The Air Force Academy has launched an investigation into breaking-up a dark and sinister practice that, if continued, could directly lead to the expansion of ISIS and the end of life as we know it.
What evil and nefarious plot could our brave future Airmen be engaged in that would undo all that their brave forebears have done before them?
Well, prayer. Of course. Duh.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation says images like these could be used in ISIS propaganda...
https://t.co/gGdI745sOZ
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) December 8, 2015Responding to something erroneously titled the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the Air Force Academy will look into the team prayers. Head of the MRFF Mikey Weinstein said, “Air Force players participating in public prayer is a scandalous outrage.”
According to NBC San Diego, Feinstein said:
“It’s a disgrace. It’s a putrid example of fundamentalist Christian supremacy, triumphalism and exceptionalism and it has to stop,” Weinstein said. “Those individuals that are dressed in the Air Force uniform; that’s their uniform of the day. They’re members of the military and they are under different rules than the civilian counterparts they’re playing on the field.” …
The situation found its way to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation this season because a growing number of people associated with the Air Force football program claims these team prayers are not optional. Weinstein said players join in the team prayers, even if they are not comfortable doing so, for fear of potential punishment should they decline.
Weinstein says he has amassed 144 people who are too “terrified to go forward” with a complaint “for fear of facing reprisal or retribution” – the group allegedly consists of players, their girlfriends and families, and “staff and faculty.”
Kind of weird that the players families would be part of the “terrified.” What are they “terrified” of? And how exactly were players’ families’ coerced to pray against their will? But whatevs.
What should really terrify Weinstein and his merry band of God-deniers is that the voluntary act of praying in the military is something that’s accepted and coded in military law.
Defense Department Directive 1300.17 “Accommodation of Religious Practices Within the Military Services” states:
“A basic principle of our nation is free exercise of religion. The Department of Defense places a high value on the rights of members of the Armed Forces to observe the tenets of their perspective religions. It is DOD policy that requests for accommodation of religious practices should be approved by commanders when accommodation will not have an adverse impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, standards, or discipline.”
Meaning, although the 144 Weinstein claims to have could potentially have had their 1st Amendment rights compromised if they were coerced into prayer unwillingly, the MMRF’s foray into blocking military prayer at football games is likely to end badly. However, chances of legal success appear to have no effect whatsoever on Weinstein’s Ric Flair-esque declaration that the prayer enablers at Air Force need be “visibly and aggressively punished.”
I don’t know if the Air Force Academy has an Iron Maiden. But someone thinks they should, apparently.
