CSINDY – Freshman cadet ‘counseled’ for proselytizing in e-mail

Published On: January 26, 2012|Categories: News|2 Comments on CSINDY – Freshman cadet ‘counseled’ for proselytizing in e-mail|

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Selected Article Excerpts:

  • An Air Force Academy freshman cadet has been “counseled” for sending an e-mail to the entire freshman class urging them to pray and citing specific Scriptures.
  • “We need to do more of that here in our churches in the United States. We need to quit training our people to run around asking others to pray for them and train them instead to do their own praying…If you have made Jesus your Lord, you have access to the throne of Almighty God. He has every solution to every problem you’ll ever have, and He’s just waiting for you to come to Him, so He can give you the answer. It may take some private time alone with Him for you to hear it, but He will never disappoint you. Don’t depend on others to do your praying for you. Go personally to the throne of God today. Scripture Reading: Psalm 5”
  • When the Independent asked the academy about the e-mail and what action, if any, was taken, director of public affairs Lt. Col. John Bryan issued the following prepared statement: “While everyone is entitled to their own personal beliefs, proper use of official email and respect for others’ beliefs (or non-beliefs) is paramount. In the instance you’ve inquired about, we agree, the cadet made an error. We look at this as a teachable moment. The Squadron Commander and the Group Chaplain both counseled the freshman cadet for this lapse in judgment.”
  • Wait a minute, says Mikey Weinstein, a 1977 AFA grad who is the academy’s biggest critic on religious issues, accusing the academy of favoring fundamentalist Christianity and tolerating proselytizing by staff, faculty and cadets over the years.
  • “The academy ran out of teachable moments about 2006,” Weinstein says. “These are discipline moments.”
  • He launched his charge against the academy in 2005 and formed the Military Religious Freedom Foundation around academy issues, though the group has since branched out to spotlight religious favoritism military wide.

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2 Comments

  1. EJ from Tennsee January 31, 2012 at 9:53 pm

    damn are yall some close minded godless bigots 1 cadet has the balls to proselytize to his whole class – to bring them closer to god and yall want him discharged or disciplined or sumthin for what?? now he shouldnt be doin that to evrybody but “counseled” aint enough for yall?? and youse call that “religious freedom” just some antichristian godless athiests causin trouble agin

  2. Shay February 2, 2012 at 3:27 pm

    I am an Academy grad. USAFA is supposed to be a place where you learn. This mistake was made by a freshman (in other words, he has not been there very long), and it was an honest mistake. Yes, the freshman was wrong, but the commander counseling the freshman did exactly what he SHOULD have done. If commanders were to turn every mistake into a discipline issue at the Academy, not only would they quickly run out of cadets and future officers, but they would be missing out on opportunities to counsel the people they lead and actually teach them something.

    This freshman will NOT do this again. Why is that not good enough? Using “this should have been a discipline issue” is just trying to create problems when this is an example of positive measures taken to fix the problem.

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