{"id":12581,"date":"2011-08-15T02:30:25","date_gmt":"2011-08-15T07:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=12581"},"modified":"2015-06-27T19:15:13","modified_gmt":"2015-06-27T22:15:13","slug":"weinstein-complains-of-wretched-christian-air-force-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/15\/weinstein-complains-of-wretched-christian-air-force-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Weinstein Complains of “Wretched” Christian Air Force Training"},"content":{"rendered":"
\ufeff<\/div>\n

According to the Air Force Times<\/em>, the Air Force is reviewing “all” materials it uses to teaches “ethics, core values, and character development.”\u00a0 The reason<\/a>?<\/p>\n

More Christian-themed course work surfaced.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The\u00a0gross misrepresentation of the Chaplain briefing at Vandenberg<\/a>, promoted by Michael Weinstein and his “religious freedom” allies,\u00a0has already been discussed.\u00a0 The latest issue\u00a0is a “complaint” about ethics training in ROTC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The ROTC briefing, called \u201cCore Values and the Air Force Member,\u201d contains references to the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments as examples of ethical values. Two additional slides list the New Testament teachings of Jesus known as the Beatitudes, and seven of the commandments, including \u201cHave no other gods before me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 22-slide briefing also cites the Golden Rule as an example of ethical values. One of the slides points out that the Golden Rule \u2014 \u201cdo unto others as you would have them do unto you\u201d \u2014 is found in five of the world\u2019s major religions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Shocking, isn’t it?\u00a0\u00a0A slideshow on ethics gives Christian examples\u00a0in its\u00a0“example[s] of ethical values.”\u00a0 A mere reference <\/em>to Christianity\u00a0causes\u00a0complaint.<\/p>\n

Does Air Force ethics training establish a religion, violate the Constitution, or otherwise\u00a0favor Christianity,\u00a0as Michael Weinstein so artfully claimed?<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is further example [sic<\/em>] of how wretched this fundamentalist Christian tsunami is and how pervasive it is,\u201d Weinstein said of the ROTC training material.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In short, no.<\/p>\n

The ethics lesson is not “Christian-themed,” to use the words of the Air Force Times<\/em>.\u00a0 Just like the ICBM training previously discussed<\/a>, hypersensitive people are over-reacting to the presence of Christianity — and only <\/em>Christianity.\u00a0 In fact, these people are so hypersensitive they’re seeing Christianity even where it isn’t<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Most laughable in Weinstein’s delicately-worded complaint is the premise that the Air Force is promoting Christianity when it references the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Golden Rule.<\/p>\n

As most 5-year-olds used to be able to tell you, the Ten Commandments <\/strong>are part of the Jewish law.\u00a0 They are found in\u00a0the Jewish Torah, not just the Christian Bible, though it is politically expedient for critics to ignore that distinction in this context.<\/p>\n

If you mention “Jesus” and “the Golden Rule<\/strong>” in the same sentence in a positive way, critics of Christianity will be quick to point out variations of the “Golden Rule” existed in other spiritual concepts\u00a0before Jesus Christ was born.\u00a0 The\u00a0Air Force slides even allude to this, and do not present “the Golden Rule” as a Christian concept.\u00a0 Of course, it is politically expedient for critics to ignore this\u00a0in this context.<\/p>\n

The Sermon on the Mount <\/strong>is, of course, the teaching of Jesus Christ — though some critics question whether Jesus’ beatitudes were actually original.\u00a0 Has the United States really gotten to a point where “Blessed are the peacemakers,” used as an example of an ethical value<\/em>, is not only “wretched,” but also actionable by the government?\u00a0<\/p>\n

More to the point, of course:\u00a0 The Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, and the Sermon on the Mount are <\/em>examples of ethical values, whether you agree with their potential theological underpinnings or not.\u00a0 Nowhere in the course material does the Air Force do anything with those examples except list them as such.<\/p>\n

Though neither Weinstein nor the Air Force Times <\/em>have published the slides, variations on the presentation are publicly available<\/a>.\u00a0 (Why there are “variations” is difficult to say, though even the complaining officer noted he altered his presentation.)\u00a0 One such file contains no references to the Sermon on the Mount, and instead has “Covey’s Universal Values,” which are apparently a reference to Steven Covey’s “universal” principles.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nInterestingly, that alteration removes the Christian reference, but leaves the Jewish one.\u00a0 In its possible attempt to eliminate controversy, it also leaves a close-up photograph of one of the most controversial religious structures in the world:\u00a0 The Dome of the Rock, which in a grand irony\u00a0serves as the background for the “golden rule” slide.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nSomebody probably picked it because it was “golden.”<\/p>\n

Again, the “examples of ethical values” are valid examples<\/em>, and they are presented as nothing more.\u00a0 When the curriculum turns to teaching <\/em>how to “select values,” it makes no reference to any form of religion:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Exercise Free Choice
\n2.\u00a0 Choose from Alternatives
\n3.\u00a0 Consider the Consequences
\n4.\u00a0 Prize It
\n5.\u00a0 Affirm It
\n6.\u00a0 Act On It
\n7.\u00a0 Repeat It<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That hardly seems like a “tsunami” of any sort.\u00a0 It’s kind of hokey, actually.<\/p>\n

In their\u00a0increasingly obsessive reactions to the slightest\u00a0reference to Christianity, some apparently miss the fact they’re “purging” Christianity while allowing other <\/em>religious references (or, more cynically, they don’t miss that at all). \u00a0Such specific treatment by a government body toward only one specific religion, while ignoring others, would <\/em>run afoul of Constitutional protections, as it “disfavors” one religion compared to others.<\/p>\n

The US military doesn’t need to promote religion.\u00a0 It doesn’t need to teach Christian Sunday School to achieve professional objectives, nor does it need to use any other religion’s basic training.<\/p>\n

To date, despite Michael Weinstein’s impassioned and profane pronouncements, no one has proven it has done any such thing<\/em>.\u00a0 The ethics training is no more a “Christian tsunami” than it is a tidal wave of Judaism, Islam, or “reason.”<\/p>\n

The US military also doesn’t need to abandon references to religion in its training materials, particularly when such references are academically relevant to the course being taught.\u00a0 (It is asinine to think ethics can be taught without any reference to religion or Christianity.)\u00a0 The mere reference to religion is not a violation of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

The US military also cannot target Christianity, despite Weinstein and his dogmatic\u00a0complaints.\u00a0 Should the military take targeted action against training material only because of its Christian content — despite the valid academic purpose it might otherwise serve, and despite the references to other religions — it may create an environment hostile <\/em>to Christianity, the religion claimed by three-quarters of the US population and US military members.<\/p>\n

To this point, the response of both the media and the Air Force has been far\u00a0more tepid to this latest round of Christian criticism,\u00a0potentially with this in mind.<\/p>\n

Michael Weinstein is on a mission, and it has nothing to do with religious freedom.\u00a0 In his quest for some form of misguided personal vengeance, he has targeted not religion<\/em>, and not some “sect<\/em>” of a religion, but a whole faith group<\/em>.\u00a0 Note that despite the repeated cries of some of his allies, he nowhere uses the word “dominionist,” nor is there any indication that the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, or the Golden Rule (despite their somewhat tenuous connection to Christianity to begin with) are outside of mainstream\u00a0<\/em>Christianity.<\/p>\n

In fact, in this most recent bout of publicity Weinstein even\u00a0renewed some of his older style.\u00a0\u00a0Did you catch his response<\/a> to the Air Force ICBM training<\/a>?\u00a0 It’s not just “wretched,” it’s the start of a new violent era in religious persecution and warfare:<\/p>\n

“(It’s) beyond the pale and is going to cause oceans and oceans of blood,” said…Weinstein…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The last <\/em>time Weinstein used that terminology<\/a>, he was talking about the coming second Holocaust to be brought about by Christians in America.\u00a0 He must think the “transition from Plan A to Plan B” is in progress.\u00a0 Wonder if he thinks the James Dobson\/Dick Cheney shadow government<\/a> is in on it.<\/p>\n

There’s something “wretched” here, all right, but it isn’t the Air Force’s\u00a0Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, or secular references in this ethics course, or the similar ones in the ICBM course earlier\u00a0(though,\u00a0naturally, Weinstein is\u00a0only concerned with\u00a0the Christian ones).\u00a0 What is “wretched” is Michael Weinstein’s\u00a0contemptible, intolerant,\u00a0and twisted view of the Constitution and religious liberty.<\/p>\n

Michael Weinstein is free to\u00a0have some odd\u00a0personal quarrel with Christianity.\u00a0 That he would use that freedom to attack those of that faith in the military — who protect <\/em>his right to that freedom — is unconscionable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\ufeff According to the Air Force Times, the Air Force is reviewing “all” materials it uses to teaches “ethics, core values, and character development.”\u00a0 The reason? More Christian-themed course work surfaced. The\u00a0gross misrepresentation of the Chaplain briefing at Vandenberg, promoted by Michael Weinstein and his “religious freedom” allies,\u00a0has already been discussed.\u00a0 The latest issue\u00a0is a “complaint” about ethics training in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[134,23,37,5284,96,4,1424,82,2086,2090,86,2085,19,73,2021,44,39,85,2,5218,7,1495,10,171,767,2087,2089,2088,2091],"class_list":["post-12581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-and-religion","tag-air-force","tag-bible","tag-buddhism","tag-chaplain","tag-christian","tag-churchandstate","tag-conspiracy","tag-constitution","tag-core-values","tag-dome-of-the-rock","tag-ethics","tag-golden-rule","tag-government","tag-hindu","tag-icbm-training-material","tag-islam","tag-jewish","tag-mikey-weinstein","tag-military","tag-military-religious-freedom-foundation","tag-mrff","tag-nuclear","tag-religion","tag-religious-freedom","tag-rotc","tag-sermon-on-the-mount","tag-steven-covey","tag-ten-commandments","tag-values"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12581\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}