{"id":91821,"date":"2017-12-02T15:54:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-02T15:54:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-01-06T20:52:35","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T20:52:35","slug":"the-air-force-academy-does-right-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvnextjob.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/02\/the-air-force-academy-does-right-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Air Force Academy Does the Right Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the past, we\u2019ve faulted the U.S. Air Force Academy for quickly caving to the various forces of political correctness. When liberal theologians\u2014and a former graduate- turned-activist–accused evangelicals of \u201cproselytizing\u201d at the school, academy leaders quickly caved.<\/p>\n

They enlisted the left-wing Yale Divinity School to conduct a \u201cclimate survey,\u201d and mandated religious \u201csensitivity training\u201d for cadets, faculty members and support personnel. The Academy also replaced its Commandant of Cadets, then-Brigadier General Johnny Weida, exiling him to a backwater job at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. What was Weida\u2019s \u201ccrime?\u201d Telling cadets, during a leadership seminar, that their first responsibility (as officers) was \u201cto their god.\u201d<\/p>\n

Readers will note the small \u201cg.\u201d While General Weida is a self-described evangelical, he did not advocate a particular religion or belief system in his remarks. But, in today\u2019s P.C. environment, that sort of moral foundation\u2014which clearly has a place in officership\u2014was unwelcome. Weida\u2019s name was briefly removed from the promotion list, although he eventually earned his second star. He now serves as Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Forces in Korea.<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we were a bit surprised when Academy leaders took the rather radical step of inviting three former Palestinian terrorists (who subsequently converted to Christianity) to speak at \u201cThe Zoo.\u201d The three men\u2014Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zachariah Anani\u2014delivered lectures on \u201cunderstanding radical Islam\u201d as part of the 50th annual \u201cAcademy Assembly.\u201d The theme of this year\u2019s assembly, held on 6 February, was \u201cDismantling Terrorism.\u201d Representatives of more than 50 colleges and 16 foreign nations attended the event, along with DoD experts. <\/p>\n

As you might imagine, the Academy\u2019s decision has attracted controversy. Corey Saylor, the legislative director of CAIR, offered a predictable diatribe, saying the former terrorists have a \u201cmisleading anti-Muslim agenda\u201d that could \u201cpoison the minds of those who may serve the nation in Muslim-majority areas of the world.\u201d CAIR\u2019s better-known mouthpiece<\/a>, Ibrahim Hooper, likened the former terrorists’ appearance to \u201cinviting David Duke to speak on race relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given CAIR\u2019s proven ties to Islamic terrorists <\/a>(well documented by the crew at Powerline<\/a>, among other bloggers), we\u2019re amazed that anyone still takes the group\u2014and their claims\u2014seriously. That\u2019s why we were encouraged by the Academy\u2019s response to CAIR\u2019s protests.<\/p>\n

Maj. Brett Ashworth, an Air Force Academy spokesman, defended the decision, saying the purpose of the event is \u201cto educate future officers and delegates from 50 colleges on the ideology and methodology of terrorists\u201d and the three men could provide valuable insight.<\/p>\n

Exactly. <\/p>\n

Besides, whatever happened to the notions of free speech and academic freedom? Oh, that\u2019s right\u2014they only apply to the liberals who dominate academia. That\u2019s why\u2014with the exception of Michelle Malkin <\/a>and other members of the conservative blogosphere–there was barely a peep when Tufts University used a $1.6 million homeland security grant to promote \u201cinter-faith and intercultural dialogue.\u201d Some of that money was used to hire a guest speaker named Edina Lekovic, a former editor of a radical Muslim publication at UCLA that praised Osama bin Laden as a \u201cfreedom fighter.\u201d Ms. Lekovic spoke at Tufts last fall. <\/p>\n

We\u2019d say this week\u2019s assembly at the Air Force Academy provides a rare moment of balance in the halls of higher learning. That\u2019s why the Academy deserves praise for inviting the former terrorists, and providing a forum for their views. And kudos to Maj Ashworth for telling CAIR to stick it, even if he was rather polite about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past, we\u2019ve faulted the U.S. Air Force Academy for quickly caving to the various forces of political correctness. When liberal theologians\u2014and a former graduate- turned-activist–accused evangelicals of \u201cproselytizing\u201d at the school, academy leaders quickly caved. They enlisted the left-wing Yale Divinity School to conduct a \u201cclimate survey,\u201d and mandated religious \u201csensitivity training\u201d for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnextjob.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91821"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnextjob.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnextjob.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnextjob.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnextjob.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cvnextjob.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91821\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnextjob.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnextjob.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnextjob.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}