Druids and Wiccans at the U.S. Air Force Academy

[fullautovalmet76]

Guns and the occult: that's an interesting combination...

And on another front, all of this talk about Druids and Wiccans got me thinking. I apologize in advance for the following, but I just had to post it:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpaG-L0zTJ4

 

[JdePietro]

There has never been a "religion" in modern times that has caused so much death, pain, and controversy, world wide.
 Bill T.

You have got to be kidding...Right? I mean you aren't really insinuating that any religion does not have blood on its hands... Are you?

 

[Tyler Durden]

Well...whoops...there goes my thread.....

My short Cliff's Notes version of an answer for you, JdePietro, is this:  Where are all of the Christian suicide bombers?

I'm pretty sure NO one here is going to argue that no religion even Christianity does NOT have blood on its hands.  Quite the opposite, actually.

Like a lot of other things in the world, things taken in excess or to the extreme usually don't turn out all that well.

anywhooo...back to my original  question...

Would you want your hard earned tax payer's dollars going to revamp all the bathrooms at the USAF Academy, West Point, and Anapollis to put in foot baths for muslim cadets?

[Walter45Auto]

anywhooo...back to my original  question...

Would you want your hard earned tax payer's dollars going to revamp all the bathrooms at the USAF Academy, West Point, and Anapollis to put in foot baths for muslim cadets?

My tax dollars? No. BUt if I were a cadet there, I'd think it was better than them washing their feet in the sinks.....



The 2 or 3 folks I've known who claimed to be Wiccan weren't pacifists; just the opposite, and seemed to be really touchy about religious discussion in general. Haven't personally known anyone who claimed to be a druid....

[fightingquaker13]

Well...whoops...there goes my thread.....

My short Cliff's Notes version of an answer for you, JdePietro, is this:  Where are all of the Christian suicide bombers?

I'm pretty sure NO one here is going to argue that no religion even Christianity does NOT have blood on its hands.  Quite the opposite, actually.

Like a lot of other things in the world, things taken in excess or to the extreme usually don't turn out all that well.

anywhooo...back to my original  question...

Would you want your hard earned tax payer's dollars going to revamp all the bathrooms at the USAF Academy, West Point, and Anapollis to put in foot baths for muslim cadets?

Nope, but they can provide a a small basin at the non denominational chapel to do so. TAB could probably put one in for $1k. Failing that, a sponge would work. Not like they'll have that bath in the field anyway. But they should be able to hold Friday prayers and have a Muslim chaplain even if he is a volunteer. Like wise, giving the druids a patch of lawn costs nothing. The military is under zero obligation to provide ANY religious facilities to ANY religion. They just can't discriminate between them. Remember, the USAF Academy got its tail in crack a few years ago because Evangelical cadets were bullying others. It got buried under the concurrent sexual harrassment scandal, but basically, main line protestants, jews, Catholics and atheists all raised holy hell about it. Dobson got W to pave a lot of it over, but a fair number of chaplains and others got let go. That's why they are being so accomadating now. The 1A has it right. No official religion and pray how and to whatever you want. Just show up for work on time.
FQ13

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

You have got to be kidding...Right? I mean you aren't really insinuating that any religion does not have blood on its hands... Are you?

 

Not at all, Even Buddhists have troops (Darn good ones, with a little help from the CIA it took China several years to take over Tibet )
but it DOES seem that the "People of the Book" (Jews, Christians and Muslims ) are the only ones who shed blood OVER religion.

[Tyler Durden]

Well, it only took 6 days for the initial story to break through to the national news:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584500,00.html

[Tyler Durden]

FW wrote:

Remember, the USAF Academy got its tail in crack a few years ago because Evangelical cadets were bullying others. It got buried under the concurrent sexual harrassment scandal, but basically, main line protestants, jews, Catholics and atheists all raised holy hell about it. Dobson got W to pave a lot of it over, but a fair number of chaplains and others got let go. That's why they are being so accomadating now. The 1A has it right. No official religion and pray how and to whatever you want. Just show up for work on time.

Do I remember...do I remember?  Jeesh... How could I forget?  Thanks Mikey Weinstein.

I was never a victim of Christian bully'ing while I was there.

So, I don't know what made the place so Bible thumper-ish in less than 10 years since I left there.     Weird.   

[fightingquaker13]

FW wrote:

Do I remember...do I remember?  Jeesh... How could I forget?  Thanks Mikey Weinstein.

I was never a victim of Christian bully'ing while I was there.

So, I don't know what made the place so Bible thumper-ish in less than 10 years since I left there.    Weird.  

10 years is a life time in a college. 3 generations of students and two cycles of profs. All it takes is a poisonous cycle of "well meaning" ideologues on the faculty side and some students to take their cues and you have a problem. Fundamentalist, PC, socialist, liberal, conservative, green, or what have you, and if you have an easily cowed admin., who treats CYA as Holy Writ, combined with influential alums backing the source of the problem and you have a classic Charlie Fox Trot. I've seen it happen, and heard way too many war stories to doubt this. Add in the fact that the Springs is known as the "Riyadh of the Rockies" with lots of well connected political evangelical ministeries (think the anti-Berkley, and just as useful on their best day) and you have issues. The academy had a problem, and the admin played Sgt. Schultz. I'm not dinging evangelicals, as most of these war stories are about PC nonsense, but nonsense is nonsense. The Admin let an atmosphere of "pray my way or you don't belong here" either exist or perceive to exist. Either way, its equally bad for morale and equally a failure of leadership. The result, we now have the Wiccan grove or whatever. Common sense is restored. My opinion? Give all cadets one day a week off. Day to be chosen by random draw. Let them observe (or not observe) that as the sabbath, and go into town to seek fellowship with other believers. Any church, mosque or synagogue worth its salt will arrange a service. And let those who want to drink beer or sleep in do that. Problem solved, crisis over, cost to the tax payer, zero. No state religion, worship what you will, just do it on your own time. Just my .02.
FQ13 who doesn't think there is anything holy about Sunday. Tuesday will do just fine as long as I get to go to church and take Communion.

[Tyler Durden]

slight thread drift ahead...

That scene with Robert Redford in the movie Lions for Lambs keeps popping into my head.

It's where Robert Redford talks to his two soon to be enlisted students and remarks how the WWI German shoulders used to write poems about how courageous their British enemies were.  The Germans were quoted as saying, "how can they have so many lions led by lambs."

Huh!

Just something I have been thinking about lately.