Air Force Cadet E-Mails Religious Quotes

The Washington Post ^ | 1 June 2005 | Robert Weller

[pickemuphere]

DENVER -- On the eve of his graduation, the top cadet at the Air Force Academy sent out a religious-themed e-mail to thousands of fellow cadets, even as the school is grappling with complaints that some evangelical Christians are harassing others at the school.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the e-mail sent Tuesday by Wing Commander Nicholas Jurewicz to the freshmen, sophomore and junior classes, which is about 3,000 cadets. "Wing commander" is the title held by the top senior at the school in military ranking.

Jurewicz lists his favorite quotations in the message, including several about Jesus. One quotation, "Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ," is a biblical verse.

The academy has been under investigation because of complaints that evangelical Christians have harassed cadets who do not share their faith, in violation of the constitutional separation of church and state.

Cadets have been required to attend religious tolerance seminars, during which they have been reminded that Air Force policy bans the use of official e-mails for personal messages.

"We will look into it and if he violated any Air Force or academy policy we will take appropriate action after we've reviewed it," academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker said.

[absolootezer0]

let me get this straight, if a Christian talks about his faith it's against the law, but a muslim can say or do anything he wants, and its constitutionally protected?

[Jersey Republican Biker Chick]

"Could it be that religion is an excuse to be intolerant?"

Yes, I believe that some people use it that way.

[Cogadh na Sith]

Then in a voice that re-echoed through the church like a trumpet blast, he exclaimed, "And there is also a time to fight, and that time has now come."

Do you understand the difference between preaching to your congregation to fight and preaching to your fighters to convert?

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

"Got it. I defend the very folks who have always ensured religious freedom on this thread and they apparently have no right to express it themselves."

After the problems that have been reported and documented at the Air Force Academy, this guy was a Grade-A fool. I would prefer to entrust things such as 2,000-pound bombs to people with a lick of common sense.

Would you be as happy with a Muslim officer telling you "Either attend mosque on Friday or you're on s**t detail" as you seem to expect non-Christians to be with a Christian officer telling them "Either attend chapel on Sunday or you're on s**t detail?"

[Bryan24]

You are full of it.

[Tribune7]

"You're either attending my preferred chapel service, or you're going to be on the mother of all s**t duties."

Is that really what's going on? It's not spelled out in the article.

The article just refers to some kid sending an email.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

"Is that really what's going on? It's not spelled out in the article."

It's been documented at the academy.

"The article just refers to some kid sending an email."

After the events I noted, only a complete grade-A moron--i.e., someone I would not trust with such things as 2,000-pound bombs or $110-megabuck fighters--would've sent that email TO THE ENTIRE DAMN ACADEMY.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

"If this was a Muslim controlled society and you were Christian the work detail would be the least of your problems."

Nice dodge. Address the issue. Does a senior officer in the Air Force have the authority to force his subordinates to adhere to his creed? Yes, or no? If yes, is that a good idea? If it is, then please explain why.

[beezdotcom]

'Cuz, you know, not being Christians they wouldn't realize that....

Uh, I think the premise was that, in some companies, Christians AND non-Christians seem to have lost sight of this point.

"Even though you are not Christians, your work still matters."

Pretty condescending. I wanna be a more humble Christian.

Yes, it WOULD be condescending if you put it that way, especially to a non-Christian. However, that's not what the article was doing. You are looking for conflict where none exists.

This was under the heading "Emphasize Craftmanship". If your organization doesn't suffer from a lack of said emphasis, then harping on it would tend to seem condescending to ALL the employees, Christian or non-Christian alike.

If, however, your organization DOES suffer from a lack of "craftmanship focus", the article merely suggests two methods of motivating employees. One would presumably only work for Christians, and one would presumably work for both, but was mentioned in the context of the non-Christian employee (since the appeal to Biblical principles probably wouldn't be very useful). Are you just offended that the article didn't say "both", or do you disagree with the whole premise that some companies suffer from employees who have lost sight of this focus?

More to the point: who would be reading this article? Your average non-Christian - or, more hopefully, the Christian manager who may have lost sight of the fact that the work of his non-Christian employees "still matters". Target audience, my friend, means a lot when it comes to "perceived slights"...

[Mach9]

He wasn't an officer at the time, more's the pity. And his authority must be limited indeed if even his well-wishes can be deemed over-the-line.

Flunked? I don't think so; leadership often requires more than tact; sometimes it may even require guts.

"Never volunteer" evidently wasn't his credo.

[Cogadh na Sith]

Dude, they just don't get it.

They think that the military only exists to proselytize and convert in the name of their own particular branch of Christianity....

Unfortunately, a lot of AF leaders feel the same way.

[Marysecretary]

Then not a word would have been spoken from the higher ups.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

"And his authority must be limited indeed if even his well-wishes can be deemed over-the-line."

A lot less limited than most civilians would believe.

Go back to the sex scandals at the Academy a while back. There were some cheating scandals even further back.

They all revolved around the upperclassmen having damn-near-Godlike authority over juniors, and not being adequately supervised. The Air Force Academy has a particularly bad corporate culture in this regard.

[Cogadh na Sith]

Your average non-Christian - or, more hopefully, the Christian manager who may have lost sight of the fact that the work of his non-Christian employees "still matters". Target audience, my friend, means a lot when it comes to "perceived slights"...

I quoted the article as it was--I cannot believe they are separating employees into 'camps'

I think you are already in a world of hurt in a company if you even see employees as 'Christian' or 'Non-Christian'.

[Mach9]

Sorry--I'm missing something here. Thought we were talking about Christianity not branches of paganism.

[Cogadh na Sith]

As a supervisor, would you treat your 'Christian' employees differently than your 'Non-Christian' employees?

[Frapster]

Could it be that religion is an excuse to be intolerant?

Tell that to the hundreds of millions murdered in the name of secular ideology in the past century.

[Cogadh na Sith]

Tell that to the hundreds of millions murdered in the name of secular ideology in the past century.

Yeah, what a total waste that they were killed for nothing instead of in the name of Allah, or God or The Great Brahma Goat like in the good ol' days....