Posted on 06/01/2005 9:18:27 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Maybe he did, and that is the point of the email.
So is the duty of the AF to spread Christianity or to defeat America's enemies by air (and space) power?
Let's keep our priorities straight here.
Should the temporary and ludicrous demands of political correctness receive MORE official sanction?
They should be put into camps and exterminated. Only that will be punishment enough for such a heinous and grisly crime as sending Bible verses in an email.
Only if they are unbelievers... LOL!
Seriously, where did you get that from?
You did not qualify your previous comment to be limited to foreign enemies.
And what about the Constitutional protection of the right to express one's belief or opinion.
And what exactly do they mean by "harassed"? I suspect it means these Christians are expressing their view -- not threatening or ridiculing those who disagree.
No more than the demands of any other particular religion.
If I was going to stir the pot, I'd use treasured Air Force traditions to do it.
Translating this to Navytalk: "My fellow midshipmen, on the eve of our Commissioning, I hope that we take a moment to remember the words of the Navy Hymn: "Eternal Father, blahblahblah..." Then I'd be able to get my message out, and put the authorities in a bit of a box.
But I've always been a little devious.
Agreed. Drop literature, the rest of the humanities, and math & science in all the academies for that matter. Maybe then we can just skip officers altogether and go straight to drones.
I dunno--the oath I took says: "defend the Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic...."
You must mean adultery and sexual harrassment fueled by pornography happens on active duty and throughout the AF and is a distraction to duty and a hindrance to good order and discipline.
So favoring a particular denomination of Christianity is as important to an officer as math or science?
>Yes, but that is where we are at: "Are you going to church this Easter?" "Isn't your performance rating coming up?"<
"Your not going out drinking and to the Cheetah with the team."Your performance rating is coming up.This is something that has happened countless times,not a fantasy worry like the religous example.
What exactly motivates you to blow a gasket on this issue?
No--that is contrary to good order and discipline.
Can I fight America's enemies if I read 'Playboy'?
Yeah, that is bad too. There is no place for it. The religious example is personal experience.
Then you, too, must see the argument in revers (and that PC is a "religion"). If so, those who proselytize deserve no more punishment than those who insist on no proselytizing.
Yep, I made life hell for those who didn't follow orders.....regardless of the good intentions. Rules and regulations are in place for a specific reason be it tradition or neccessity. Follow em, or go work at Sears.
It is my duty to make em whole, the chaplins to guard their soul and the troop is to just shut up and dig the hole when and where told. Screw that up an they are out of the fold.
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