Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Divided Loyalties?
In 2005, it was reported that Air Force Academy cadets had complained evangelical Christians were proselytizing Jews and other Christians. The Washington Post reported that,
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has issued a very disturbing report on the dominance of Evangelicals -- and their bullying of those faculty and cadets who don't share their born-again faith -- here.
That, of course, is old news. Now, however, Jeff Sharlett has a report "Inside Christian Embassy" that tells the story of a behind-the-scenes ministry for government and military elites that operates among top generals at the Pentagon in "apparent violation of military regulations."
Sharlett's article also called RSR's attention to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation which is dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the Constitutional guarantees of religious freedom to which they and all Americans are entitled by virtue of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
You can learn more about the foundation -- which was started by Mikey Weinstein, an Air Force Academy alumni, whose sons faced religious persecution by Christian fundamentalists when they attended the academy -- here.
Weinstein's son, Curtis, was repeatedly called a [expletive] Jew and accused of killing Jesus by a number of fundamentalist cadets.
RSR's question is where the ultimate loyalties of these fundamentalist military officers lie: is it with the Constitution, or is it with their own peculiar religious institutions?
... the Air Force's "Chaplain of the Year" urged cadets to proselytize among their classmates or "burn in the fires of hell"; that mandatory cadet meetings often began with explicitly Christian prayers; and that numerous faculty members introduced themselves to their classes as born-again Christians and encouraged students to become born again during the term.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has issued a very disturbing report on the dominance of Evangelicals -- and their bullying of those faculty and cadets who don't share their born-again faith -- here.
That, of course, is old news. Now, however, Jeff Sharlett has a report "Inside Christian Embassy" that tells the story of a behind-the-scenes ministry for government and military elites that operates among top generals at the Pentagon in "apparent violation of military regulations."
Sharlett's article also called RSR's attention to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation which is dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the Constitutional guarantees of religious freedom to which they and all Americans are entitled by virtue of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
You can learn more about the foundation -- which was started by Mikey Weinstein, an Air Force Academy alumni, whose sons faced religious persecution by Christian fundamentalists when they attended the academy -- here.
Weinstein's son, Curtis, was repeatedly called a [expletive] Jew and accused of killing Jesus by a number of fundamentalist cadets.
RSR's question is where the ultimate loyalties of these fundamentalist military officers lie: is it with the Constitution, or is it with their own peculiar religious institutions?
