{"id":8946,"date":"2011-01-10T03:03:17","date_gmt":"2011-01-10T08:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=8946"},"modified":"2011-01-10T03:03:17","modified_gmt":"2011-01-10T08:03:17","slug":"air-force-comprehensive-airman-fitness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/10\/air-force-comprehensive-airman-fitness\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force Comprehensive Airman Fitness"},"content":{"rendered":"

With an interesting sense of timing, an Air Force article on “Comprehensive Airman Fitness,”<\/a> focusing on “Spiritual Fitness,” was recently published at Charleston Air Force Base.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As military articles on such topics often do, it calmly predicts and answers the questions of the recent uproar over Spiritual Fitness<\/a> in the military.<\/p>\n

There are three concepts associated with spirituality, according to [Chaplain (LtCol) Michael] Brown.<\/p>\n

“The first is to discover meaning in your life and a meaning that transcends anything in the physical world,” he said. “Some find that through a higher power, creator or God.”<\/p>\n

The second concept is living out that purpose, Brown said.<\/p>\n

“Seek purpose in the context of all your relationships, both physical and spiritual,” he said. “Honor your life by fulfilling some type of purpose or service to humanity.”<\/p>\n

The third idea encompasses a person being at peace with his or her life no matter what stage of life….<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Your spiritual fitness affects your overall attitude and the way you respond to adversity,” [Chaplain (Ltjg) John Quay] said. “It helps you become a more resilient individual.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As the Army is currently saying, spirituality can be<\/em>, to some people, a religious endeavor.\u00a0 The military isn’t in the business of quashing that religious feeling where it exists.\u00a0 But the military also makes a point of saying that religiosity isn’t necessary — the “spirituality” to which they refer is meaning<\/em>, purpose<\/em>, and value<\/em>.\u00a0 That some people find such characteristics in their faith does not make the military’s efforts a coercive religion.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the article connects Spiritual Fitness to another important aspect of military conduct:<\/p>\n

“In society, spiritual beliefs undergird moral and ethical behaviors,” Brown said. “In the military service, we protect human life and provide aid during times of disaster or war. Those acts of human service are based on moral and ethical behaviors. It’s a way that society forms its laws.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To point out the paradox, military atheists are currently calling on the Army<\/a> to end its emphasis on Spiritual Fitness, while others are challenging the Navy to improve its “moral and ethical behaviors” which, according to the statements above, are tied to Spiritual Fitness.<\/p>\n

The dichotomy is simultaneously fascinating and disheartening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With an interesting sense of timing, an Air Force article on “Comprehensive Airman Fitness,” focusing on “Spiritual Fitness,” was recently published at Charleston Air Force Base.\u00a0 As military articles on such topics often do, it calmly predicts and answers the questions of the recent uproar over Spiritual Fitness in the military. There are three concepts associated with spirituality, according to […]<\/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":[134,5284,86,1327,1326,2,198,10,1267],"class_list":["post-8946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-and-religion","tag-air-force","tag-chaplain","tag-ethics","tag-john-quay","tag-michael-brown","tag-military","tag-morality","tag-religion","tag-spiritual-fitness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8946","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=8946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8946\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}