{"id":3693,"date":"2010-02-08T00:35:35","date_gmt":"2010-02-08T08:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=3693"},"modified":"2011-04-12T23:32:37","modified_gmt":"2011-04-13T04:32:37","slug":"group-calls-for-air-force-academy-congressional-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2010\/02\/08\/group-calls-for-air-force-academy-congressional-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Group Calls for Air Force Academy Congressional Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group recently called for Congress to “probe” the US Air Force Academy after allegations of religious “insensitivity”\u2014but not likely the insensitivity of which most immediately think.\u00a0 After years of criticism that USAFA has favored Christianity, and in the wake of news that a cross had been found<\/a> at the newly created pagan circle<\/a> at the Academy, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is calling for a probe<\/a> to investigate “insensitivity to Christians<\/em>” at the US Air Force Academy.<\/p>\n

Catholic League President Bill Donohue decried the military’s characterization of the cross incident at the pagan circle–in which two railroad ties were picked up and laid against a rock–which Academy Superintendent LtGen Michael Gould seemed to call “destructive behavior:”<\/p>\n

“Destructive”? None of the stones were kicked about, and there was nothing else left to destroy\u2026 Gould believes there is no difference between neutering a religious symbol and defacing religious property. He also sees a cross at a pagan site as the equivalent of graffiti on a church. This is more than overkill\u2014it is grossly insulting to Catholics and Protestants.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Donohue went on to conclude that in order to appear sincere in addressing the issue, the military leadership at the Academy had created an environment\u00a0“chilling” to Christians.<\/p>\n

“These remarks have added to the chilling atmosphere that Catholics and Protestants must endure. I wrote to the Congress in 2005 about this matter, and I am doing so again.\u00a0 We need to know why hypersensitivity to non-Christians has evolved into insensitivity to Christians.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In some respects, Donohue’s remarks echo the results of the official Air Force investigation<\/a> into the Air Force Academy in 2005, in which cadets said they feared that a backlash would result in hostility toward Christians:<\/p>\n

Many cadets were worried about the “pendulum swing” that may restrict religion and SPIRE activities. “Reverse religious discrimination is rampant and evangelical Christians are under constant attack and scrutiny solely on account of their beliefs.”\u2026<\/p>\n

They expressed their belief that the media is blowing the issue out of proportion and USAFA is letting the media drive their decisions\u2026Cadets are now very careful of what they say and are wary of open discussion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As previously stated, leaving a contravening religious symbol at the site of another faith is not appropriate.\u00a0 However, there may be some validity to Donohue’s point that the military reaction has occasionally been a knee-jerk to\u00a0the media flurry and Michael Weinstein’s vitriol.\u00a0 This could result in a “chilling effect” on not just Christians, but also on religious expression and freedom as a whole.<\/p>\n

This is particularly noticeable in the absence of any official defense of the virtues of the Academy spiritual climate.\u00a0 Typically, when something happens that risks stigmatizing a group (as when Maj Hasan massacred 14 people at Fort Hood<\/a>), officials will decry the actions but defend those who may share the culture.\u00a0 For example, in this case, something like this:<\/p>\n

This act\u00a0is in no way representative of the Christian groups or the spiritual climate at the US Air Force Academy.\u00a0 Our varied faith groups continue to work together in their interfaith council, and with the Chaplains, to ensure a proper spiritual environment at USAFA.\u00a0 We will continue to protect the free exercise of all<\/em> of our military members.\u00a0 While we will work to find the person who did this and address their actions, we must emphasize that this is not a reflection either on Christians at USAFA or the greater atmosphere of faith here at the Academy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In this incident, however, there has been no such defense.\u00a0 Michael Weinstein has called this an act of fundamentalist Christianity, and he has called the cross a “gang symbol” and “turd.”\u00a0 No one at the Air Force Academy has said a single word defending the virtues and character of Christians at the Academy, or even separating them from the hyperbolic accusations spewed by Weinstein.\u00a0 No one has stood up and said this use of a cross does not suddenly justify\u00a0the vilification and degradation of either the Christian cross or Christians themselves.<\/p>\n

The closest thing to such a defense was the almost hurt expression of Chaplain (LtCol) Ziegler, saying that the Academy would protect the pagans’ free exercise.\u00a0\u00a0More directly, there has been a single-minded drive to show the local community that USAFA “will not tolerate” this “hate.”<\/p>\n

In his public statement<\/a> on the issue, LtGen Gould made a point of saying the Academy did not know “whether or not it was a malicious act,” yet he still appeared to characterize the incident as “hateful” and “destructive.”\u00a0 Admittedly, the General is in a position in which he feels he must reassure the public (more accurately, Michael Weinstein) that the Academy is addressing the issue.\u00a0 The problem is, as the cadets feared, the Academy risks\u00a0doing so in a way that makes it seem the media is driving USAFA’s decisions.<\/p>\n

In responding to the critics, the US military risks legitimizing unfounded criticisms and prejudicing the military\u00a0climate.\u00a0\u00a0What will happen now if the investigation ultimately determines the “hateful” act was not “malicious?”<\/p>\n

Instead of diffusing an admittedly controversial issue, the Academy may have unintentionally fed it.\u00a0 Rather than adding to the emotional frenzy being instigated by activists, the military needs to take a calm and stoic approach that demonstrates a fair, objective, and thoughtful process.\u00a0 The military is known for its refusal to publicly comment on ongoing investigations, as well as refusing to answer every critique about military conduct; the Air Force Academy public affairs office has no reason to act any differently.<\/p>\n

And USAFA can then focus on\u00a0leading\u00a0cadets rather than worrying so much about what self-described “agitator” Michael Weinstein thinks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group recently called for Congress to “probe” the US Air Force Academy after allegations of religious “insensitivity”\u2014but not likely the insensitivity of which most immediately think.\u00a0 After years of criticism that USAFA has favored Christianity, and in the wake of news that a cross had been found at the newly created pagan circle at the Academy, the Catholic League […]<\/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":[190,191,4,162,189,1628,85,2,76,17,10,65],"class_list":["post-3693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-and-religion","tag-bill-donohue","tag-catholic-league","tag-churchandstate","tag-cross","tag-michael-gould","tag-mike-gould","tag-mikey-weinstein","tag-military","tag-pagan","tag-religious-expression","tag-religion","tag-usafa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3693","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=3693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}