{"id":34863,"date":"2016-04-07T00:30:50","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T03:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/?p=34863"},"modified":"2016-11-24T21:45:59","modified_gmt":"2016-11-25T00:45:59","slug":"retired-airman-thrown-out-of-ceremony-because-of-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/07\/retired-airman-thrown-out-of-ceremony-because-of-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Retired Airman Thrown Out of Ceremony Because of Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"oscar\"In a drama that can only be described as tragic and embarrassing, US Air Force NCOs physically tossed retired Senior Master Sergeant Oscar Rodriguez out of a Travis AFB retirement ceremony (and the building in which it was being conducted) — even after the retiree, Chuck Roberson, had invited him to narrate his retirement flag ceremony. The video, made public first at John Q. Public<\/a> and since repeated at FoxNews<\/a>, is at once disturbing and enraging.<\/p>\n

Retired LtCol Tony Carr does a decent job of hammering the shameful and inappropriate mistreatment of the retired SMSgt. What was interesting, though,\u00a0was the Air Force’s official response. As quoted at FoxNews [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n

The Air Force Reserve said in the statement it “respects and defends the right to free speech and religious expression<\/strong>.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Religious expression? Why did the Air Force bring up\u00a0religion, which didn’t appear to be at issue?<\/p>\n

It turns out, it was not only an<\/em> issue, it was the<\/em> <\/strong>issue. As Tony Carr cited [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n

The [Air Force’s] mention of religious expression [is] likely a reference to part of Rodriguez\u2019s usual script \u2014 a part that touches on the traditional choice by many to associate the flag with deeper spiritual or religious meaning…Officials obviously contemplate that his use of the word \u201cGod\u201d might somehow categorize the entire rendition as \u201creligious expression,\u201d thereby imposing limits and generating protections<\/strong>…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, three NCOs shoved a retired Airman out the door in the apparent mistaken belief that potential\u00a0assault<\/em> would be more <\/em>professional and\u00a0less<\/em> offensive than allowing him to say the word “God,” as he’d been invited to do.\u00a0 That’s quite a statement on the stigma attached to religion in the military.<\/p>\n

An entire video of what Rodriguez was going to say is available here<\/a>, apparently from Rodriguez’s own retirement ceremony.\u00a0 His well-received monologue is emotional, forceful, and recited entirely from memory:<\/p>\n