Air Force weighs e-mail’s religious neutrality

[unhappycamper]

Air Force weighs e-mail’s religious neutrality
Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Air Force is investigating whether an e-mail sent by a commander in England to airmen under her command violated the military’s stance of religious neutrality, officials confirmed Monday.

The e-mail, sent Jan. 16 by Col. Kimberly Toney, commander of the 501st Combat Support Wing at RAF Mildenhall, referred airmen to an "inspirational" video on a Catholic Web site.

The video featured the life of Nick Vujicic, who was born without arms or legs. In the video, Vujicic says he finds his "greatest joy in this life is to introduce Jesus to those he meets and tell them of his (Jesus’) great desire to get to know them personally by allowing him to become their Lord and Savior."

As first reported by Stars and Stripes, some Air Force personnel who watched the video said they believed it violated the military’s ban on endorsing particular religious views. Some said they were even more bothered by other things on the Catholic Web site, 4marks.com, such as an image illustrating President Barack Obama’s support for abortion rights by showing the president in a Nazi uniform and waving a flag with a swastika on it.

The investigation, officially called an "equal opportunity treatment incident clarification," should be completed in a period ranging from a few days to a couple of weeks.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61380

[mn9driver]

1. This is very strange.

I left the military 20 years ago, and this kind of proselytizing behavior by those in command was unheard of. I would be interested to see just how and when the military was "taken over" by these nut cases, since it seems to be a widespread problem these days---especially in the Air Force.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I think this went over the line

If the video had shown Nick overcoming his limitations so he could lead a productive life joyfully, I'd be all for it. But to bring in Jesus crossed the line, imho.