8 Ways to Sunday

Staunch conservative Rep. John N. Hostettler (R-Ind.) caused a stir yesterday when he accused Democrats of “demonizing Christians” during a floor debate in the House.

Hostettler’s invective was brought on by a proposed Democratic amendment to a defense appropriations bill that would have put Congress on record against “coercive and abusive religious proselytizing” at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Allegations have arisen in the past couple of months that the Academy has become a hostile environment for cadets who are not evangelical Christians. Catholics, mainline Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and others are reportedly being harassed about their faith and being pressured to convert. Other reports describe a professor that requires cadets to pray before taking his tests, and a chaplain who likes to warn that anyone “not born again would burn in the fires of hell.”

Angry Democrats demanded that Hostettler retract his comment, which he ultimately did. After that, the proposed amendment was defeated and replaced with one requiring the Air Force to report to Congress on its efforts to encourage religious tolerance. The overall appropriations bill ultimately passed the House by a vote of 398 to 19.

Hostettler made headlines last April when he was detained at a Kentucky airport for having a loaded Glock 9mm semiautomatic handgun in his briefcase. He said that he had forgotten the gun was there, plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon, and was given a 60-day suspended sentence. Hostettler has also been in the news lately for trying to choke off the funds to carry out the court-ordered removal of a Ten Commandments monument from the grounds of a southern Indiana courthouse.