Vietnam Veterans of America Founder Bobby Muller Speaks Out Against Air Force Academy Speaker

[Joanne98]

The background: The speaker scheduled to appear at the U.S. Air Force Academy's National Prayer Luncheon on February 10 is former Marine Lt. Clebe McClary. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), supported by a number of other organizations, both religious and secular, has demanded that the Academy rescind its invitation to Lt. McClary, and choose a more appropriate and inclusive speaker for this event. Why? Because of McClary's divisive and highly sectarian fundamentalist Christian message. As stated on McClary's website, "Clebe is what he likes to call a complete Marine. To him USMC will always mean U.S. Marine for Christ." Other statements from McClary make it clear that, to him, only born again Christians are "real" Christians. McClary's message not only excludes members of all non-Christian religions, but many Christians as well, making him a completely inappropriate choice for an Air Force Academy event that should be inclusive of members of all faiths.


Former Marine and Vietnam veteran Bobby Muller, the founder of Vietnam Veterans of America, had the following to say about the Air Force Academy's choice of Lt. McClary to speak at the Prayer Luncheon:

As a former Marine lieutenant who, like Lt. Clebe McClary, was severely wounded while leading a mission in Vietnam, I am appalled by my fellow Marine's statement that a "complete" Marine is one who likes to think that U.S.M.C. stands for "U.S. Marine for Christ." I am even more appalled that the United States Air Force Academy has invited someone with such a religiously divisive and sectarian message to speak at its upcoming National Prayer Luncheon, an event that should be inclusive of Airmen of all faiths.

Lt. McClary lost an eye and an arm; I lost the ability to walk. Countless other Marines, of all religions and no religion, have also suffered life-changing and permanent injuries in the service of our country. Lt. McClary dishonorably, not to mention illegally, appears in the uniform of a Marine before both military and civilian audiences, not with the message of "Once a Marine, Always a Marine," but a message of "Once a Marine, now `a member of the Lord's Army.'

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/1/21/171834/621

[ThomCat]

1. The fact that someone like this gets speaking invitations

at one of the military academies is a symptom of how deeply our military is infected by the Evangelical wackos.

Our military needs to be secular.

If individuals with the military has personal, private faith, that's their own business. But when faith in the military starts getting organized and enforced from the outside and from the top down then it needs to get purged. That's not faith anymore. That becomes an order from your chain of command to believe a required set of beliefs or else.

There have been too many accusations coming out of the academies of dangerous hazing of people who didn't have the "right" faith, and of people coerced into participating in this crap. That's not what the academies are for.

[era veteran]

2. The Air Force needs to be put under Army control.

If we ever have a military led coup, it will come from Colorado Springs. Those people may be pods now.