Congratulations to the left on a successful indoctrination.

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   Barefootfaeposted 11 years ago

   http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ … 5-18-22-25
   
   This is a sad thing. The young man was depressed. The Christianity around him had nothing to do with that but he did as he has been taught.

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      tsadjatkoposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The man is suffering from clinical depression."Page said he had been medically disqualified this semester from receiving a commission in the Army as a second lieutenant ... because of clinical depression and anxiety. He said his condition has gotten worse since his father killed himself last year." I question a journalist who chooses someone in that condition to make an issue of his personal perceptions especially when the people there disagree with his assertions. Even one of Page's secularist classmates went further, calling his characterization of West Point unfair. "I think it's true that the majority of West Point cadets are of a very conservative, Christian orientation," said senior cadet Andrew Houchin. "I don't think that's unique to West Point. But more broadly, I've never had that even be a problem with those of us who are secular."
      I think it is a shame that an AP reporter has chosen to use Page to make some unsubstantiable point that West Point is overtly religious. This article has victimized Page because he has a medical condition that very well could be at the root of his feelings about West Point. It appears to me that the journalist is trying to project his world view onto the reader by reporting on Page's likely delusional assertions (he is suffering from a worsening condition of clinical depression - not someone any respectable journalist would use as the basis for any article). Yellow journalism if I ever saw it.

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   psycheskinnerposted 11 years ago

   A young man made a stand on principal.  Why assume it was for any reason than his sincere personal moral beliefs? He should do what he thinks best.
   
   A quick Google would no doubt illustrate that this is not a new issue at West Point. I've been hearing about enforced prayer (opting out not allowed) and religious faith effecting performance evaluations there for at least a decade.

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      Barefootfaeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes and he was about to graduate. He has known the atmosphere there for how long?
      So now he takes this action for what purpose? Did he actually ever intend to serve his country?
      I can tell you from experience around the military that yes there are lot's of Christians and no you don't have to be one if you don't want to.
      I think he found a convenient excuse to leave. Nothing more.

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         PrettyPantherposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Nothing more?  What about that "successful indoctrination"? 

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            Barefootfaeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Yes...he was taught to hate Christianity.

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               PrettyPantherposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               And you know this how?

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               psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Um.  Because he wants the freedoms guaranteed to him by separation of church and state?
               
               And he is hardly the last to protest this issue.
               
               www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/us/25academies.html (2008)
               http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009 … ce-in-our/ (2009)
               
               etc.
               
               On the more tolerant side, the West Point chapel recently celebrated its first gay marriage--and a speaker (a General no less) was cancelled because he openly states that the religious practices of Islam should not be protected under the constitution.
               
               It's a mixed bag. But certainly open to critique, I should think.
               
               I think we should also respect the choices people make about their own lives, and not assume they are stupid, immoral or "indoctrinated" just because they don't fit some idea of what we think they should believe.  Ultimately, the facts are the facts.  Based on what he was being asked to do, he chose to leave instead. The choice is his to make. Most of his educational credits will be transferable to another college.

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         psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I would guess he took the actions he felt he needed to for his own sincere reasons.  Why do you assume otherwise? Maybe the final straw just happened to hit him at that point and he no longer felt inspired to pursue that career.  Better now than after he joined a branch of the service.
         
         And I suggest you look into just what is going on in West Point before assuming it is the same as every other military insitution. They have a history of not respecting freedom of religion.

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            Barefootfaeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            They have a history of educating leaders in an area where they are needed.
            Why wait till now?
            He has been there four years.

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               psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Things happen in their own time.  Why not now?
               
               And yes, they have a history of being a great place to get and education.  And a history of not respecting freedom of religion.
               
               Things are not black and white, all good or all bad.
               
               I say let the man lead his own life and make his own decisions--rather than assuming stuff about him we know nothing about.

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   Uninvited Writerposted 11 years ago

   I don't get why this is a necessary a left leaning decision. Sure you don't believe that only liberals are atheists? And they don't necessarily hate Christianity.

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      Barefootfaeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      They don't necessarily NOT hate it either.

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         psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         So, you assume all people hate Christianity unless proven otherwise?  Or just all liberals?
         
         That seems less than charitable.

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            Barefootfaeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            You assume that I assume. Right?

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               psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               I just saw you assume it about Blake Page. And then defend the assumption with relation to his presumed demographic group.
               
               So, no, that was not an assumption on my part.

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                  Credence2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Don't you find it interesting that the Christian right somehow links the concept of the military (organized violence) with Judeo Chiristian teachings of peace and charity? Darkness and light coexist?  How are the two compatible? Seems like it is the Right that is guilty of indoctrination on a grand scale.
                  
                  The idea of religious 'establishment' should be excised from our service academies as well as from the society at large. The silence on this point from the political right is deafening.

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