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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! November 24, 2004 Are there Atheists in Cockpits?By GreyhawkNo. And you know why? Because they can't call them "cockpits" any more. Mentioned this story over the weekend, but it's worth repeating: Air Force Academy officials are cracking down on some staffers who put Bible verses at the bottom of their academy e-mails. This move comes on the heels of the recent DoD decision to ban official support of the Boy Scouts by military installations - because the scouts require religious faith in their members. (They don't require faith in any specific divine being, mind you, just faith, be it Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, etc.) Likewise you can (for now) celebrate any of those religions in this handsome building:  The famous Air Force Academy Chapel. Of course, someone soon will realize how utterly offensive and insensitive such structures are, and the bulldozers will certainly make short work of it. Or perhaps the Air Force can take it down Air Force style, faster than you can say "sniper in the mosque!" (picture found here - along with several other awesome shots) Those who've already read Belmont Club today might recall this quote, perhaps now with an extra chill: For one, Hitler would have taken a very dim view of Jesusland, a country which George Bush is said to be in the process of founding, whose geographic location is to the immediate south of the United States of Canada. Martin Bormann said, "National Socialism and Christianity are irreconcilable." Hitler, according to Klaus Fischer's Nazi Germany stated that "one day we want to be in a position where only complete idiots stand in the pulpit and preach to old women." In a concession to popular feeling, however, the Nazis offered the public certain acceptable 'faith traditions' including something called "Gottglaubig", a dished-up creed heavily overladen with ancient Germanic pagan beliefs with versions of rituals for birth, marriage and death. "By 1938, carols and nativity plays were were forbidden in the schools, and the words 'Christmas' itself was replaced by the word 'Yuletide'." How appropriate, with the Holiday season upon us. Update 6 May 2005: This story has reappeared in the headlines. See this updated post and many the links and comments it contains. Posted by Greyhawk / November 24, 2004 1:02 PM | Permalink 2 TrackBacksOh, give me a frigg’n break. If you needed any more proof that the pretty boys in blue have too much time on their hands, here’s something to chew on: Read More I sure am glad I don't live in a Godless communist state...whoa...wait an minute... Greyhawk posted something that caught my eye...and upset me quite frankly... You have to read Hugh Hewitt's column in the Daily Standard as well as his Read More 12 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
I was raised Christian. I lost my faith and was an Atheist for quite a while. I was active in going to some of the Atheist meetings, so I am familiar with their agenda. Their angle is the separation of church and state which I still believe to be correct. They may say that, but in reality they want Atheism to be the state religion. Many complain about the Christians that want Christianity to be the state religion, I'm more worried about Atheism becoming the state religion.
Your link to the picture with the F22 flying over the chapel is AWESOME. I've got a 19" flat screen & have to crop it to make it fit. THANX & a happy Thanksgiving to you & Mrs. GREYHAWK. Wish you were spending it with her, but I have a feeling you'll make it up to her in subsequent years.
Today's trivia (learned as a USAFA Cadet in 1968 -- I wish I'd stuck it out):
Q: Why does the Air Force Academy chapel have 17 spires?
A: 12 for the 12 disciples + 5 for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
What garbage. The boy scouts threw out a long term well qualified eagle scout because he did not profess a belief in a deity, and you think that isn't discrimination ? As for those "I was raised Christian. I lost my faith and was an Atheist for quite a while. I was active in going to some of the Atheist meetings, so I am familiar with their agenda. Their angle is the separation of church and state which I still believe to be correct. They may say that, but in reality they want Atheism to be the state religion. Many complain about the Christians that want Christianity to be the state religion, I'm more worried about Atheism becoming the state religion." Meetings, agenda, Aetheism a 'religion", wow, next it will be "aetheists at Roswell channeling UFOs" There may be groups who want to impose aetheism, just like there are groups who want to impose various forms of christianity or islam, but don't make the illogical jump that any of these necessarily represent anything other than what they are, small groups of crackpots.
To imply that there is any threat to established religions is simple crackpottery, black helicopter stuff. What there is, is a threat to religious groups trying to impose their own agenda on others by stealth or force, and so their should.
Boy Scout membership has never been mandatory. Their rejection of homosexual leaders came only after they paid out several multi-million dollar judgements for boys being poggied by leaders.
Boy Scouts are not trying to impose their beliefs on anyone, only to maintain their standards within their group. What next - sue PETA for not allowing butchers to join?
But where is the reference to cockpits?
Atheist agenda? LOL. The only agenda they have is freedom from religion and FAIRNESS. There is a church on every corner in this country. You can pray there, you can pray at home, you can pray at any privately owned entity.
But the atheists, agnostics, and even other religions, simply believe their tax payer money should not be used by the government to sponser religious/christian activities and such which they definitely dont support and shouldnt support.
To make this painfully clear. How would you feel about the airforce building a chapel of satanism on a base somewhere using your christian based tax dollars???
That should never happen. Government should be neutral ground. It should be swept clean of all refernces to any religion or non religion. It should not teach atheism, or christianity, or anything. Belief is an individual choice and the government should never sponsor one over the other.
The minority group is always discriminated against, and this country is based on the idea that the individual is number one, not mob rule. So this idea that the majority of chrisitans should get their way is laughable.
Ponder what our Founding Fathers said:
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical."--Thomas Jefferson, _Statute_for_Religious_Freedom_, 1779, _The_Papers_of_Thomas_Jefferson_, edited by Julron P. Boyd, 1950, 2:545
"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."--Benjamin Franklin, _Poor_Richard_, 1758
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."--Benjamin Franklin, _Poor_Richard_, 1758
"Religion I found to be without any tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm morality, serves principally to divide us and make us unfriendly to one another."--Benjamin Franklin
"Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned, yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity [of opinion]. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites."--Thomas Jefferson, _Notes_on_the_State_of_Virginia_(1781-85), _Oxford_Dictionary_of_Quotations_
"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution." -- James Madison,_A_Memorial_ and_Remonstrance, _2000_Years_of_Disbelief_ by James A. Haught
So why are they allowing these selfish atheists to run roughshod over all the good christians in this country? its stupid and its the soclaists of the ACLU PAW and American United for the Seperation of Church and State
I like the reference to 'religious tolerance training', which means that Christians should shut up. This falls into the Newspeak lexicography, like 'bilingual' means 'unable to speak English'.
It's not freedom FROM religion - it's freedom OF religion.
You can't have freedom OF religion without freedom FROM other religions.
Hey Josh and a few others here who keep referring to the separation of church and state,you are in dire need of correction.Jefferso never mentioned anything about separation of church state as you all and the rest of the Secularist movement like to claim.That ruling actually came about in 1947 by Hugo Black an appointee from FDR'S administration and it was aimed at catholics!this was not aimed at anybody of the protestant persuation.it was aimed at Catholic schools because of the anti-catholic bigotry that had been so prevalent in this country and especially here in the South.This bigotry also crossed party lines.And also Hugo Black was from my home state of Alabama.If you don't believe me then get some freedom of information papers or better yet read Mark Levin's book "Men in Black".