bush wasn't lying when he originally called this 'war on terrorism' a crusade... wake up america, facism approaches rapidly... also, ron paul was correct in saying 'facism will come wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross'... can't get much closer than this!

Anna-thanks for this article. I had no idea this sort of thing was going on. Thanks for bringing it to light!

Part of the problem is location. What with Dobson and Haggard's mega-churches right in their backyard, this whole area (Colorado Springs) has become a mecca (no pun intended) for the religiously intolerant. Discrimination against non-Christians at the Air Force Academy was exposed years ago and apparently nothing was done. Can't wait for the inevitable cries of persecution against Christians if/when they are forced to stop spending our tax dollars to promote their particular brand of religion. Breaking the law and stealing tax money. Christ would be so proud!

"I had no idea this sort of thing was going on."

Religious indoctrination in the military starts at basic training/boot camp. On Sunday, trainees are given a choice - attend church services or participate in some undesirable activity (cleaning, training, etc). Just about every function begins with a benediction. In fact, prior to my Air Assault graduation ceremony, the instructors threatened to fail anyone in our class who didn't bow their head.

The Thanksgiving ceremonies (attendance mandatory) were in fact religious services disguised as a "What Thanksgiving Means to Me" presentation.

AFAIK, dog tags are still stamped with "NO PREFERENCE" instead of "NONE" in reference to religion.

In short, religion is just as invasive in the military as it is in the civilian sector.

We need fewer christians and a few more lions.

More proof the American Taliban exists in America. The America we know is in danger from these religious rapture types. Wake up America,the Bible thumpers and their Neocon friends are more dangerous then you can fathom.Hate,bigotry,warmongering are their objective.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I found out that a cousin of mine who attended and graduated from the Air Force Academy cheated on a final exam....Must of workout because he retired a LTC and is an airline pilot for SouthWest Airlines.

Two major questions: (1) Was the video made for an audience at the Academy or for a Christian audience in churches? (2) Does Campus Crusade teach cadets to do "missionary" activities on government time or on thier own private time?

The "Free Exercise" clause of the First Amendment guarantees ALL Americans the right to practice their religion, and other clauses guarantee the right of free speech. And while many in these days may think it somehow offensive, the plain fact is that Christian scripture and historical Christian practice agree that one of the responsibilities of every Christian is to present his faith to others in a clear enough manner so that they may freely elect whether to embrace that same faith themselves. (This is also the stated responsibility of Muslims, I might add.)

What Christians (and others) in the military can be prohibited from - indeed ALL they can be prohibited from - is practicing their faith in a manner that suggests it has special sanction from the government.

If churches want to believe that Christian cadets are government-paid "missionaries" for Christ, precisely how is that different from saying that they are "government paid" philologists or model-builders or weight-lifters or whatever other hobby they may pursue? And percisely what reflection is that on the Academy or on the U.S. government?

Muhammed didn't fly off to heaven on a winged horse to receive some holy words from Allah. Horses don't fly. Your deceased father did not come back as a cow. Cows are not holy. The pope is not infallible. He's a human being just like the rest of us. Mary is not appearing on tree stumps. Mary is dead. Deal with it. The Jewish people are not god's chosen people. We are all equal. Blowing yourself up and taking "as many infidels with you as you can" is not a good thing. It won't get you 72 virgins. It will get you dead. God did not find it necessary to impregnate his own mother so that he might be born in order to appease another creature he made - satan - who got kicked out of heaven for being a bad boy and, out of the immensity of space just happened to land on this tiny speck of a planet - earth. All of this so that god might be able to forgive Eve for the eating of an apple. America wasn't founded on Christianity (Treaty of Tripoli) - that's why there's this little clause separating church and state. If one wants to argue that America WAS founded on Christianity, so was slavery. If Huckabee actually believes the Bible - which he certainly claims he does - he doesn't belong in the White House anymore than if he swore allegiance to the Koran. He belongs in the room next to Bush in the lunatic asylum which is down the hall from Osama Bin Laden's drool room. Doesn't it strike you as a bit odd that the gods of every world religion "just happen" to be of the same nationality as the authors of those books? Many if not most of the world's biggest persecutions and wars have had their roots in religion. The Middle East is a prime example. If you wanna believe, believe. Let's just keep religion out of politics as the Constitution states and intended. As a non - believer in any of the books that claim to represent God, I would strongly suggest that we post the 10 Commandments in EVERY public building, library, school, bus stop...you name it. AS LONG as we include the punishment for disobeying ANY of them. "Death by stoning." Bush said that he obeyed his "heavenly father" in his decision to invade Iraq. 'nuff said.

My Navy basic wasn't like that, Ed...if we chose not to go to any services, we hung out in the barracks and chilled. I DID live on various Air Force bases in the 80's, at the hieight of the Reagan era conservatisim, and I can say that, for us kids (military dependents), it was our duty to distrub the peace, party as hard as we could, and generally #### with the military establishment, which, at the time, and to a bunch of partying liberal teenagers, seemed overbearingly fascist...I think it's just a conservative, Air Force culture.

I don't know where Ed was in the service at, but this didn't happen when I was in. Yes, we too had the opportunity to choose to go to Sunday services in boot camp - and if we didn't we had FREE TIME to rest, write letters, sleep in, whatever else we wanted to do. Sunday during that time was the only day of the week when we got free time for the first 8 weeks. It was very tempting to not go to services; some Sunday's I did stay at the barracks and sleep in or goof off because I was just too tired.

This video was produced in 2002 by people (cadets, chaplains, Campus Crusade officials) who have long since departed the AF Academy. It is not now, nor is there a record of it ever having been, officially sanctioned by Academy leaders. The shots of the Academy were taken from publicly available video and edited into the production.

The Academy strives to create an environment in which every individual can believe--or not believe--how he or she chooses. Everyone assigned here is educated and trained on the parameters within which they can practice their faith in a military environment. Our folks are also taught that we don't have to agree, but that we need to respect everyone else's right to their personal beliefs. When someone steps over the line, appropriate disciplinary action is taken. We have not had a major complaint regarding a religious respect issue here in the past two years.

JOHNNY

Separation of church and state? Riiiiight. That may have been part of our nations foundation but such things mean nothing to the current administration of Religious extremists. Vote for the De-BUSH-ification of the United States!

I am an AFA grad, and while the Christian influence is strong, all the claims of religious indoctrination and discrimination against non-Christians is a bunch of BS touted by a few who have a particular axe to grind. People who don't have any personal experience at AFA would do well to be a little less confident telling the rest of us what's really going on there.

All this Christian bashing has been a long time coming, and has been predicted. A big "thanks" and a "tip of the hat" to all of the world's pretend Christians who have made all of this possible. And to the media, who are having a good laugh, while making a fortune from selling hate. This story is just another example of what evil people will do in the name of Christ. The Air Force Academy has been exposed, and it is right to do so. Still I have to wonder...is this the full story or just selected cherry picked information.

What???? What the !!!! How can this happen??? What is going on??? Are we being overrun??? Everywhere I look and everything I'm reading is telling me we are being forced into Christianity. I thought some of my friends were overreacting,,, but after reading this it's starting to feel like a serious threat. I do not want our great country to turn into another Iran… Look at what their religious based government does to them!!!!!

Kuddos for Scot Blum!! Remember, the 1st Ammendment only bars the Congress from making a law respecting the establisment of religion or barring it's free exercise. This has not been violated.

For a 1st Amm violation the US congress has to give a bill to the president for him to sign (that's how Congress makes a law, remember).

There is no "seperation of church and state" mentioned in any of our founding documents! This is all to often referenced as being such, but it is a lie.

I'm so glad to hear that Christianity is held in high honor in our military, God help us if the opposite is ever true.

BTW, facism is best run by aitheism, it is not Christian in nature at all. Sinclair Lewis (who Ron Paul had much glee in quoting) was mistaken.

The Bush Administration is too far out of line on almost every single issue in America. He is a fascist! Religion has no place in government. Just ask those who came to America to get away from it. They are such hypocrites!

Oh good grief, people! Get a life! I've been around the military almost all my life and in fact still work on an Air Force base. You have no idea what you're yapping about.
1. "Religious indoctrination;" absurd! There is NONE!
2. "Attend church or participate in some undesirable activity;" absurd! There isn't much during boot camp that's NOT undesirable. Sunday mornings usually contain "personal time" when one may attend chapel services or nothing.
3. "Thanksgiving ceremonies (attendance mandatory);" absurd! At my base about 12 people attended the one voluntary, brief, open-chapel, non-denominational reflection time.
4. "Religion is just as invasive;" "Natural" would be a better word than "invasive." Just as the United States Constitution guarantees, our Armed Forces permit religion but do not establish it. Individually, members are free to believe or not believe, and to express their faith or lack of faith.
No wonder God says in the Bible, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no god.'"

The Army's motto "Is no man is without
God in a fox hole". The same is true
in the Air Force, only fools who have no
fath or in them self's wil return home. So let everbody practice what they beleive: In God, or something else, because when the chips are down, that is the only thing they can depend on. God and them self's, because no one else will be there.