"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Culture Wars

From Ed Brayton: the irony runneth over: the Navy has hired a Muslim to teach -- brace yourself -- Islamic studies at the Naval Academy. Needless to say, there is pearl-clutching in some quarters:

Gordon James Klingenschmitt, a former naval chaplain who attended the Air Force Academy, hopes the Muslim's role will be limited. "I would hope that he would be teaching classes to bring cultural awareness about Islam and not specifically teaching the Islamic religion to our midshipmen," Klingenschmitt says. "I certainly hope he is not teaching the Muslim faith; or if he is -- in a cultural sense -- I hope the Naval Academy offers equal opportunity for Christian professors to teach about the Christian faith."

In case you don't remember the name, Gordon James Klingenschmitt was a Navy chaplain who was discharged for aggressive proselytizing in uniform. If you google his name, you get pages and pages of praise from right-wing Christian sites.

Given the degree to which the U.S. Armed Forces are becoming an arm of militant Christianists, this should be really interesting. How long do you think it's going to be before some Baptist midshipman files a complaint against the Muslim professor?

No comments: