fit to recommend, and I do hereby recommend, that Wednesday, the 9th day of May next, be observed throughout the United States as a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that the citizens of these States, abstaining on that day from their customary worldly occupations, offer their devout addresses to the Father of Mercies agreeably to those forms or methods which they have severally adopted as the most suitable and becoming; that all religious congregations do, with the deepest humility, acknowledge before God the manifold sins and transgressions with which we are justly chargeable as individuals and as a nation, beseeching Him at the same time, of His infinite grace, through the Redeemer of the World, freely to remit all our offenses, and to incline us by His Holy Spirit to that sincere repentance and reformation which may afford us reason to hope for his inestimable favor and heavenly benediction; that it be made the subject of particular and earnest supplication that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it; that our civil and religious privileges may be preserved inviolate and perpetuated to the latest generations; that our public councils and magistrates may be especially enlightened and directed at this critical period; that the American people may be united in those bonds of amity and mutual confidence and inspired with that vigor and fortitude by which they have in times past been so highly distinguished and by which they have obtained such invaluable advantages; that the health of the inhabitants of our land may be preserved, and their agriculture, commerce, fisheries, arts, and manufactures be blessed and prospered; that the principles of genuine piety and sound morality may influence the minds and govern the lives of every description of our citizens, and that the blessings of peace, freedom, and pure religion may be speedily extended to all the nations of the earth.”

 

You can read the full text here:

 

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-8-recommending-national-day-humiliation-fasting-and-prayer
 

Just as with the Bible, you have to read historical documents in context. In this case, you need to look at much more of what John Adams wrote to get the full picture of who he was and what he believed. 

 

I, for one, welcome the inclusion of the Bible in school texts here in Texas. Even if those outside of Jehovah’s organisation do not grasp the truth (yet), it at least gives those students whose parents don’t have a Bible (or don’t talk about it with their children if they do have it) a taste of what is in it. If I was in school now, that might open a whole host of opportunities for me to witness.

 

[Shawnster]

4 minutes ago, Julsey said:

 

 

 

I, for one, welcome the inclusion of the Bible in school texts here in Texas. Even if those outside of Jehovah’s organisation do not grasp the truth (yet), it at least gives those students whose parents don’t have a Bible (or don’t talk about it with their children if they do have it) a taste of what is in it. If I was in school now, that might open a whole host of opportunities for me to witness.

 

 

 

Which is ironic because, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, I would request my child be exempt or excluded from this curriculum if I lived in Texas. 

 

I was in high school when I studied and came into the Truth. At the same time there was a unit in school that was about the Bible.  I think it was literature class (what else would it be). I brought home the textbook and showed the brother studying with me. He looked it over, shook his head, and recommended I get excused from the assignment. The textbook covered a couple of Jesus illustrations, then made the wrong application.  As an impressionable teen just coming into the Truth, it would likely harm me spiritually to learn at school the wrong application of Jesus parables. 

 

The lesson? As Witnesses we do not want the State teaching our children Christendom's understanding of the scriptures. These Bible courses are, no doubt going to be more than simply reading the scriptures without application or discussion. The only source these schools have to create study guides are Christendom. 

 

Quote

The literacy TEKS typically includes Shakespeare and Sophocles. Now there’ll also be Psalm 23 and the Prodigal Son – the King James version.

https://www.keranews.org/education/2026-06-26/texas-board-education-reading-list-bible-passages-social-studies

 

Yes, and what does Christendom teach about the 23rd Psalm?   This is typically connected with death and going to heaven with the verse about "walking through the shadow of the valley of death" cited as supporting this understanding.

 

That, however, is a gross misapplication. This psalm is about the exact opposite. Instead of being a song about God's care as we pass from life to death, Psalm 23 is really about how we can trust in Jehovah’s care through the worst trials we face while still alive. 

 

*** w24 January p. 29 par. 12 Jehovah Has Tender Affection for You ***

12 Read Psalm 23:1-6. Psalm 23 is a song that expresses confidence in Jehovah’s love and tender care. David, the writer of this psalm, describes the strong bond that existed between him and his Shepherd, Jehovah. David felt safe letting Jehovah direct him, and he was totally dependent on Him. David knew that Jehovah’s love would pursue him all the days of his life. What made him so confident?

https://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=E&docid=2024246&srctype=wol&srcid=share&par=21

 

I would not want my child, nor any child, exposed to Christendom's understanding of the scriptures. Even discussing the Bible as purely a literary work cuts so close to the line that I would want to preview what the State education system wanted to teach before I decided to allow my child to participate.