An anti-Christian group has criticized a recent decision by the Air Force Academy not to punish an assistant football coach for posting Bible verses on Twitter, a report says.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) had demanded that the Air Force sanction tight ends coach Steed Lobotzke for sharing Bible verses on his Twitter account. The group’s representative, Mikey Weinstein, called the tweets “Christian evangelizing via twitter” which he claims “blatantly” defies Air Force regulations, according to The Gazette.
On multiple occasions Coach Lobotzke tweeted out verses from the Christian Bible. On his Twitter landing page Lobotzke describes himself as a “follower of Christ, family man and football coach,” and notes that “Tweets are my own views.”
Some examples of the messages that offended the anti-religion group include segments from the books of John, Romans, Matthew and others.
Ultimately, Air Force officials decided that Coach Lobotzke’s tweets were done on his own time, that his Twitter account is not maintained by the military, and did not violate any regulations. Furthermore, officials reiterated their commitment to the coach’s First Amendment rights.
“The Academy remains committed to protecting individuals’ right to practice any religion they choose, or no religion, provided their practices do not violate policy or law, or impede mission accomplishment, military readiness, unit cohesion, standards or discipline,” a statement from the Air Force Academy Athletic Department read.
Calling the decision an example of “unchecked Christian extremism,” MRFF’s Weinstein was infuriated by the decision. Weinstein also told The Gazette, “This is complete and utter (expletive), there will be a lot more to come on this.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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