Shepherding Movement is offensive to us

Dear Chaplains Bruno and Brantingham and Superintendent Gould,

We are writing in protest of the preferential treatment being given by the Air Force Academy to Cadets for Christ, part of the “Shepherding Movement” of Christianity led by the Warricks. While we definitely support religious freedom heralded by free engagement of people in the faiths they prefer, what we read about the Cadets for Christ gives us great pause.

Any religious organization that lures young people away from their families and causes estrangement NOT by family rejection but by the person him or herself, is not practicing faith but creating a cult. We are aware of the Bass family and the rejection of them by their daughter. This one fact alone raises alarms. The free acceptance of faith must be just that – free – to be in compliance with First Amendment principles. We have clear rulings about cults and what comprises coercion: the Prophet Claire cult of years back was broken up for the coercive tactics it used. It is the same with Jonestown and other such entities that use separation of the ‘saved’ from the family of origin. That’s not freedom but enslavement. It is utterly incompatible with the mission of the Air Force and the Academy.

It disturbs us greatly that the Air Force Academy does not have deeper scrutiny of those practicing within its confines, within its sanction. The whole point of the military is to defend First Amendment freedoms, and permitting a viper in the bosom of our Air Force is utterly unacceptable. While we pass no judgement on belief, we are called to pass most critical judgement on actions, and the plight of the Bass family is a case we cannot ignore. We insist that the one and only task of the Air Force Academy is to produce leaders who defend the Constitution for us all and that any threat to that is a threat to freedom itself.

For the Air Force to permit Cadets for Christ to flourish and do harm is completely unacceptable. That is not religion but politics, and we call on you to end this affiliation immediately.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Sholes
Director of Public Policy
California Council of Churches/California Church IMPACT