Air Force Cadet E - Mails Religious Quotes

[wakeme2008]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Academy-Religion.html

une 1, 2005
Air Force Cadet E - Mails Religious Quotes
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 9:34 a.m. ET

DENVER (AP) -- On the eve of his graduation, the top cadet at the Air Force Academy sent out a religious-themed e-mail to thousands of fellow cadets, even as the school is grappling with complaints that some evangelical Christians are harassing others at the school.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the e-mail sent Tuesday by Wing Commander Nicholas Jurewicz to the freshmen, sophomore and junior classes, which is about 3,000 cadets. ''Wing commander'' is the title held by the top senior at the school in military ranking.

..cut...

Mikey Weinstein, a 1977 academy graduate who has sent two sons there, said he wanted Congress to step in and address the atmosphere at the school.

''There couldn't be a more wretchedly timed example of the total and dismal failure of the senior leaders of the academy than having the No. 1 cadet breach the most fundamental and elementary rules of the religious tolerance program,'' said Weinstein, who is Jewish.

..more at link...

[northzax]

1. talk about a tin ear

perhaps Wing commanger Jurewicz needs to pay a wee bit more attention to the outside world?

[havocmom]

2. Fighting religious fanaticism and schools teaching it and hate abroad

while allowing a military academy to endorse the methods. Swell. Just fucking swell. Nothing like trying to make robots out of the guys aiming the bombs.

Am thinking the Islamic clerics are right about this being just another Crusade under the guise of religion.

[MountainLaurel]

7. As another DUer put it

"Religious fanatics flying planes . . . gee, where have we heard that one before?"

[Ilsa]

3. I think the leadership at the academy should all be reassigned

and persons with no religious beliefs or non-evangelicals should be installed to finally purge that system. I don't trust "evangelicals" to do it. Anyone who claims they are an evangelical has accepted proselytizing as part of their life's mission. That is what it means to be evangelical.

What does this "wing commander" not understand about the rules, anyway? Is he stupid, or does he not want to follow them? Either way, sounds like he's just another drone.

[DFWdem]

9. Wow, you would make Stalin proud

"...persons with no religious beliefs or non-evangelicals should be installed to finally purge that system."

Stalin knew a thing or two about purging the system of people he didn't trust or disagreed with. Perhaps you could read his biography and learn some of the shortcuts to an effective purge. Seriously though, what's the big deal here? I'd treat this like any other type of spam: delete. Just as I change the channel if something comes on the radio or tv that i don't want to see/hear, I simply delete emails I don't want to read.

[northzax]

12. really? you delete things from your superiour officers?

that's a good route to promotion.

personally, I think this was just poor judgement on the part of the Wing Commander, who really should know better, given the recent interest in prosletizing at the Academy. And without knowing the full test of the email, it's hard to judge, a quote from the bible, accompanied by one from confucious becomes 'wisdom' not religion.

If part of your religious belief is the need to convert other people to your particular faith, and you cannot seperate that from your job, especially when you work for the government, you should not have that job. period. what you do on your own time is your business, what you do in uniform, on Uncle Sam's dime and on Uncle Sam's computers, is our business.

As to this particular email, the Academy reminded all cadets and staff that government email systems are to be used for government purposes only. that's why there's hotmail.

[DFWdem]

14. Yes I do

If it is not job related, i.e. a spam mail sent to thousands of people talking about his religion, I would delete it and not give it a second thought.

"As to this particular email, the Academy reminded all cadets and staff that government email systems are to be used for government purposes only."

I'm sure most people's employers tell them that company equipment is to be used only for company business, but how many of us make personal phone calls on our work phone, make a couple of personal copies on the copy machine, use the fax for personal business, forward an email joke to our colleagues, etc. Plus, it's not like the other cadets were a captive audience; it was an email. That's why the computer guys invented the 'delete' key. I think people are overreacting. I don't care for people preaching to me either, but if they must preach I would prefer they do it via email so it's easier to ignore them.

[northzax]

15. um, I don't use my office computer for anything that

I am told not to do. Nor do I make copies, steal pens, or make the like. I have private email accounts I use for private communications, I have a personal code for long distance calls, copies, faxes and postage that I am billed for quarterly. interesting ethical framework you have there.

The guy is an Air Force Officer. He was given a direct command not to use the email system for non-air force related emails. So he either violated this order directly, or he intended this to be an email representing the Air Force. either one shows a lack of discipline and respect for authority that's a wee bit dangerous in a military officer.

[DFWdem]

16. You're one in a million

Take a poll amongst your friends and ask them if they've ever used company property for personal business. You may be surprised to learn that most of them have "interesting ethical frameworks" as well.

Also, he is not an officer, he's a cadet. If he had used a Hotmail account to send the message then you could still say that he technically used company/gov't property for personal business since he signed on to the Hotmail site through a gov't computer. Have you ever gone faster than the posted speed limit? If so, you exhibited either a lack of discipline or complete disregard for authority. As i said before, delete the email like the spam it is.

[northzax]

18. he was the highest ranking cadet

an on tuesday will be an officer.

I expect higher standards from the military. Tell me, if your boss specifically says "do not use the phone for personal calls" do you still do it? what if she says, specifically and in writing you may not use the email system for personal use. or maybe you may not check the scores of baseball games online at what point does disobeying a direct order become a serious offense? it's the military, when a superiour officer says 'jump' you should already know how high.

[DFWdem]

20. Well, actually...yes

Considering it's spelled out in my employee handbook then I suppose my answer will have to be 'yes'. I guess I'm just a rebel. As for at what point does disobeying a direct order become a serious offense, I would have to say it becomes serious when it actually harms anyone in any manner whatsoever. Disobeying this particular order warrants a weekend of KP or guard duty, but that's about it.

[northzax]

23. I am certainly not calling for severe punishment

simply that this connotes a lack of judgement that I would expect the highest ranking cadet in Colorado Springs, a man in line for serious promotions and command authority to display. I don't think he should be stripped of his rank, or commission or anything like that, but someone higher up than him needs to gently, or not so gently, point out that he fucked up here, and make him understand WHY he screwed up, to make him a better officer, that's the point, right?

[DFWdem]

26. I agree

Sure, he shouldn't have sent the email if he was ordered not too, but I hardly think this warrants national coverage in the New York Times and various other media outlets, and some of the rhetoric in the story is way over the top. For example:

''There couldn't be a more wretchedly timed example of the total and dismal failure of the senior leaders of the academy than having the No. 1 cadet breach the most fundamental and elementary rules of the religious tolerance program.''

Wretched, dismal failure, fundamental, elementary... this guy seems a little over-sensitive to me. Did the email make his son, who is supposedly there to become a aemi-hardened soldier, have an emotional breakdown? Jesus (pun intended).

[Bridget Burke]

13. One chaplain has already been "purged" for criticizing this crap.

The No. 2 chaplain at the Air Force Academy said Thursday she has been fired for speaking up about religious intolerance among cadets and staff, including allegations that evangelical Christians wield too much influence.

Capt. Melinda Morton said she was fired last week by her boss, Col. Michael Whittington, after he pressured her to deny what happened during a religious service for new cadets last year.

www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20050512-1434-wst-academy-religion.html

The situation at the Academy needs to be examined & corrected.

[Ilsa]

21. Non-evangelicals doesn't mean nonChristians.

There are plenty of Christians that don't make proselytizing their life's mission as this group seems to have.

My point is that the leadership can't seem to follow the rules; they failed at making the needed changes and they should lose their jobs (be reassigned), just as any other manager would lose theirs.

On edit: I'd like to add that I don't think the Democratic Party has served its constituents well by ignoring these minor transgressions, assuming they wouldn't amount to much or that the public could see through them. The grassroots efforts of our opposition has very slowly been able to worm their confounded ideologies into almost every aspect of life, both public and sometimes private. I think we should stop them as they try to convert these organizations before they make their ideology a "tradition" that shouldn't be changed.

[tk2kewl]

4. wingnut commander

aspires to be like commander cookoobananas

[Ilsa]

22. That's the best name for him! Thanks. :) eom

[MrScorpio]

5. If this guy does not end up getting canned

He's going to find out the regular Air Force is definitely NOT made up of wingnuts.

He's going to have an interesting wake up call.

[rodeodance]

6. some at the academy just keep pushing--but that is the role of the Preside

--so he says yesterday!!!!!!

[oneighty]

25. He is comparable

to the Navy 'Recruit Company Commander' believing himself to be 'God like' meeting up with a Boatswains Mate Third class aboard a rusty ship and having an intense dislike of former "Recruit Company Commanders".

He will see his God in a different light. "Oh Lord why hast thou forsaken me?" He will ask.

180

[AspenRose]

8. It doesn't help that Focus on the Family HQ is in Colo. Springs.

eom

[democracyindanger]

10. The AF handles our nuclear ICBMs, right?

(sigh)

[Shipwack]

11. They only handle the unimportant expensive missiles...

The cost-effective secure ones are on the boomer submarines. ;)

::goes back to stirring the pot::

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. Air Force Academy - Who the fuck cares?

Let them pray, at least while they are praying they aren't killing more people and wasting jet fuel.

It's as if the Air Force is of any practical use for anything but high altitude bombing of some peasant villager's hovel in Iraq or a surprise attack on a wedding party. As taxpayers we pay for all of this shit that has absolutely no benefit or merit in the post Berlin Wall age.

[MisterP]

19. who else thinks of their leadership in religious terms?

winner gets the goa'ulden prize!

[warrens]

24. Morning Edition on NPR had a story about this today

Evidently, the fundies are running amok, the chaplain screams at them to convert their bunkmates, they reassigned another chaplain who complained about it (to freakin Okinawa...) and in general, the whole academy is infested with these lunatics.

It reminds me of when the SF Giants were completely infected with fundies who spent all their time holding prayer meetings and trying to convert teammates. The Giants basically traded the whole bunch to the Padres, who immediately attracted nutcases like Eric Show and became a haven for gun nuts, John Birchers and fundies. It took them years to get rid of them all.

[stanwyck]

27. I'm still steamed at the graduation speech

at my kids' high school graduation four years ago. The valedictorian chose to make her speech all about her personal relationship with Jesus Christ. No mention of the school or the students. Nevermind that this was before a public high school audience including people of many faiths.
I was so gratified last month at my daughter's college graduation when the valedictorian took a less selfish approach to the occasion and used her time to speak of the college, the students, the professors, and her appreciation of her experiences.
Huge egos and pure selfishness. And about as far away from the humility of Christ as possible.