Spelling Errors

The US Air Force Academy now allows spellcasters...

During an inter-faith discussion group, the release notes, one cadet asked Longcrier “whether Wiccans or Pagans practiced ‘black magic.’”

Sergeant Longcrier responded by citing the Wiccan credo, or Rede: “An it harm none, do what ye will.” That would seem to preclude harmful spellcraft.

However, the Rede “would not apply to a battlefield,” according to the Academy release. Which gives new meaning to the term “magic missile.”

Am I the only one facepalming over this? Here's a level of the collective (brain) power these people have:

“If I put out a healing spell — say, I wanted to heal you from pizza poisoning — if it doesn’t work for you, but it works for somebody else, does that mean it didn’t work?” one cadet asked.

First, what the fuck is "pizza poisoning?" Second, prove it was your spell that caused the relief in a way that mere time, chemistry, and digestion would not have. I'll be waiting. Third, if I give someone a spoonful of Pepto-Bismol, I'm fairly confident it won't cure the wrong person's indigestion.

And then Wired has to go and get all cutesy...

This would be an unusual conversation at any military institution. But considering the Academy had “55 complaints of religious discrimination” against non-Christians between 2001 and 2005, it’s close to miraculous — er, magical. According to according to CNN, all “9,000 cadets and faculty and staff members are now required to take a 50-minute course on religious sensitivity."

Yeah, way to gloss over a national disgrace by kowtowing to a bunch of muddle-headed wiccans.

And for my (hypothetical) readers who might say, "But the Academy is at least becoming more tolerant," I say, "But they're not becoming more rational. They're accepting another bunch of crap thinking with the rest they're guilty of. I want rational military minds--especially field commanders--who are just a tad less enthusiastic about getting their people killed because they know there's no blissful afterlife awaiting them. Otherwise, we're no better than the Taliban in that delusion."

Tell me this: how much would the air force be sensitive to the emotional needs of atheists? Because there are atheists in foxholes, just to drive the point home to the lying evangelicals out there. I have a friend serving in the Middle East right now who's an atheist and a liberal. He's heard no shortage of conversations about how "liberals have no morals" from his squadmates. And they don't even know his beliefs. He is, unsurprisingly, not in any hurry to make those beliefs known, either. I might just make a donation to MRFF in his name, now I think of it.

Via Skepchick.