Posted on 02/04/2010 7:58:42 PM PST by TaraP
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, February 4, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs has established a pagan circle in the woods on its campus with plans to dedicate it officially in March. However, the site has generated new controversy as Air Force staffers have revealed that a large wooden cross was found at the site, with some calling the placement of the cross a “hate crime.”
The population of self-styled pagans is a tiny percentage of the Academy’s 4,000 cadets. Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier told the Associated Press that he has eight to ten cadets that regularly attend their weekly Monday meetings, of which six or seven he describes as devout pagans. An additional 15 – 20 cadets he described as interested.
Although neo-pagans claim to have a connection to the old pagan religions that once dominated Europe before the rise of Christianity, their revival did not begin until the Twentieth Century, especially in the post-World War II era. Wicca – the religion of modern witchcraft – took off in England in the 1950s following the repeal of witchcraft laws, before spreading to other parts of the English-speaking world. Neo-Druid organizations also began appearing at the same-time as the cultural upheavals of the sexual revolution were taking place in the Western world....
The Air Force Academy has defended its policy to make a place for witchcraft on its campus as an expression of its commitment to cadet’s freedom of religion. However, critics have replied that the move represents a further rejection of the United States’ Judeo-Christian heritage, and makes little sense given that the numbers of actual neo-pagans at the Academy is miniscule compared to other followers of non-Christian faiths, such as Islam.
But the fact that a large wooden cross was placed anonymously at the neo-pagan circle several weeks ago has provoked an uproar at the Academy. The pagan site features two concentric circles of large stones that were installed on a wooded hill within the campus. The circle has a tentative dedication date of March 10.
Air Force Academy officials – who do not yet know who placed the Christian symbol at the pagan site – have condemned the act, and are investigating the matter as a “hate crime.”
“I consider this no different than someone writing graffiti on the Cadet Chapel,” said Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Mike Gould in a prepared statement.
Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and a 1977 Academy graduate, broke the story, saying one of his clients found the cross made of railroad ties at the site. He compared the presence of the cross at the pagan circle as the equivalent of a swastika in a Jewish center.
But Catholic League President Bill Donahue decried the reaction from Academy officials as “boilerplate” and stated that they were going way too far by treating the incident as “hate speech.” Donahue stated that if he found another religious symbol placed at a Catholic site, he would complain. However, Gould’s comparison of a “cross at a pagan site as the equivalent of graffiti on a church” struck him as offensive, since the Academy superintendent saw “no difference between neutering a religious symbol and defacing religious property.”
“This is more than overkill — it is grossly insulting to Catholics and Protestants,” said the Catholic civil rights leader. Instead of Wiccans and other neo-pagans experiencing persecution at the Academy, Donahue said that a 2005 Academy report revealed that Catholics and Protestants instead had reported experiencing religious intolerance.
“These remarks have added to the chilling atmosphere that Catholics and Protestants must endure,” said Donahue. He added that he was going to take the matter to the members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee, just as he had done in 2005.
“We need to know why hypersensitivity to non-Christians has evolved into insensitivity to Christians.”
Indeed they do. And I strongly suspect that Wicca as practiced in the military runs more towards the sane end of the huge spectrum practiced outside the military. Setting aside a little patch of ground on the Academy’s vast campus and setting a few stones in a circle doesn’t strike me as an over-accommodation for a group of 8-10 (which may well grow by a few once they have that nice little space of their own).
OH I see..You think Communion is actually eating flesh and drinking blood...
No my friend..It is actually a wafer and grape juice or red wine....
Jesus Christ is not a *leader* he is much much much more than that..known as the *King of Kings* *Lord of LORDS*
GOD incarnate...Christ the Reedemer that takes the SIN away from mankind.....
Communion- A Celebration of Life given to you by the only one that can giveth..Christ the LORD
Hope you understand now...
Most pagans/Wiccans have more respect for other people's religious beliefs than that. Even though whoever put the cross there was way out of line, the cross itself is still a sacred symbol to many other Christians who wouldn't dream of doing something so insensitive, and tossing one in the trash would be disrespectful to them.
The point is....Jesus Christ said he is the *Truth* he did not say tolerate other Pagan beliefs, he condemn them..That does not mean dis-respecting people.....But the Apostles put there lives on the line and died professing the *Truth* that Jesus Christ is GOD incarnate..The only begotten SON of the One true Living GOD...
How many truths can their be about GOD?
Either Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY...or he lied...
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life ...no man comes to the Father, but by me....
I’m a Christian myself, and my point was that if the wiccans did not want the item (as I might not want a wooden swastika) it was quite easily disposed of, or if they had a bit of conscience they could have asked on the base for its rightful owner to claim it or given it to a nearby church.
Oh, and how did they know this cross wasn’t left by someone who was simply confused between faith traditions, like most Haitians reportedly are. They did not need to make a big deal of it.
I can’t believe the amount of idiocy I’m reading in this thread.
I’m a Christian and a former infantry officer.
If you guys haven’t noticed, the First Amendment (you know, in that Constitution thing that these very cadets have sworn to uphold and defend) guarantees freedom of religion...even the ones we disagree with.
Like I said in another thread — I’d take a squad of motivated, disciplined soldiers who worshipped Twinkies over a battalion of lazy, undisciplined ragbags who happened to be Christians.
Thanks to the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, we don’t live in a theocracy.
No, the point is....Jesus Christ (of whom I am a devout worshipper) didn't write the Constitution. The Constitution I swore my life to defend says that people have the right to worship in whatever way they want.
This is a Constitutional issue, not a religious one.
To answer your questions
1.How did people who practice witchcraft get in the Air Force Academy in the first place? -
The flew in, probably on brooms or magic carpets.
2.Which members of Congress nominated them? -
Too easy - Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, and Arlen Spectre
3. Has the military gone crazy? - YES
4.Will they accommodate voodoo and people sacrificing chickens and goats there on the academy campus? -
The military has a tradition of sacrificing chickens and goats. And there are plans to display an RF101 on the campus.
Human sacrifice? - We’re talking the military -where individual sacrifice is the norm
Whirling dervishes? - They like to call them helicopters nowadays.
Is anyone in charge capable of drawing any lines at all?
No - CAD systems pretty much put paid to drafting skills.
I hope this clears things up for you
What does that have to do with calling a Wooden Cross near a Pagan Circle a *Hate Crime*?
No my point was you all are to thin skined for your own good, a cross is a hate crime?
Simple... placing the primary religious symbol of ANY religious at the place of worship of another religious group implies the intent to deny that group their freedom to worship as they see fit. It's essentially an intentional desecration of that group's place of worship.
Imagine a star and crescent placed at a Christian church.
Imagine a cross placed in a synagogue.
Imagine a Wiccan pentagram placed in a cathedral.
Are you starting to see the point? It's not about the cross itself - it's about denying (or attempting to deny) these cadets the right to worship in the manner of their choosing.
Even the tiniest infractions of rules are always a big deal at the service academies, so there’s no reason for this to be an exception. And if you refer to the Fox News version of the story, instead of the version from crackpot LifeSite which habitually leaves out pertinent information, you’ll note that the spokesman for the pagan/Wiccan group compared the incident to pagans leaving a pentagram at the altar of the Christian chapel at the academy. It was only kooky “Mikey” Weinstein who tried to compare it to a swastika.
It’s really way past time that people who want to promote true religious freedom at the service academies distance themselves from Weinstein and find a saner champion for the cause. The guy graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1977, which makes him at least 55. I really don’t think I could keep a straight face if a 55 year old man introduced himself to me as “Mikey”. All I can think of is the cute little preschooler in the classic Life cereal ad. I find it hard to believe he went by that name while he was attending the Academy.
How do we know the cross wasn’t placed by the earth worshippers themselves (low level false flag attack), or by those sympathetic to the earth worshippers, in order to further demonize Christians? Things sound pretty polarized at the Academy over this issue. False flag and psy ops are all the rage these days.
This isn’t about the official response, it’s about all the tongue wagging that’s going on around the incident. If a pentagram object (we are not talking graffiti) was found placed on a Christian altar, it would likely just be chucked out in the trash, maybe after some prayers made for whoever put it there.
That’s possible... maybe a Moose put it there.
I really doubt that the pentagram on the altar scenario would get a brush-off like that at the Air Force Academy. And did you see the size of that cross? It looks very likely that it took more than one person to get it there. And where the heck does a cadet conceal something like that between the time it’s acquired/assembled and the time it’s snuck out to the circle (presumably in the dead of night, and probably involving infractions of other Academy rules for cadets). This is most likely the work of two or more cadets who made a concerted effort to mount this obnoxious protest of an officially-recognized worship space.
Two Mooses.
This statement should apply to the installment of the pagan circle in this Christian-founded school.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.