We don't have to look outside our own country for religious fanatics who abuse religion. This one is an Air Force commander. These people have no idea what it means to be religious and they have much more in common with extremist terrorists than they know.
Some people should just be barred from religion because they give it a bad name. Commander Kimberly Toney, who apologized for not knowing what was on the website that slanders her Commander in Chief, ought to be immediately fired.
NYT: The Air Force has begun an investigation into whether an e-mail message from an Air Force commander in Europe directing air personnel under her command to an “inspirational” story on a Catholic Web site violated the military’s official position of religious neutrality.A video posted on the front page of the "Catholic" website is a very old video of a debate between wingnut Alan Keyes, a Birther, who says Obama's ineligible to be president, and Obama.
The commander, Col. Kimberly Toney, who leads the 501st Combat Support Wing in Europe, sent the thousands of air personnel in her wing a message last month recommending that they “take a few minutes to enjoy the attached video and meet a truly inspirational individual.”
The video highlighted the life story of Nick Vujicic, now 26, who was born without arms or legs and who credited his faith in Jesus with helping him overcome his physical limitations.
Some Air Force personnel who watched the video said they believed that it breached the military’s ban on endorsing particular religious views. Some viewers said they were even more bothered by articles and commentary on the Catholic Web site, 4marks.com.
One image on the site satirized President Obama’s support for abortion rights by showing him wearing a Nazi uniform and waving a flag with a swastika in an image labeled “ObamaHitler.” Another article, also critical of Mr. Obama’s stance on abortion, called him “a veritable forerunner of the Antichrist.”
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit watchdog group that monitors possible religious bias in the military, said it had received about 60 complaints from military personnel about the colonel’s e-mail message.
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But Mikey Weinstein, who heads the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said the incident represented a “textbook case” of improper religious influence.
“There’s a pervasive pattern of constitutional abuse when you have a wing commander who sends out a direct, proselytizing e-mail with a link to a Web site that slanders the president of the United States,” he said.
Mr. Weinstein’s group is suing the Defense Department in federal court over what it charges is a pattern of religious bias, and the Obama administration is set to respond to the lawsuit later this month. As a result of the Toney episode, Sergeant Thompson said he was considering joining the litigation as a plaintiff.
