What's That Noise I Hear

Wait a minute let me look, oh my god it's teabags bursting all over the place, what a freakin mess, gopher heads are turning red like their leaders rush, the beck, boehner and the hockey puck can't see Russia from her deck no more with all that screeching, whining and tears, as steam starts noisily wheezing out their ears from the mass once known as brain matter dissolves completely, 21st century christians? are seeking out their latest symbol to fall to their knees in front of, the lapel flag pins or purple heart bandages just aren't enough now, and pray to be taken by the coming rapture. What could be bringing all this on?

Army Guard Gets Its First Muslim Chaplain

Army 1st Lt. Rafael Lantigua, right, of the Texas National Guard shakes hands with Air Force Gen. Craig R. McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, during a Ramadan dinner in Washington, D.C. Lantigua will become the Guard's first Muslim chaplain in December 2010. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Darron Salzer

Sept. 24, 2010 – A Texas National Guard officer will become the Army National Guard’s first Muslim chaplain in December.

Army 1st Lt. Rafael Lantigua, an ecclesiastically endorsed, fully ordained minister, will assume his post after finishing classes required by the Armed Services Chaplain Board.

“I am humbled for this opportunity to be a role model for other members of my faith throughout the military,” he said.

As he was growing up, Lantigua was not a Muslim. He decided to convert when he was a teenager, he said, and he attributed that decision to the diversity of his background. His Baptist mother is an African-American, and his Roman Catholic father is from the Dominican Republic. After his parents divorced, he said, his mother married a Buddhist.

“Growing up in such diversity caused me to explore my options,” Lantigua said.

That diversity, he said, enabled him to embrace the Muslim faith before he enlisted in the Air Force. He has continued to be open about his religious beliefs, he added, in the hope that he can break down the stigma surrounding Muslims since Sept. 11, 2001. {read rest}