While there are certainly numerous problems with the developmental program at West Point and all service academies, the tipping point of my decision to resign was the realization that countless officers here and throughout the military are guilty of blatantly violating the oaths they swore to defend the Constitution. These men and women are criminals, complicit in light of day defiance of the Uniform Code of Military Justice through unconstitutional proselytism, discrimination against the non-religious and establishing formal policies to reward, encourage and even at times require sectarian religious participation. These transgressions are nearly always committed in the name of fundamentalist evangelical Christianity. The sparse leaders who object to these egregious violations are relegated to the position of silent bystanders, because they understand all too well the potential ramifications of publically expressing their loyalty to the laws of our country.Pretty brave to give up one's future and potentially be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is appalling that the educational branches of the US military have been taken over by those who have a perverted understanding of religion and of the US Constitution. Maybe this guy will make a difference, leading to a change of the culture of the institution. Maybe not. The more stories I hear like this, the more I begin to think that folks like Tom Ricks are right for perhaps the wrong reasons--perhaps it is time to end the academies. It certainly seems to be the case that these places are fostering ignorance rather than educating the next generations of military officers.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
West Point Sucks, Too?
I have long hammered away at the problems of the US Air Force Academy as it apparently has become more of an outpost of evangelicization than a training center for the best and brightest in the US Air Force. It is only fair then that I blast West Point, the US Army's academy for similar sins. This piece indicates that it is not just the aspiring pilots and missleers who forget what this nation and its constitution stands for, but also the folks on the ground.
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There's a secondary effect here that I haven't seen anyone write about. The strain of evangelical Christianity that seems to have wormed its way into the heart of the academies has a particularly muscular viewpoint about US foreign policy and the use of force. These are, to use the term deliberately, crusaders - people who are quite willing to go to war not in defense of the nation but to advance a cause. Does that contribute to the likelihood that such wars will be fought? True that we still have civilian control, but the military has some influence on how it is used - deciding which SOPs to draw up, for example. For those of us opposed to crusading, this is not a good thing.
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