Posted on 10/26/2013 6:22:28 AM PDT by BlatherNaut
DENVER (AP) -- Air Force Academy cadets are no longer required to say "so help me God" at the end of the Honor Oath, school officials said Friday.
The words were made optional after a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, that they violated the constitutional concept of religious freedom.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
So, what are our academies training now? Storm Troopers for the Empire?
Military Religious Freedom Foundation= This is a Hate Group and no one should give them the time of day.
Never give in to these hate groups, Stand strong
Hard to stand strong when you spine is made of soggy spaghetti.
Bump
Fidelity: optional
What good do these acadamies do any more?
Well then, I guess it is not really an oath then. So now if one of the “opt-outs” goes on to leak classified info, they can just claim; “I never really swore an oath to anyone, so what’s the problem?”
The slippery slope is turning into a sheer cliff, isn’t it?
At least I can say with pride that I am NOT an academy grad.
And as I do nearly every single day, I have to ask, “Exactly how long will it take before the backlash and reversal of this insanity begins?
In all fairness, I have never been a fan of “swearing to God” for secular purposes. From a strict religious point of view, it is “using the name of God in vanity.”
From the start, the US rejected the idea that the constitutional order, leaders and the law were respectively “written by heaven, chosen by heaven, and written by heaven”, so if you disagreed with them you were being blasphemous. This had long been the view in Europe to maintain the noble classes, that they should rule because God wanted them to. God hates peasants.
So even the constitution was clear that it, and the law, were made by men and for men. So could be changed by men without inherently offending heaven.
What is the Air Force Oath? Personnel swearing to support and defend the constitution, not the president, and not their superiors if they give an unconstitutional or illegal order. Bringing God into the equation is just an affront to God.
Typically, swearing before God is only properly done at the events of religious sacrament, in the context of faith.
Even in court, where witnesses used to swear on the Bible, what exactly did that say? “I swear to God that I will follow the secular law written by drunken and corrupt legislators and subject to change”? It is a non sequitur.
God, and the allegiance to God, are supposed to be above the day to day affairs of grubby little mortals.
And when it came to religion, I was able to list "none" on my dogtags when I enlisted in 1982.
HONOR OPTIONAL IN GODLESS AIRFORCE
fify
It has always been optional since the beginning of the country. Just look at the presidential oath in the Constitution.
Secular law was based on Biblical principles. Since the 9th Commandment forbids lying, swearing on the Bible seems an appropriate reminder to the witness that God will be listening to what they are about to say. Naturally this is viewed as an empty gesture in a post Judeo-Christian culture.
Exactly so. This isn't anything new.
Right, nothing new. This Weinstein guy's campaign to eradicate it completely (a violation of religious freedom of believers) is at the root of this. From article: "What does it mean, `optional'?" Weinstein said. "The best thing is to eliminate it."
I don’t like getting up at 5Am ( I’m still “with” my other), running 5 miles a day, having the DI scream at me,etc. “I have my rights”.
These Academies are under attack precisely because spirituality was a pillar of their education. Their history goes back to the founding of our Nation. West Point 1802. All of the Academies have their Chapels as central points of their campuses. Ethics and character classes are part of their curriculum. My brother is ‘72 USMA, I’m ‘76 USAFA,
my sons are ‘05 USNA, and ‘07 USAFA. Society is attacking these instutions precisely because of what they adhere to, “Duty, Honor, Country”,”Service before self, excellence in all we do”, “We will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate among us anyone who does.” These are not exactly goals of liberals among us. It is getting harder to take 18 year olds from today’s society who understand right from wrong. Cheating is so prevalent. When they do pay attention to Government they see an individual in the WH with no moral compass. Given all the challenges facing these institutions, the Military remains that part of the Federal Government that we can remain proud. It is my position that that is due to the military being led by men and women of character from the service academies.
If you leave out “so help me God” it is not an oath.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.