Proselytizing No. 3 Air Force Commando Hired
Posted October 17, 2005
JEWSWEEK
By Associated Press
October 17, 2005
The Air Force Academy announced Friday that its No. 3
commander is leaving the school, one month after he was
cleared of an allegation that he used his position to
proselytize non-Christian cadets.
Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida, the commandant of cadets since
April 2003, is taking a leadership position at Wright-
Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Air Force spokeswoman
Jean Schaefer said the move was routine.
Weida was among commanders who were brought to the
academy to help clear up a scandal in which dozens of
female cadets said they were punished or ignored when
they reported they were sexually assaulted.
But the school near Colorado Springs soon became
embroiled in controversy when allegations surfaced that
evangelical Christians had bullied cadets who held other
beliefs.
An Air Force task force reported in June that it found no
overt religious discrimination at the school but that
some cadets and staff were insensitive.
On Sept. 7, the Air Force inspector general cleared Weida
on the last of seven allegations of proselytizing,
including his June 2003 "guidance" to cadets that said
they are "accountable first to your God."
He was cleared of the first six allegations in June.
Air Force Academy spokeswoman Capt. Kim Melchor said
academy leaders were unavailable for comment Friday
because they were traveling to Maryland for Saturday's
Air Force-Navy football game.
Weida will become director of capabilities integration
and transformation at the Air Force Material Command at
Wright-Patterson. The effective date was not announced.
Weida will be replaced at the academy by Col. Susan
Desjardins, a commander at Charleston Air Force Base,
South Carolina.
On Thursday, a Jewish military veteran sued the Air
Force, claiming senior Air Force Academy officers
harassed and illegally forced evangelical Christian views
on cadets.
The suit was filed by Mikey Weinstein, an academy
graduate and outspoken critic of the school's handling of
religion. Weinstein has one son who graduated from the
academy in 2004 and another who is a junior there. Both
were subjected to anti-Semitic slurs from evangelical
Christian cadets, Weinstein said Thursday in an
interview.
Over the past decade or more, the suit claims, academy
leaders have fostered an environment of religious
intolerance at the school, in violation of the U.S.
constitution.
According to Weinstein, evangelical Christians have
coerced attendance at religious services and prayers at
official events.
"It's a shocking disgrace that I had to file this thing,"
Weinstein told The Associated Press.
Lt. Col. Frank Smolinsky, an Air Force spokesman,
responded by saying: "The United States Air Force is
committed to defending the rights of all our men and
women, whatever their beliefs."
There have been complaints at the academy that a Jewish
cadet was told the Holocaust was revenge for the death of
Jesus and that another Jew was called a Christ killer by
a fellow cadet. A banner in the football team's locker
room read: "I am a Christian first and last ... I am a
member of Team Jesus Christ."
Also, there have been complaints that cadets were
pressured to attend chapel, that academy staffers put New
Testament verses in government e-mail, and that cadets
used the e-mail system to encourage others to see the Mel
Gibson movie "The Passion of the Christ."
More at:
http://christianaggression.com/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1129570147
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
The terrorist mission of Jesus stated in the Christian bible:
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not so send
peace, but a sword.
"For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in
law.
"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
- Matthew 10:34-36.
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.
.
|
