The Patrick Air Force Base in
Brevard County, FL, is currently embroiled in controversy after a Bible
honoring missing soldiers and prisoners of war was removed from one of the base’s
dining halls earlier this month.
The Bible was a part of a ‘Missing
Man Table’ – a tradition in the U.S. Armed Forces meant to honor servicemen who
did not return from combat, either because they are missing or prisoners of
war. The vacant table is set up in some
Armed Forces' dining halls in the U.S., and includes a plain white table cloth,
an inverted glass, a single red rose, a yellow ribbon, a candle, a plate with
lemon and salt, and a Bible.
The purpose of the Bible is to “[represent]
the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country,
founded as one nation under God,” according to the Air Force Chiefs website.
The Family Research Council (FRC)
pointed out the irony of the controversy.
“Of particular irony is the fact that this reversal of a long history of
including such memorials in dining halls occurred at the same installation
where the Department of Defense's equal opportunity agency - the Defense Equal Opportunity Management
Institute (DEOMI) - is housed,” FRC
said. “DEOMI is tasked with training
military Equal Opportunity (EO) advisers on how to instill respect and
tolerance for diverse viewpoints in service members. Apparently, that respect and tolerance isn't
supposed to extend to religious speech or the ability of an organization to
recognize the role religious faith has played in the lives of many service
members.”
According to Florida Today, a dispute over the Bible’s presence at the Missing
Man Table at Patrick Air Force Base's Riverside Dining Facility caused
commanders to remove the table from the dining hall. Authorities at the Air Force Base then
released a statement to the local media outlet late last week saying that the
table would return to the dining facility, although they were unclear if the
Bible would be a part of the Missing Man display.
“The 45th Space Wing deeply desires
to honor America’s Prisoners and War (POW) and Missing in Action (MIA)
personnel. Unfortunately, the Bible's
presence or absence on the table at the Riverside Dining Facility ignited
controversy and division, distracting from the table’s primary purpose of
honoring POWs/MIAs,” the statement read.
“Consequently, we temporarily replaced the table with the POW/MIA flag
in an effort to show our continued support of these heroes while seeking an
acceptable solution to the controversy. After
consultation with several relevant organizations, we now intend to re-introduce
the POW/MIA table in a manner inclusive of all POWs/MIAs as well as Americans
everywhere.”
News of this most recent incident
regarding religious freedom comes after the Air Force Academy in Colorado
Springs, CO, reportedly asked a cadet to erase a Bible verse from the whiteboard
that hung outside of his dorm room. The
decision prompted outrage from religious freedom groups like the Liberty Institute and the Family Research Council. Although the cadet was not punished for
writing the biblical message, Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation,
has called for the student to be “visibly punished” so others won't follow his
example.
I find it fascinating that we
protect building structures of historic significance from being demolished, yet
allow historic traditions of religious significance to be destroyed. What good is one without the other … if
you’re truly wishing to preserve an understanding of what our America
heritage? Eradicating religion from our
history is to deny today’s Americans from a full understanding of who we
are and where we came from … not to mention an infringement of our 1st
amendment right to religious freedom.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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