Active Duty USAF Officer and USAF Academy Graduate – Air Force Academy Team Football Praying

From: Senior Active Duty USAF Officer and USAF Academy Graduate

Subject: Re: Air Force Academy Team Football Praying

Date: November 30, 2015 at 4:26:08 PM MST

To: “Weinstein, Mikey” <[email protected]>

From Another Senior Air Force Officer:

I agree with all of the general’s points below and would ask his/her permission to clarify or add two more:

1.  No one, least of all the general, is asking our cadets to NOT choose some appropriate moment to reflect, prayer, or just think about where they and the game fits into the whole cosmic scheme of things.  AFA football players can take a moment on the bench, a solo moment in front of their lockers, etc, but the moment that they begin enlisting their teammates to join them, they create a snowball  that can become an avalanche of coercion–that’s true in ANY team or hierarchical organization and doubly true for a service academy team.

2.  I’m a fervent fan of all AFA sports and, in the last 15 years at least, I’ve only seen this sort of thing occur with our football team.  Other teams have huddles, and I’m not certain some of those huddles don’t include prayers, but there’s no obvious and outward sign to the ticketed or viewing public that it’s a meeting centered on ONE religious viewpoint.  It’s obviously a christian prayer at the football games because ALL of the participants (and it seems like it’s all of the team except for the obviously heathen kickers, punter, and long-snappers) are doing a full-fledged “Tebow” in the end-zone, simultaneously.  That’s NOT a coincidence and their intent is quite clear.