Update: “Former Terrorists” at USAFA

Update to previous post.

The Colorado Springs Gazette has an editorial that took the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to task for complaining about the Academy’s choice of speakers in its recent political forum.  The paper accused the MRFF of “scouring the landscape” to prevent religious expression and ignoring the value of academic freedom in the process.

The MRFF admitted that its primary concern was that the speakers were Christian, which is consistent with MRFF founder Michael Weinstein’s self-described blood-letting “war” with evangelical Christians.

In an as yet unpublished reply, Richard Baker, an associate of Weinstein’s, continues to accuse the Academy of using the men to proselytize, even though the forum is already complete and no such complaints have been made.

In acknowledging that the Academy should not proselytize, the paper noted that Council on American-Islamic Relations also took issue with the three speakers; however, they requested that other, more “moderate” speakers be invited to balance the “extreme” views of the three men.  They did not attempt to silence them because they were Christians, as the MRFF would do.  In fact, CAIR even offered to help the Academy find speakers with such a balancing perspective.

AF Academy Invites “Former Terrorists” to Speak

As part of the academic environment at the Academy, policies on forums and speakers often result in “unusual choices” for speakers, some of whom are not even favorably disposed to the military.  According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, the AF Academy has invited three former Islamic terrorists who have converted to Christianity to speak as a portion of an annual political forum.  One of the speakers has “criticized Palestinian sympathizers,” and has been accused by Eileen Fleming, a freelance blogger and Palestinian advocate, of fabricating his terrorist past.

Michael Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation was quick to criticize the decision to invite Christian speakers.  Said David Antoon, MRFF board member:

What’s troublesome to me is this is pure ideology and it has nothing to do with academics…This is the Air Force Academy. It used to be an academic institution of excellence. It has become a political Bible college with the evangelicals holding so much influence with what’s going on there.

The criticisms come even though the MRFF didn’t know the men, hadn’t researched their background, and did not address the other people, topics, or ideologies of the forum.  Apparently, the only issue with which the MRFF was concerned was the men’s Christianity.

Update: In response to concerns that the three men were Christians, another Gazette article notes that the Academy said the three would constrain their comments to, shockingly, the topic of the forum (terrorism).

Muslim Soldier Loses “Free Exercise” Appeal

The Religion Clause notes a recent military appeals court decision (US v Webster) that found a Muslim soldier who “missed movement” (was absent from his unit’s deployment) was rightfully convicted.

The soldier had pled guilty, then sought to reverse that plea.  The soldier’s initial contention was that he could not deploy to Iraq because his internet research of Muslims had led him to believe that it was wrong to kill fellow Muslims.

This advice was not only inconsistent with what the Muslim Chaplain said, but it was also irrelevant:  his commander gave him the opportunity to deploy in a non-combatant role.  He filed conscientious objector status on the same day he missed movement; the court noted that CO status applied to those who objected to war, not to those who objected to one aspect of a certain war.  The court also affirmed that his commander attempted to accomodate the soldier’s religious beliefs.

Book Review: Under Orders

William McCoy
edein, 2007.
Topic: Spirituality

Under Orders is subtitled “A Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel,” has a rare endorsement from active duty General Petraeus, and is written by an experienced chaplain. It has exemplary reviews on various websites. It seems like an excellent reference for a military Christian.

It’s not.

The book’s intended audience are those who are non-religious, non-church-going, depressed, or traumatized. Nothing is said to those who already have a spiritual faith.

Chaplain McCoy, who is sponsored by the Lutheran denomination, doesn’t speak confidently about his own faith. In fact, he has little positive to say about the Christian faith at all. He belittles fellow Read more

Iraq in the News

Actually, its not…

As of this posting, a review of both the CNN and Fox websites reveals only a single article related to Iraq (and it was in the health section, on PTSD).  While the bloodshed is by no means over, the significant drop in violence (a good thing) appears to have resulted in a dearth of news reporting.

Gone are the days of up-to-the-minute casualty counts and roadside bomb tallies.  Apparently “good” news doesn’t generate sufficient ratings.

To our men and women “over there:” Keep up the good work.  Some of us are still paying attention.

Dungy to Return to “Pulpit”

“I look at this as a job, but I also look at it as a ministry…” – Tony Dungy, Colts Head Coach

The Indianapolis Colts’ head football coach Tony Dungy recently announced he would not retire, but would return to coach next season. 

Dungy’s outspoken Christian faith, the Colts’ 2007 Super Bowl victory, and his best-selling book have made him a unique and reluctant celebrity.  (See the “Perspective” section of this post.)  Dungy had been criticized for leading the Colts to 13 regular season wins this year, only to be eliminated in the first game of the playoffs.

The experience gives Dungy the ability to continue his Christian witness even though his team didn’t win–a reminder to people that being a Christian does not guarantee “success” (at least not by the world’s standards).

Religious Freedom Day, 2008

Religious Freedom Day takes place annually on January 16th by Presidential proclamation (2008).  The day commemorates the Virginia Legislature’s passing of Thomas Jefferson’s “Statute for Religious Freedom,” which occurred on January 16th, 1786.  Notably, this was before the Constitution (signed in 1787), of which Jefferson had no part, and the Bill of Rights (passed in 1789), of which Jefferson was one of the leading proponents.

Many on both sides of the issue consider the statute to be pivotal to the modern struggle of religious freedom and church/state separation.  It is interesting that the day gets very little mainstream media attention, particularly given the “culture wars” and church/state issues that have seemed so dramatic over the past few years.

The purpose and background of RFD can be seen on the privately-funded site ReligiousFreedomDay.com.

Book Review: In, But Not Of

Hugh Hewitt
Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 2003.
Topic: Ambition

Even though “In” is only 25% of the title, it makes up more than 90% of the book. There are only one or two of 48 chapters dedicated to a Christian topic, and the implied motivation of those chapters is still questionable. (For example, there is a chapter on making sure you attend a church, but the implied purpose is to have a “guardrail” to your conscience—something to keep you honest while you’re working in the world.) All other chapters are simply about how to succeed, with a sentence or caveat at the end of the chapter about how a Christian shouldn’t have pride (which is apparently the only vice “of the world” the author is concerned with).

The book primarily focuses on living in the right place, going to big name schools, understanding a professional sport, and looking good to your boss. In civilian terms, Mr. Hewitt states that politicking is a legitimate means of endearing yourself to the appropriate people for their favor: “People rise in the world because they attract the attention and approval of powerful people” (p50). He accurately asserts that “authority requires credentials,” and lists Paul’s resume’ in Philippians 3:5-6 as a Biblical example, which takes it somewhat out of context, particularly since Paul’s credentials were all prior to his conversion. Mr. Hewitt asserts that one cannot be both a pastor and influential in the world (Chapter 11) because “a preacher has next to zero credibility on any issue of politics or public policy…” (p62).

Mr. Hewitt’s brand of “in but not of” suggests a paradigm of cloaking Christianity in order to succeed; he seems to think that using a Christian phrase might torpedo someone’s perceptions of you and thus your potential to advance professionally.

Not recommended. The book is predominantly about how to advance yourself, not dealing with Christian ambition.

This book is available from Christian Book Distributors and Amazon. (This site is an Amazon Associate and may earn from qualifying purchases made through Amazon referrals.)

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