Every member of the military voluntarily relinquishes certain First Amendment rights.
Secondly, the wing commander sent out the email as the wing commander. There is no way around the fact that in her official position as a commander she was advocating a specific religious point of view. Huge foul.
She can practice her religion however she chooses, but while she is in the military, regardless of her rank, she cannot impose it on anyone, in any form. The fact that she is a colonel and a wing commander pulling this stunt is astounding and reflects poorly on the Air Force processes for selecting senior leaders.
The military has chaplains for very specific reasons, and this is one of them.
The spokesman's trite remark “no complaint, no investigation” is asinine. That means anything goes as long as nobody complains.
Finally, she demonstrated very poor judgment in sending the email. I would hope she is relieved for lack of confidence.
“Secondly, the wing commander sent out the email as the wing commander. There is no way around the fact that in her official position as a commander she was advocating a specific religious point of view. Huge foul.”
Interpretations of the Constitution that forbid advocating a specific religious point of view are wrongly decided.
If a person were making the adoption of those views a condition of employment, or of preferential treatment, that would be a horse of a different color. That might approach the establishment of an official religion, which is what the constitution forbids.
However, telling someone where information may be found, to which he may or may not listen, at his own discretion, is no more an imposition than a map on a bookshelf. Sure, the map tells you how to get to Pink, Oklahoma, but it is not forcing you to go.
There is no constitutional prohibition on religious speech. No one has a right to be forever free from hearing—or overhearing—religious speech.
How in the hell do you equate sending an email with “imposing” a viewpoint on someone? Your comment is pure BS. Period.
That is far from asinine. I'm sure there are a variety of facts which haven't come to light yet - maybe she sent a variety of messages from differing faiths in the past, maybe the airmen had been sending various forwards around with similar stories of people overcoming adversity. If someone is breaking a rule, there is a set procedure to rectify that wrong - it begins with filing a complaint. You cannot find her guilty of an infraction without due process - THAT is a right not surrendered by members of our military.
“regardless of her rank, she cannot impose it on anyone, in any form.”
How is an email “imposing?” It’s frankly the same thing as an audible discussion, only sent over a distance. Further, there’s no need to even respond to a written form of communication as opposed to a spoken one.
Demanding that those with any beliefs of any consequence silence them to others is ludicrous and frankly a massive overstep of authority, as well. There was nothing harmful in the words that were exchanged.
I’m not seeing the difficulty in saying, “Here, check out this inspiring website.”