Posted on 05/12/2005 12:41:32 PM PDT by wagglebee
Heres a story that will throw you for a loop: a "chaplain at the U.S. Air Force Academy is complaining that the schools administration has a "systemic and pervasive problem of promoting religious religious values with a Christian bent.
The chaplain, Capt. Melinda Morton, a "Lutheran minister spoke out publicly on Tuesday as an Air Force task force arrived at the academy to investigate charges that officers and staff members pushed their religious beliefs on cadets.
And she claimed that a tolerance program developed at the academy, called Respecting the Spiritual Values of all People (R.S.V.P.), was watered down after it was shown to officers.
Maj. Gen. Charles C. Baldwin, chief of chaplains for the Air Force, screened the 90-minute R.S.V.P. film in October, according to Capt. Morton, and asked her: "Why is it that the Christians never win? in reaction to some of the programs depictions of cadet interactions.
"Chaplain Mortons complaints about too much religion at the military academy is creating waves, and earned her hero status in a report in the New York Times Thursday.
Gen. Baldwin acknowledged in an interview that he felt too many scenes in the film portrayed Christians at fault for excessive evangelical proselytizing.
He also said he asked that the Air Force cut segments on non-Christian religions such as Buddhism, Judaism and Native American spirituality.
The problem in dealing with proselytizing and church-state issues at the academy, he explained, "always is, when is a person crossing the line, or when are they being a positive person of faith, like our president.
Last year, the Colorado Springs academy invited Yale Divinity School professor Kristen Leslie and six Yale graduate students to visit the school and observe how the chaplains minister to the cadets.
A memo from the Yale team cited the "stridently evangelical themes at a worship service attended by 600 new cadets.
Leslie said a chaplain urged cadets to pray for those who didnt attend and "remind them of the consequences ... those not born again will burn in the fires of hell.
But academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker disputed that account, saying several other chaplains told him that no one mentioned burning "in the fires of hell.
Morton, a 48-year-old "Lutheran minister," said she was removed from her post as executive officer to the chief chaplain, Col. Michael Whittington, last week. She claimed the dismissal came after he pressured her to deny details of what happened at the religious service.
But Whitaker said Whittington sent Morton an e-mail on May 4 saying he was removing her "to ensure a smooth and complete transition for new leaders.
Morgan said she had stepped forward because "its the Constitution, not just a nice rule we can follow or not follow. That includes not using your power to advance your religious agenda.
She acknowledged that after speaking out, "I dont think I have much future in the Air Force.
You're right. I attended an AB service recently under the mistaken belief that it was a SB service. It was all sweetness and light, and the references to the Bible were so brief and barely-touched-on that I couldn't follow them. It was like trying to catch a patter of raindrops, or having only whipped cream for dinner. Give me the red meat!
And, she looks mean enough to whip mine.
Where was the barf alert?? Ugh.
Barry Lynn is the top guy at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and a cartoonish presence on talking head television, ever-ready to declare the imminent threat of theocracy in the land. It should come as no surprise to anyone, then, that the organization Lynn leads last week leveled a series of very serious charges against almost everyone at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
More at:
The Blue Angels? The U.S. Air Force Academy is targeted by secularists. by Hugh Hewitt
I could not stand foot in a USAF chapel for my last ten years on active duty without feeling defiled. One of the last straws was when the Travis chapel posted wiccan night on Wednesdays in the base paper. Pretty much says it all about the state of the chaplaincy in the USAF.
Elmendorf is a pretty nice place. I'm sure you're thinking of Eilson.
That was my same reaction when I saw those numbers. Being a lifetime LCMS member, I've never run into any LCMS minister who did not believe the entire Word of God.
Sounds to me like the question isn't whether people at the Academy can follow Christianity or not. It's whether they can, officially, try to proselytize those who are not Christians.
We have Jewish, atheist, and even Muslim students at the Academy. Why should they be proselytized by officials there? That doesn't make any sense.
Let each student worship as he or she sees fit. It's not the Christian Air Force Academy.
THe RSVP program she helped develop is anti-Christian-- and
anti-American in that it runs contrary to what Joseph Story
declared the "general if not universal sentiment in America to be when the First Amendment was ratified. It is contrary to the General Orders issued by George Washington to th emilitary that secured our liberties. And it is clearly contrary to Scripture.
DANG!! What have you got against the servicemen serving in Alaska??
Please think before you make such a statement. Somebody always comes up with Alaska as a place to send the dregs and sh*t from the South 48, whenever they display malfeasance or criminality. If you haven't lived or served in Alaska, you don't know what you're missing, and you can't judge it, especially as a fit place for jerks like this so-called chaplain.
I'm in the process of moving BACK up there, myself, and I have to admit that although your remark was obvioiusly said in jest, it is not taken kindly by anyone who loves Alaska or lives there, especially the Alaskans on this list. < /rant>
well good for them...
Life is sooo much better, without folks asserting that 'I am the resurrection and the life, he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live' nonsense.
It's important to strip our pilots of their faith in a living Christ, before we send them up in planes to defend our freedom. Otherwise, the enemy might be at a disadvantage, and THAT my friends wouldn't be fair.
This lady should be incarcerated for trying to drive the cadet's faith in Christ and the Bible out of their hearts... so as not to offend the unbelievers amongst them. Freedom NOT to believe is find. Enforcing UNbelief as the standard, as being practiced by these interlopers, should be a court martial offense.
But the truth is, if the enemy is to defeat us on the field of battle, they must undermine the resolve, faith and confidence of our fighting men. Who better than phony preachers, like this dyke looking poser?
See post #64. There is a .pdf copy of the report mentioned in your article at the link.
Bump for later reading
ELCA has become "Lutheran Light".
"And she claimed "
I stopped there. Most women consider everything some kind of acedemic excercise.
Whoops....that should be "Lutheran Lite"
Maybe it was that vague "secular matters" thing in the wording - I'm sure that an LCMS pastor, while holding the Bible to be inerrant, would say that it is not a source from which to learn refrigeration repair.
I agree. I prefer men as leaders.
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