US Army Sergeant-Major offers God and coffee to troops

Face of Defense: Soldier Serves up Counsel, Coffee
By Army Pfc. J. Princeville Lawrence
Special to American Forces Press Service

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Sept. 25, 2009 – Army Sgt. Maj. Virginia Stickler enjoys serving up drinks and snacks, as well as a bit of advice, to her fellow soldiers here at a coffee shop that speaks volumes about her deployment.



Army Sgt. Maj. Virginia Stickler, a member of the Kansas National Guard’s 287th Sustainment Brigade, is the manager of God’s Grounds, a coffee shop on Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq, that serves free drinks, snacks and movies -- as well as advice -- for soldiers. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. J. Princeville Lawrence


God’s Grounds is next to the chapel in an area of repose and comfort that soldiers come to for more than just a cup of coffee.

Stickler, a California native serving with the Kansas National Guard’s 287th Sustainment Brigade, is the manager, and is more than happy to serve up espressos, slurpees, honey buns and muffins. There is a refrigerator full of drinks and shelves of snacks courtesy of the chaplains, people back home and Army supply. This is a place where folks kick back on the couch, munch on a snack and watch a movie. The best part is, it’s all free.

And for those in need of some guidance, that’s free too.

“A number of soldiers come here, and they’re stressed and they’re away from their families, away from their support systems and they come here to kind of talk and ventilate, and I’m able to listen,” Stickler said.

For many soldiers, God’s Grounds is a source of help in troubled times. Soldiers can talk to people like Stickler, who draws from a lifetime of experience in helping people. She has two master’s degrees, a doctorate and experience as both a drug and alcohol counselor and a marriage counselor.

Read the whole piece here.

Religious whack jobs on the streets of Ottawa

Sent to my via my brother the Mad Colonel, from Sept 25th's Ottawa Sun. This is especially funny to me because +Linda Nichols was an adjunct faculty of mine at Wycliffe College before she became a bishop. Nice to see that Anglicans are trying their hands at old-fashioned evangelism! MP+

A neuroscientist on torture and the brain

This piece from the Baptist website ethicsdaily.com goes beyond moral and ethical arguments against torture. According to a neuroscientist, torture is unreliable because it damages the brain and degrades the ability to distinguish truth from unreality. An interesting argument against the "ticking time bomb" case for torture which advocates the use of torture to advance the greater good. MP+

Why Have Americans Been So Quick to Justify Torture?

By: Mark Johnson
Posted: Friday, September 25, 2009 5:52 am
Section: EthicsDaily.com's Latest Articles

Torture is not only cruel. It is also ineffective and unreliable, according to a leading neuroscientist studying the effects of the brain under conditions of extreme, repeated and prolonged stress.

Writing in the journal Trends in Cognitive Science, Shane O'Mara of the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin points to studies showing that changes in brain chemistry from torture actually lead to more confusion and an increasing inability to separate reality from fantasy. In short, torture does not lead to truth-finding, but to a compromise of "the normal functioning of the brain."

Read the complete text here.