Air Force Academy bible verses on personal whiteboards

Dear Mikey,
I do not consider myself religious. I do not go to church and feel that very religious people usually are hypocrites. However, your attacks against individuals at the Air Force Academy for posting their personal bible verses on their personal whiteboards is the height of stupidity and ridiculousness. These people – the ones who contacted you because they were ‘offended’ – are studying to be military leaders. If they cannot act as an adult when they see something that offends their delicate sensibilities then they do not deserve to be in the military – either as leaders or followers.
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>> People such as those that contacted you and yourselves display publicly how far the individuals that make up the United States have fallen. It used to be that if you were offended by something you either ignored it or had an argument with the person who offended you. If you were young and brought it up to your parents they told you to grow up and grow a thicker skin. If you cannot ignore something that offends you then you are not an adult. You fools are using the power of the state to force compliance with your sensibilities.
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>> Your actions offend me – a non-religious, agnostic/atheistic individual – and I believe I should be able to use the power of the state to force you to follow my beliefs. How is that different from your beliefs and actions?
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>> To quote my parents (and many millions of parents before) – Grow up, be an adult, and stop whining.

(name withheld)

Dear (name withheld),

Your concern, as stated, misunderstands both the issues at hand at the US Air Force Academy and the difference between the hypothesis you posited and the responsibilities of those in the US military. In the military, as I would assume you should know, a subordinate does not “have an argument with the person who offended” him or her if that person is a superior. And ignoring something that is not only contrary to military regulations but unconstitutional as well is contrary to the code of honor of an officer or a cadet at the academy training to become one.

You are, of course, welcome to your personal views. The cadets and the Air Force Academy and the men and women in our military are as well. But where you as now a private citizen have the right to broadcast your viewpoint as loudly and obnoxiously as you choose, members of our military do not. This, I would assume, should be clear to you as retired military.

The MRFF attacked no one. When contacted about overt religious proselytizing, which is illegal, as stated above, we of course go to the source of the problem – in this case the academy leadership – and call it to their attention. The fact that cadets and staff in this situation came to the MRFF rather than go to their commanding officer might be instructive if you’d care to think about it. What it should suggest to you is what is the fact in this matter: that religious proselytizing is and has been a serious problem at the academy for some time and making a report like this on the part of a cadet or other subordinate can cause damaging repercussions.

In this matter, in case you haven’t kept up with developments, the ranking officer in charge made the determination that the individual’s action had been inappropriate and the offending quote was removed. It was, to make this matter perfectly clear, by the academy leadership, not by the MRFF.

I hope this helps you better understand the situation. Your parents’ admonition is appropriate, perhaps you might read it again.

Mike Farrell
(MRFF Board of Advisors)