What do you get when you combine pagans, two witches, and the Air Force Academy? Eighty thousand taxpayer dollars.
That’s how much the government is spending in its pursuit of political correctness in the military. After a year’s worth of work, the U.S. Air Force finished construction on an outdoor worship center for “wiccans, druids, and earth-worshippers”—despite not having a single one on its cadet roster.
The USAF agreed to the project to accommodate “a civilian” and an “Air Force reservist” who demanded equal treatment for their faith. “We think we are setting a standard,” Chaplain Major Darren Duncan says. What he doesn’t realize is that the standard has already been set—by an administration intent on sidelining Christianity.
While the law may protect the freedom to practice religion, it doesn’t guarantee the public accommodation for it. Despite what the secular movement believes, our government is under no obligation to spend taxpayer dollars elevating fringe groups.
FRC has been a fierce advocate of religious freedom for all Americans. But this isn’t about freedom. It’s about financing. And even in an era of religious pluralism, the government wasn’t meant to be the great equalizer on matters of faith. Unfortunately, this is just another example of the White House’s double standard on religion. Last week, the Pentagon ordered an Army base to remove a cross at its chapel in Afghanistan because it represented a permanent display of religion (which the Army forbids). But if erecting a cross shows religious bias, how does underwriting a Wiccan worship center not? The state may not exist to promote Christianity, but its role isn’t to marginalize it either.
Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article is excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.
