This story is a doozy…
A cadet at the Air Force Academy was forced to remove a scripture, personally inspiring to him, from the whiteboard outside his room. The whiteboards are used for both personal and official business. Apparently this isn’t the first time this cadet posted a scripture. But it is the first time they were told to remove it.
Which begs the question… should it have been removed? Does knowing what another cadet believes really create a “hostile” environment for other cadets? Are these up-and-coming military leaders so thin-skinned that they can’t be exposed to other people’s beliefs without being offended? And if so, how can anyone expect these weak-minded individuals to be ready to successfully engage in confrontations and battles with a REAL enemy when they have to anonymously report what they deem to be an offensive writing on a colleague’s personal whiteboard?
The real question is… do our military personnel, who are defending our Constitutional liberties and freedoms, have those same rights themselves? Or do we have a right to censor them, simply because they are serving our country? And if that’s the case, aren’t are we just reducing them down to indentured servants?
Personally, I believe that our military men and women are honorable enough to walk out their own personal belief systems without trampling those of other people and, in fact, are able to protect the differing beliefs of other people… all at the same time.
Stating a belief does not necessarily mean you are proselytizing, nor does it mean you are denigrating or discriminating against someone who believes differently than you.
You can read more about it here and here (first coverage) and here (follow up). Let me know what you think.
Photo Credit Flickr Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
