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Whatever.The Air Force Academy has set aside an outdoor worship area for Pagans, Wiccans, Druids and other Earth-centered believers, school officials said Monday.
A double circle of stones atop a hill on the campus near Colorado Springs has been designated for the group, which previously met indoors.
"Being with nature and connecting with it is kind of the whole point," said Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier, who sponsors the group and describes himself as a Pagan. "It will dramatically improve that atmosphere, the mindset and the actual connection."
What fresh h3ll is this?Longcrier said he personally doesn't consider gods and goddesses to be actual beings but personifications of natural events that human ancestors wanted to put a face on.
"The goddess is symbolic of the Earth," Longcrier said. "Do I believe I'm worshipping this female entity living in the Earth or up in space somewhere? No. The symbolism is very important."
So, when do the Objectivists get their Randian statue?
26 comments:
(GROAN) You know you opened the damn door, didn't you? Guess I'll have to polish the cluebat...
One of the funniest things I saw was one of my old XOs storming up and down the bridge when they called away the church services for the wiccans. I saw back in 90 or so 60 mins did a piece on satanism in the Army and how the chaps had to learn the services to provide for the satanic soldiers. We can't offend, you understand.
The other part of the story here is that USAFA has been under varying degrees of criticism and lawsuits over the part 15+ years (since about the time I was on staff there) for catering too much to the Fundamentalist Christian crowd. Heck, you can even see Focus on the Family HQ from the top rows of Falcon Stadium :) .
I suspect this is one method to show the inclusiveness/diversity of the USAFA religious community. Not quite sure why they need a specific set of rocks when there are so many naturally occuring mountainside sites to choose from already.
Oh, and speaking of diversity, another liberal bastion gets caught with their pants (skirts?) down:
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/vanity-fairs-quot-new-hollywood-quot-issue-completely-lacks-diversity-578862/
Eh, I don't mind. People can worship as they like, and if people don't like this specific kind, well, think of the "double circle of stones" as a garden or something.
However, to those who call themselves "Druids" and march about in robes like Gandalf or whatever and might find this through google. As a person who spent a fair amount of time in college studying Celtic stuff I say: "You're not. Please stop. You're annoying the historians."
The services should just get out of the religion business. Why do we need federally funded ministers or prayer? Are people incapable of practicing their religion without a government sponsor?
As a pagan myself i welcome this
Matter of fact, people ARE incapable of practicing their religion without a gummint sponsor. For instance, Catholics cannot say Mass. They need a priest to do it. They need a priest to hear confessions. We have chaplains for that. Thing is... the percentage of Catholics in the military in some branches is about 30-40 percent. Yet the percentage of Catholic chaplains is lower than that... and there seems to be some discrimination going on... up or out... and some perfectly good chaplains are being sent home because they're making room for... what? Druids?
Not that I have anything against Druids. I'm sure if you go far back enough in my family tree there were more than a few....
What's next? Voo Doo? Greek and Roman Gods? Golden Calves? Or are those already recognized?
The lower oxygen content up on the Colorado Plateau seems to have diminished the USAFA's ability to think rationally and draw the line somewhere on this side of sanity.
Will USAFA-graduate Gaia-worshippers who become attack pilots be able to bring themselves to drop ordnance on Mother Earth?
Glad they made you happy
I have established a new religion that believes bald guys should be worshipped as semi-deities. The ceremony includes seductive dancing by nubile young (25-ish) maidens who then engage alternately in handling said bald guy and in naked pillow fights, with the winner having the honor of providing pleasure.
I will also testify that "it will dramatically improve that atmosphere, the mindset, and the actual connection"<span>.</span>
How does DoD feel about my religion? Fair is fair.
URR may be on to something. Please post worship service schedule and locations ASAP...
Our prayers are working....
I'm sorry. I can't get upset by this. The services have a moral obligation to provide reasonable accomodation for all faiths. They set aside some rocks. That's pretty reasonable.
Other than that, the pagans aren't asking for much, other than to not be harrassed. If we get to pick on pagans (like AW1 Tim, IIRC) do we get to start picking on the Jews next?
Don't forget the beer!!! Beer is a sacred part of religious rites!!! :)
Heh... yup/ Aside from the comments that Caesar left in his description of them, not much is known about the Druids. There is a LOT of spin, interpretation, and just plain wishful thinking, but virtually nothing factual about them and ESPPECIALLY about their religion and it's practice.
Having said that, I am a Pagan, and one who DOERS believe that these Gods are real, and nor just representations of some portion of nature. Folks like this Sergeant are simply expressing their own belief, and not that of the majority of Pagans. And speaking of the majority of Pagans, they AREN'T Wicca. They aren't Satanists either.
I get really steamed with Wicca, because it was a thrown-together jim-jam of all sorts of things, many simply made up, from the 1940/50 period. Gardener, a British Civil Servant started it all as a club, and branches spread, and there you have it. I put Wicca right up there with Live-Action Dunbgeans & Dragons role play, or Hogwarts pretenders, but that's probably just the cynical old-fashioned part of me.
DB,
In the US Army Regulations of 1863 (revised) the bias is evident. The only Chaplains accepted into the Army, by regulations, were tpo be Protestant. The few Catholic Chaplains in Civil War regiments, were there because the unit was primarily Catholic (Like the 69th New York, or 28th Massachusets) and was raised by the State, rather than the Federal Government.
The Regular US Army steadfastl;y refused to accept any non-Ptrotestant Chaplains until 1898 or so.
Interestingly enough, today's news carries an artivle from the Air Force Academy that someone place a large wooden cross in the middle of the area set aside for this Pagan group.
The problem I have is that saying "Pagan" is like saying "Monotheist". Many variants, many doctrines. But if the services are going to provide Chaplains and sites for worship, then they need to provide for all recognized religions, to the best of their ability. It should never interfere with unit readiness or mission, etc, but if it can be reasonably provided, then it should be for all interested parties.
Doing this at an Academy, or a fixed base makes sense because there is land available. However, in the field, at FOBs, etc, even aboard ship, not so much, and that's fine by me.
However, a Church isn't some building, or circle, or anything else. The Church is the people, and lots of folks forget that part. It's recognizing our Creators that is important, following the path they present to us, living as we are taught to live, and love, and share, that makes us a church. The early Christians met wherever they could. Many other groups meet where they can. The buolding, temple, whatever should never be the focus of the group. It should always be eachother, and the common thread between the worshipers that make us a family.
I got a local Pastor's crow last September. He was asking where I went to church. I told him that I worshipped every Sunday at the "Church of the Holy Uprights". Service started around 1pm. Sometimes there was extra worship on Thursdays and Monday nights, too. I had an altar dedicated to the "53 Gridiron Saints", and we regularly had a large table of animal, vegetable, and mineral sacrifices for to offer as a communion amongst all the attendees. Even had pictures and idols adorning the Chapel of the Living Room.
Dude wasn't amused. I thought it was 'ilarious. Some folks have no sense of humor :)
<span>" Interestingly enough, today's news carries an artivle (sic) from the Air Force Academy that someone place a large wooden cross in the middle of the area set aside for this Pagan group. "</span>
Ref my comment below about the Fundamentalist Christian influence at the Colorado Spring Reform School for Wayward Children...
xbradtc, I'm with you, I find it difficult to get upset over this one. Mama USAF does enough things to deserve bashing, this one shouldn't even rise above the noise floor.
is there a mosque in the campus?
Nothing identfied as such inside the cadet chapel, anyway:
http://www.usafa.edu/superintendent/pa/factsheets/chapel.htm
Don't recall there being a mosque on the support side of the base IIRC from my last visit a couple of years ago.
OTOH, why couldn't the Cadet Chapel "All Faiths Room" handle the group described in this post? *shrug*
Well, as an futuristic note and BMD/Space command recruitment ad we might consider Jedi temple... Just make those folks at ABL program do a workable lightsaber :P
Actually, on ship you only need a Priest to consecrate the Host which can be distributed by a Lay Eucharistic Minister at what is essentially a "Deacon's Mass". In my first command I had a Ltjg certified for that position and he'd "religiously" (no pun intended) seek out military and civilian priests to ensure that he had a full supply.
My only complaint about military chaplains is that we give them rank. I'd prefer the old British Royal Navy tradition of the chaplain wearing a uniform blouse w/o rank insignia.
The F-101 has been gone for a long time.
<span>For instance, Catholics cannot say Mass. They need a priest to do it.</span>
****
Well, I guess they should have thought about that before the signed up to be in the military where they may be forward deployed for months on end.
Well, that's a dumb comment. And if Catholics decided not to sign up because they'd be deprived of the sacraments and religious support during a time in their lives when many need God more and get closer to God, you might be shocked at the numbers. There's lots of them... especially in the Navy and USMC.
There are many good chaplains who go out into the war zone with them and provide vital services, and comfort dying soldiers with prayer and last rites at the time of their death. I know many good chaplains who have spent years of their lives living side by side with our guys in Iraq and Afgh.. We have had heroic chaplains also. One of them got the MOH and is in line to be canonized a saint. (Rev. Vincent Capodanno.)
Quite frankly, service to country, sacrifice, and dying so your fellow man might live are important values promoted in Catholic teaching. To sideline a whole religious group because of prejudice doesn't do the military any good.
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