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(Air Force Rejects Faith--Plane and Simple
(Family Research Council, June 22, 2012)"In the U.S. Air Force, the one thing leaders are throttling back is faith. When President Obama took office, his policies had a chilling effect on religion across the military--but no branch has taken Christian censorship to extremes like the Air Force. To most people, the turning point came last year after a service-wide memo from Gen. Norman Schwartz. It was a stern warning that religious favoritism and proselytizing would not be tolerated in the Force. Instead, Gen. Schwartz urged "neutrality"--which has since turned to hostility--on faith.
Assaults on religion have come in almost daily waves since then, and service members are still struggling to cope with the changes. One by one, officers started flushing God out of their everyday routines--an overcorrection that has left several airmen confused about their rights. First, the Air Force suspended a 20-year-old class on "Just War Theory" because it included scriptural references. Next came the stripping of "God" from the Rapid Capabilities motto and the purging of Bibles from Air Force Inn checklists. At Christmas, the Academy ordered cadets to stop promoting a Christian charity for needy kids. Leaders even removed an article from a Squadron Office School curriculum for referencing chapel. FRC started to notice a change in 2010--before Schwartz's memo--when Andrews Air Force Base rescinded my invitation to speak at a prayer breakfast.
"When viewed individually," Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) said, "any of these actions is concerning. But taken together, they highlight an alarming pattern in the Air Force that we do not see in other branches of the military." The tension is so significant that the Air Force Times published a long expose about the new climate of political correctness and how it's affecting morale. Several servicemen emailed the paper anonymously, many concerned that believers are being forced into the closet. "Christian airmen say they're constantly walking on eggshells at work to avoid offending their non-believing colleagues." Another said, "I don't think the Air Force pushes religion on anyone. The only thing I have seen is the push to take any reference to Christianity out."
So far, Gen. Schwartz's strategy seems to be having the desired effect. In a Military Times poll, Air Force members were less likely than those in any other branch to say that "religion plays a larger role in their lives today than it did when they joined the service." In other words, the Air Force is systematically driving a wedge between the troops and their greatest source of solace and strength. What a tragedy. Our military was designed to protect religious liberty--not impair it. As Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) said, "When our sons and daughters join the military, they are not signing away their First Amendment right to religious liberty." He and 65 other House members are so outraged by the Air Force's pattern of religious hostility that they're calling on Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to conduct a full investigation. "Censorship," they write, "is not required for compliance with the Constitution and should not be required for compliance with military directives." We applaud the dozens of Congressmen who signed on to this letter to support the troops when they need it most."
There is no prophetic pronouncement being made in connection with this report which appeared on June 22, 2012, and the following report from MSNBC on June 27, 2012. Just read the reports, then read "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." Galatians 6:7 (NKJV) and draw your own conclusions.
"Colorado Springs Fire Chief Rich Brown called the Waldo Canyon Fire a "monster event" that is "not even remotely close to being contained." The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Tuesday night, the community of Mountain Shadows, northwest of Colorado Springs, appeared to be enveloped in an orange glow.
People were "freaking out" as they fled Tuesday night, local resident Kathleen Tillman told the Denver Post. "You are driving through smoke. It is completely pitch black, and there is tons of ash dropping on the road."
"This is a fire of epic proportions," Brown said at a briefing Tuesday night.
"It was like looking at the worst movie set you could imagine," Gov. John Hickenlooper added after flying over the fire. "It's almost surreal. You look at that, and it's like nothing I've seen before."
Among the evacuees were cadets and staff at the U.S. Air Force Academy, where flames crested a ridge high above its campus on Tuesday when more than 2,100 residents were told to get out.
A new class of 1,045 cadets was to have reported to campus on Thursday but will instead check in at another facility."
I believe that if revival is going to happen in the USA, it will not be for the purpose of returning us to the days of Leave it to Beaver of Happy Days, but that it will take place in the midst of an ever worsening moral climate and the resulting physical calamities. A description of the person touched by revival will be: "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." James 1:12 (NKJV)
