Posted on 06/08/2013 6:22:45 AM PDT by Kaslin
The U.S. Air Force directed a military base to remove a video tribute to First Sergeants because it mentioned the word ‘God’ and might be offensive to atheists or Muslims.
The tribute was created by a chaplain at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The chaplain wrote a poem titled, “God Created A First Sergeant.” It was later adapted into a video with a narration.
The video was modeled after the Dodge Ram Super Bowl commercial titled, “God Created A Farmer.”
“On the eighth day, God looked down on His creation and said, ‘I need someone who will take care of the Airmen,’” the tribute read. “So God created a First Sergeant.”
Chaplain leadership at the base signed off on the project as well as other base officials and earlier this week the video was posted on YouTube. But it was soon taken down after other officers objected.
“Proliferation of religion is not allowed in the Air Force or military,” wrote the chief of the Air Force News Service Division in an email I obtained. “How would an Agnostic, Atheist or Muslim serving in the military take this video?”
“I would not recommend using this at all,” the chief wrote.
He also took issue with the wording of the video, according to the emails.
“The choice of ‘On the Eighth day’ verbiage to begin this video is highly suggestive from the book of Genesis in the Bible and has Christian overtones,” he wrote.
An Air Force spokesperson told Fox News the video was removed for a legal review.
“The Air Force removed the ‘God Created a First Sergeant’ video from the official Joint Base McGuire Dix YouTube site to evaluate whether it is consistent with official Air Force guidance, to include whether it meets official guidance governing religious neutrality in the Air Force as prescribed in Air Force Instruction 1-1, Air Force Culture,” spokesperson Ann Stefanek said in a statement.
A source with knowledge of the incident tells me that the video was made to simply honor First Sergeants. The chaplain had written the poem several months ago and it was recently turned into a multimedia presentation.
The decision to censor the video comes less than a week after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation ordered the Air Force to remove an inspirational painting from Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.
The painting included a reference to a Bible verse in the Gospel of Matthew, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
The Air Force complied with those demands and less than one hour after MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein filed the complaint, the painting was removed.
An Airman who reached out to Fox News said Air Force leadership is “hypersensitive to anyone who says they feel like their rights are being violated.”
“It’s extremely frustrating,” the Airman said. “The Air Force is living in fear of Mikey Weinstein.”
The Airman, who asked not to be identified because he feared being disciplined, said many people are furious over the censorship of the chaplain’s video.
“If our chaplains cannot speak the name of God, let alone Christ, why have them?” he asked. “I’ve towed the company line for years but this has pushed me too far to sit quietly while personal liberties are trampled upon.”
The Airman said in recent months they have been reminded that they cannot proselytize and they cannot share their faith on the installation.
“We are strongly discouraged from having any kind of Christian items on our desks or in our offices,” he said.
Warfighting seems no longer our military’s priority. We’ll be very sorry for it.
Why can’t Christians start getting “offended”? It’s time to stop turning the other cheek and start acting like Old Testament warriors
It’s high time that we start lawsuits because we are offended by Atheists
Remind me again how the U.S. Armed forces oath of enlistment ends?
I have never seen this. Thanks for posting the link. Who is the narrator?
Atheism is a religion, per SCOTUS.
I haven't a clue, but I remember it being the sign-off of my local TV station in the late 60s and/or early 70s.
See post #13
I’m retired Air Force, so I can speak to the topic.
First, God didn’t create First Sergeants...Air Force regulation created them.
Second, there was only one creation in this whole topic....the day that Paul Harvey got invited....decades ago...to speak at a convention of farmers...and wrote the actual first speech of “God Created a Farmer”. After that, it was all copies of what Paul Harvey intended to be a one and only inspiration.
Third, the limited number of Air Force folks who started the project...were going to put government money into a video that the majority of Air Force enlisted personnel would not have been interested to view. If completed and put out...they would have run it on overseas AFN stations...forcing people to mute the thing every time it came on, or having drinking games with the word “First Sergeant” when the clip came on TV. I know how these videos are perceived, and most come across in a negative fashion.
Finally, if this had gone on....then the bomber pilots would have produced their version (God Created a B-52), then the cooks would have done theirs (God Created the Chow Hall), then the MWR guys would have done theirs (God Created NCO Club), then the library folks would have done theirs (God Created the Base Library), and finally the AAFES folks would have done theirs (God Created the Base Exchange).
Frankly, I think one smart guy stood up and asked some stupid questions, and everyone realized that there wasn’t any real common sense in the room. I may be the one single voice in the wilderness on this, but I suspect there are tens of thousands of AF vets who know how the game is played and how much of a waste this would have been.
They didn’t pull it because it was stupid. They pulled it because it was religious.
Of Course he didn’t. *rme*
If we Americans can ever get our country back, we’re going to have to do one hell of a fumigation on the Pentagon. It is now so infested with atheists, faggots, perverts, Muzzies and numerous other iterations of America’s enemies. It might be cheaper to just nuke that joint and start all over again.
Apparently the entire General Staff needs to be fired. Sick of this anti-Christian pro-Muslim insanity...
I wonder if the individual(s) responsible for the removal were being sodomized simultaneously with the writing and issuance of the removal order? The Airforce certainly has its priorities in tune with the administration’s orders.
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