{"id":3193,"date":"2010-01-18T00:40:28","date_gmt":"2010-01-18T08:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=3193"},"modified":"2015-06-27T19:16:22","modified_gmt":"2015-06-27T22:16:22","slug":"respect-healthy-for-different-faiths-but-still-criticized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2010\/01\/18\/respect-healthy-for-different-faiths-but-still-criticized\/","title":{"rendered":"Respect Healthy for Different Faiths, but Still Criticized"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago, the Air Force Times<\/em> solicited comments from its readers after\u00a0noting the “improved religious climate<\/a>” at the US Air Force Academy.\u00a0 They asked:<\/p>\n

What do you think?\u00a0 Have you found the service and its members to be tolerant of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Wiccans and others who are not Christians?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It would appear, based on the most recent Air Force Times<\/em> article, that the responses were largely positive.\u00a0 The article is entitled “Respect healthy for different faiths<\/a>,” which seems to indicate a positive environment for “different faiths” within the Air Force.<\/p>\n

Within the article, however, the author focuses on those who take issue with Christianity in the military, rather than the ‘healthy respect’ that is apparently evident.\u00a0 The article begins with the presumption of truth in claims that the culture of the Air Force causes an ‘assumption’ of Christianity:<\/p>\n

A predominance of Christians in the Air Force creates an atmosphere that assumes all airmen are Christians, allowing prayers and other religious displays at everything from football games and holiday parties to commander\u2019s calls and change-of-command ceremonies, according to non-Christian airmen interviewed by Air Force Times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While there is a “predominance of Christians” in the United States and in its military, the presence of prayer is not inherently a Christian endeavor, and “religious displays” of other faiths are treated no differently than those of Christianity.\u00a0 The article’s opening statement is prejudicial and not entirely accurate.<\/p>\n

The article then goes on to present criticisms of the Air Force’s religious atmosphere, using only the unsubstantiated opinions of Airmen.\u00a0 For example, after praising the military’s environment of tolerance, Air Force Reserve JAG Capt Omar Ashmawy, a Muslim, caveats his positive comments with a caution about an underlying threat:<\/p>\n

Hostility, though, is “right below the surface,” Ashmawy said. “And [after] an event like Fort Hood…people who are inclined to discriminate against Muslims will do it.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Neither the Air Force Times<\/em> nor Ashmawy actually cites any examples<\/em> of this “hostility,” however, even months after the massacre at Fort Hood.\u00a0 There is simply the uncontested presumption that\u00a0there must<\/em> be hostility against non-Christians, even if it never manifests itself.<\/p>\n

What is most interesting is the “inappropriate religious” atmosphere that the Air Force Times<\/em> cites, quoting military members.\u00a0 First, the AF Times<\/em> says<\/p>\n

The atmosphere that non-Christian airmen mentioned to Air Force Times manifests itself most often at public events–invocations, Christmas carols and the like.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As already stated, an invocation is not inherently Christian.\u00a0 And Christmas carols<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Next, they quoted an anonymous former Airman:<\/p>\n

“The Air Force is laced with inappropriate religious display at commander’s calls, military formations and holiday gatherings…Airmen are force-fed religious jargon.<\/p>\n

“I had many superiors over the years that were religious, and a few openly carried Bibles at work…Had they known I am agnostic, it would, I am sure, have affected their views of my annual performance ratings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Again, the Air Force Times<\/em> relies on vague, unsupported anecdotes.\u00a0 The only specific example of an “issue” is superiors who “openly carried Bibles at work,” though no one cites a rule that prohibits carrying religious books or says why one should exist.<\/p>\n

The coup de grace<\/em> of unsupported accusations against Christians and the military’s religious atmosphere, however,\u00a0is the anonymous former\u00a0Airman’s dramatic hypothetical.\u00a0 He assumes no one knew his religious beliefs, but is certain, absolutely certain<\/em>,\u00a0that\u00a0it would “have affected” his career if his superiors had known.\u00a0 He gives no substantiating reason why<\/em> he believes such a thing, nor does he provide any evidence to support an assertion that anything resembling it has ever<\/em> happened.\u00a0 Intentionally or not, he denigrates both the Air Force and Christians\u00a0without evidence to support his accusations.<\/p>\n

The article serves no purpose other than to paint the Air Force religious atmosphere in a negative light, without providing any justification for doing so.\u00a0 It fails to demand evidence from those it interviewed, and it neglects to correct their quoted errors, leaving the incorrect perception that cited actions are wrong.\u00a0 For example, despite the former Airman’s complaint, there is nothing wrong with a superior officer “openly carrying” a Bible, Koran, Torah, or their copy of God is not Great<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The religious atmosphere, spiritual culture, and faith environment within not only the Air Force but also the US military as a whole is an admirable and open one, as has been shown here many times.\u00a0 There will absolutely be times when people of one belief system may feel uncomfortable with\u00a0the military allowing the presence of another, but the ability of military members to exercise their religious freedom is at the heart of the American culture and its Constitutional protections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago, the Air Force Times solicited comments from its readers after\u00a0noting the “improved religious climate” at the US Air Force Academy.\u00a0 They asked: What do you think?\u00a0 Have you found the service and its members to be tolerant of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Wiccans and others who are not Christians? It would appear, based on the most recent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[50,23,108,4,73,75,44,39,85,2,5218,7,1431,11,17,10,65,77],"class_list":["post-3193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-and-religion","tag-agnostic","tag-bible","tag-christmas","tag-churchandstate","tag-hindu","tag-invocation","tag-islam","tag-jewish","tag-mikey-weinstein","tag-military","tag-military-religious-freedom-foundation","tag-mrff","tag-nidal-malik-hasan","tag-prayer","tag-religious-expression","tag-religion","tag-usafa","tag-wicca"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3193","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=3193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}