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Once again there is a debate of whether an article should have been pulled because it mentioned God and faith. Did we give up freedom of speech when we joined the military?
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/colonels.column.encouraging.officers.to.trust.in.jesus.is.pulled.from.us.air.force.newsletter/42435.htm
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/colonels.column.encouraging.officers.to.trust.in.jesus.is.pulled.from.us.air.force.newsletter/42435.htm
Posted in these groups: 
God
Freedom of Speech
God Freedom of Speech
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 17
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When you are in a position of power, it is very inappropriate to share your personal views on your subordinates. It is not the right forum to say the least.
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1SG David Spalding
Agreed, however, we did not give it up completely. I say our freedom of speech is curtailed by service to our nation. We need a military that follows our leaders, but not blindly. Freedom of speech is still there, but to be openly critical of our leaders undermines the military as a whole. The old addage "praise in public, counsel in private" could well be understood as "support in public, question in private."
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PV2 Abbott Shaull
SFC Mark Merino, I agree it is very inappropriate, but it got out there. With that said it makes the organization look foolish for pulling it. No we don't give up all of our rights completely, we still are expected to recognize when we are given illegal and unethical orders and to turn those in, who issue such orders. Yes, there are many times when I was in, and in the civilian world, where it been "Support in public, question in private". It happens a lot more in the military in Officer areas than anyone realizes. Otherwise, Articles 88 would be used on the daily basis at levels within the Military, and a reason why you don't say anything to anyone who not within your Command. McChrystal and staff seems to forget Unspoken Common Sense Rule #1, and it cost him his job, and he was very lucky that Vice President didn't demand a Court Martial which he could have. It is why Article # 88 was written, for the sole reason, the openly critical of Civilian leadership of the Country does undermine the Military Leadership too.
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That loss of freedom of speech is mainly brought about by social liberals. When a person can not express their views and beliefs because of offending someone (meanwhile the opposing view is shoved down our throats without retribution) we have a problem.
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I do not believe we ever give up free speech because we are on active duty or retired from the military. Freedom of speech does not mean we have to agree on everything or anything except for the fact that we will respect one another regardless of our differences. If we maintain respect, we can maintain intelligent communication and learn things from sources we may not have thought of before. Freedom of speech is at its best when both or all involved maintain attitudes of respect regardless of our differences.
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PO1 Steven Kuhn
LTC Ray B. (Ret) it looks like we have disagreed on a couple of items so far, but that is okay in my book. It makes the discourse that much more intriguing. Where ever I was in the chain of command I respected the opinions of others and shared mine up and down the chain of command to make sure we did the best we could in any given situation. Some times you do not have time for discussion and must just follow orders. One time one of my suggestions got listened to, and we were able to get two subs underway by pre-staging work in a total of 24 hours vice 48 hours each. I have gotten a lot of good ideas from those junior and senior to me and when you are open to hearing what they have to offer everyone involved feels that they have been involved in being part of the solution......
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