The New York Times has another disturbing story concerning Christianist members of the U. S. military trying to impose their religious views on cadets at the nations military academies. Unfortunately, some of the offenders are senior officers who, in my view, should be removed from commands - and ideally forced out of the military - if their cannot separate their apparent desires to be preachers from being military officers. They do NOT get to do both. All too typically, the religious nutcases cannot fathom the concept that their private religious views need to remain just that - private. They do not get to trample over the religious freedom of others in uniform, including their right to subscribe to no religion if they so choose. They whine about people restricting their freedom of religion but do not give a rat's ass about anyone else's rights. In the final analysis, they are obnoxious, self-centered, self-fish people who have no place in uniform. Obviously, having the delusional Chimperator, a definite religious lunatic, as commander-in-chief has not helped the situation. Here are highlights from the NYT story:
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Three years after a scandal at the Air Force Academy over the evangelizing of cadets by Christian staff and faculty members, students and staff at West Point and the Naval Academy are complaining that their schools, too, have pushed religion on cadets and midshipmen. . . . critics say the new complaints raise questions about the military’s commitment to policies against imposing religion on its members.
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At the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., nine midshipmen recently asked the American Civil Liberties Union to petition the school to abolish daily prayer at weekday lunch, where attendance is mandatory. The midshipmen and the A.C.L.U. assert that the practice is unconstitutional, based in large part on a 2004 appellate court ruling against a similar prayer at the Virginia Military Institute. The civil liberties group has threatened legal action if the policy is not changed. But the academy is not persuaded.
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In interviews at West Point, seven cadets, two officers and a former chaplain said that religion, especially evangelical Christianity, was a constant at the academy. . . . But most of their complaints center on Maj. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, until recently the academy’s top military leader and, since early May, the commander of the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii. The cadets and staff said General Caslen, as commandant of cadets at West Point, routinely brought up God in speeches at events cadets were required to attend.
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"Nowhere does it say that you have to be a good Christian officer or Jewish officer or Muslim officer: You need to be an officer dedicated to the Constitution of the United States,” said Steven Warner, who graduated from West Point last month. “They tell us as an officer you have to put everything aside, all your personal stuff. But religion is the one thing they encourage you to wear on your sleeve.”
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“There is this massive sense of two things: that you are not wanted and you are made to feel like last-class citizens,” said Mr. Weinstein, a former Air Force officer. He added that he had been contacted by 31 cadets and staff members from West Point, including those who raised concerns about General Caslen, and 56 people from the Naval Academy, including 39 midshipmen. Almost all are afraid to go public.
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