Proselytize, Evangelize

06 February 2006

Attorneys defending the Air Force against charges of religious discrimination at the Colorado Springs Air Force Academy have asked the judge presiding over the lawsuit to dismiss the case on the grounds that plaintiff Michael Weinstein and his co-plaintiffs haven’t demonstrated that they were sufficiently harmed by the alleged proselytization by evangelical Air Force chaplains. Further, the Air Force argues that Weinstein’s lawsuit ignores one senior chaplain’s distinction between proselytization and evangelizing the unchurched, proselytization being “aggressive,” while evangelizing is “‘more gently sharing the gospel.'” Hardly a scientific definition, but one of degrees for the judge to decide. All the same, one could expect a paper reporting on this debate to at least weigh some of the more tangible evidence: i.e., where do “Team Jesus” locker room banners fall along the spectrum of conversion terminology?

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