Petition With 105,000 Signatures Delivered to Air Force Academy Demanding Religious Liberty be Restored to Cadets

Teresa Neumann : Jul 3, 2014
Michael Gryboski – Christian Post

"Now it's the Americans - who send their sons off to war and embrace the God of our fathers - time to be heard. Simply put: We expect the Air Force Academy to immediately stop intimidating cadets from exercising their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion." -Sandy Rios

(Colorado Springs, CO) - The Restore Military Religious Freedom Coalition, in tandem with the Family Research Council (FRC) and the American Family Association (AFA), recently delivered a petition containing over 100,000 signatures to the Air Force Academy demanding that religious liberties be restored to the cadets there. (Photo courtesy: The Christian Post)

Said Lt. Gen. (Rt.) Jerry Boykin, FRC executive vice-president, said, "The academy's recent actions and policy announcements will continue to chill speech among cadets, harm morale, and create unnecessary confusion." 

Congressman, Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana, praised the drive to restore religious liberty at the Academy. "We need this kind of resounding effort by the American people echoing that message to the Air Force," he said.  "I believe we will make progress on this issue, and the efforts of citizens speaking out are playing a leading role in that fight."

Sandy Rios, AFA director of government affairs, said, "Now it's the Americans - who send their sons off to war and embrace the God of our fathers - time to be heard. Simply put: We expect the Air Force Academy to immediately stop intimidating cadets from exercising their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion."

The Petition reads: 
Dear Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson,
Recently, a handwritten Bible verse on a United States Air Force Academy cadet's dry-erase board was removed after a complaint by an anti-Christian activist group. This is deeply concerning to me and my family. As an American, I trust the Air Force Academy to train up the best young men and women our nation has to offer to be prepared to faithfully defend my family, my community and my country. Part of that trust hinges upon the notion that the Academy would protect the religious freedom of the cadets we send it.
The whitewashing of religion in the Academy develops a culture of fear in an institution tasked to develop warriors. If cadets are taught to be afraid of Bible verses, how will they respond against terrorists who are willing to die for their cause? Our U.S. Air Force Academy cadets should be taught how to intercept the enemy, not how to tiptoe around the hyper-sensitive complainants.
I strongly urge you to protect the religious expression of our U.S. Air Force Academy cadets.