Michael Weinstein — a self-described advocate of religious freedom — apparently has no limits to his disdain for Christianity.<\/p>\n
Sojourners Magazine recently published an article<\/a> on Liberty University’s School of Aeronautics<\/a> — more specifically, their concentration in Unmanned Aerial Systems<\/a>.\u00a0 Provocatively titled “Drones for Christ,” author David Swanson sets out to describe<\/p>\n How Jerry Falwell’s Liberty U.\u2014the world’s largest Christian university\u2014became an evangelist for drone warfare.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Problem is, Swanson doesn’t succeed in his telling, because Liberty doesn’t have anything to do<\/em> with drone warfare, any more than it has anything to do with warfare conducted by manned aircraft.\u00a0 Swanson still makes\u00a0a\u00a0concerted effort to sensationalize his story:<\/p>\n Some\u00a0[students] are now being trained to pilot armed drones, and others to pilot more traditional aircraft, in U.S. wars. For Christ.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n No where in the article, nor on Liberty’s website, does it say anything about students flying armed drones.\u00a0 Liberty University is not training military UAV pilots or military manned aircraft pilots — only the military does that (barring any undisclosed programs by other government agencies).\u00a0 Thus,\u00a0it is incorrect for Swanson to say anyone<\/em> at Liberty is being “trained to pilot [aircraft] in US wars,” much less to say they’re being trained to go to war for Christ<\/em>.<\/p>\n The root of the story — the degree program itself — isn’t new, nor is it even unique to Liberty, as Swanson finally (if subtly) admits [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n Liberty has been turning out \u201cChrist-centered aviators\u201d for a decade<\/strong>. In fall 2011<\/strong>, Liberty added a concentration in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS, aka drones), making it one of the first handful of schools to do this. Now at least 14 universities and colleges<\/strong> in the U.S. have permits from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones, and many institutions<\/strong>, including community colleges, offer drone training<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If it is so common, why is it a big deal for Liberty?<\/p>\n Swanson apparently had an email interview with US Air Force Brigadier General (Retired) Dave Young, now the dean of the Liberty’s School of Aeronautics.\u00a0 Swanson asked an asinine question but got a reasonable response:<\/p>\n I asked Young about drones\u2019 most common use today, namely war fighting. \u201cIs that kind of drone use Christian?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n He replied: \u201cUAS are like any other aerial vehicle that can be used for a variety of missions including law enforcement, aerial surveillance, search and rescue, and crop spraying as well as for military reasons.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The scandal of Swanson’s headline quickly fizzled, despite his repeated efforts to find a juicy sound bite.\u00a0 What he ended up finding is that Liberty University — and most every other Christian school<\/a> — aims to train their students to work for Christ in whatever career field to which they may aspire<\/em>, whether that’s a flying drone in the military or being an elementary school teacher.<\/p>\n That’s consistent with human liberty, Christianity, and the US Constitution.\u00a0 So where’s the scandal in that<\/em>?<\/p>\n Well, religious freedom critic Michael Weinstein took the bait, calling Liberty’s program<\/a> [formatting original]<\/p>\n THE HORRIFYING PROSPECTS OF MERGING CHURCH & STATE IN THE U.S. MILITARY…First came the “Jesus Rifles,” then “Jesus Loves Nukes,” and now “Drones for Christ”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n