Intoleristas

There's a regular stream of articles on the pressure to muzzle outspoken Christians at the Air Force Academy. Some excerpts from today's L.A. Times article shows what's really going on.

Members of the Yale Divinity School, who visited the academy last year to observe pastoral care on campus, were surprised by the overtly evangelical tone they found. They sent a memo to school leaders.

During Protestant worship services, the report said, cadets chanted, "This is our Chapel and the Lord is our God." They were encouraged to proselytize to others and "remind them of the consequences of apostasy."

SAY IT AIN'T SO!! Declaring 'the Lord is God' in a worship service! Encouraging the worshippers to obey the Great Commission! NOOOO!!!

Protestant cadets were reminded that those not 'born again will burn in the fires of hell,' " the report said. "Protestant cadets were regularly encouraged to 'witness' to fellow Basic Cadets."

Kristen Leslie, an assistant professor in pastoral care at Yale, led the team. "There was a religious arrogance," Leslie said.

So let's get this straight...believing there is only one way of salvation is 'religious arrogance'.

In a crowded room on the edge of the Air Force Academy, Chaplain Melinda Morton was doing her bit for culture change.

She dimmed the lights and rolled the video.

Morton was teaching an RSVP — Respecting the Spiritual Values of all People — class, a 50-minute exercise in trying to stop what critics called a culture of intolerance on campus.

So far 1,500 of 4,300 cadets have taken the class and eventually all 9,000 employees and military personnel at the academy will complete it.

As the class ended, one participant, Lt. Col. Marcia Meeks-Eure, paused before leaving.

"I think this sort of thing is very good because it underscores what we are supposed to be doing," she said. "I am Baptist but I won't talk about my faith unless someone asks."

Ahhh, yes. That's what the Intolaristas love to hear.