Into the wild blue yonder...

Last night, I linked to this story about the Air Force Academy getting sued. A Jewish New Mexico veteran, who had one son graduate from the Academy in 2004 and another who's in his junior year there, has filed the suit, claiming that the Academy is forcing evangelical Christian viewpoints on the cadets, and harrassing non-Christian cadets.

First of all: I don't doubt the claims. I can't, obviously, give any sort of definite guess about how severe the situation is, and whether it's as bad as, worse, or better than Weinstein (the veteran) is saying. Regardless, there are certain facts that can't be argued against. The majority of people in this country are Christian, and this is more evident in the military than in other circles. The military tends to attract 'gung-ho' people who are likely to feel strongly about their views, regardless of topic. Judaism is a minority in both American society as a whole, and the military. Ergo, there's going to be some degree of bias: that's what happens when a majority meets a minority. 99.9% of the students, faculty, and administration of the Academy could be wonderful, loving, open people who are more than willing to embrace difference and such. But there's still going to be that .1%. Personally, I'm willing to say that anyone who claims otherwise - who claims that there's no discrimination in a situation like that - has never been the minority.

Now then. In a comment last night, Ouroboros said:

You realize that almost all the accusations that guy made were a steaming pile of you-know-what. Complaining about a poster that says "I am a member of Team Jesus?" Corny? Definitely. Discrimination? Come on!

Also, I hate to say it because it ticks people off, but I don't think it's discrimination if you're right.

Firstly: The banner in question said, "I am a Christian first and last...I am a member of team Jesus Christ." I object to the first part because, as I said above: It's probably not true. I can't say for certain, but I know that there are (obviously) a number of non-Christian cadets there. And I object to it in general, as a matter of principle, because the Academy is a government-run institution. They are funded entirely by American tax dollars. Cadets pay no tuition: indeed, they get paid for going to school. The Academy is wholly a military-run (ergo, governmentally-run) institution. Using a government-owned server and e-mail account (on computers that are, technically speaking, government property) to send bible verses is, quite simply, inappropriate from a constitutional point of view.

Therefore, religion of any variety, in my opinion, has absolutely no place on that campus. However, if they decided to, say, have a huge and odd-looking chapel there, quasi-mandatory prayer services, and so on, then they must at least be a universal, non-denominational, and not specifically Christian prayer: "Yay God, etc." Once you mention Jesus, once you mention anything that makes it in any way specific to a certain religion, then you're on very shaky ground. The federal government is in charge, and the federal government is (by the Constitution, and widely-accepted legal interpretation of) not, in any circumstances, allowed to limit religious freedoms in any way, establish a national religion, or give preference (be it by monetary funding or any other way) to any religion.

So, sure, a banner in a locker room may not itself be hugely inflammatory, but it is in principle. We've done enough to chip away at the Constitution: let's not let it spread any further than it already has.