posted June 28, 2013 09:11 AM            

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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY in Lynchburg, Va., was founded by televangelist Jerry Falwell. Its publications carry the slogan “Training Champions for Christ since 1971.” Some of those champions are now being trained to pilot armed drones, and others to pilot more traditional aircraft, in U.S. wars. For Christ.

Liberty bills itself as “one of America’s top military-friendly schools.” It trains chaplains for the various branches of the military. And it trains pilots in its School of Aeronautics (SOA)—pilots who go up in planes and drone pilots who sit behind desks wearing pilot suits. The SOA, with more than 600 students, is not seen on campus, as it has recently moved to a building adjacent to Lynchburg Regional Airport.

Liberty’s campus looks new and attractive, large enough for some 12,000 students, swarming with blue campus buses, and heavy on sports facilities for the Liberty Flames. A campus bookstore prominently displays Resilient Warriors, a book by Associate Vice President for Military Outreach Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Robert F. Dees. There’s new construction everywhere you look: a $50 million library, a baseball stadium, new dorms, a tiny year-round artificial ski slope on the top of a hill. In fact, Liberty is sitting on more than $1 billion in net assets.

The major source of Liberty’s money is online education. There are some 60,000 Liberty students you don’t see on campus, because they study via the internet. They also make Liberty the largest university in Virginia, the fourth largest online university anywhere, and the largest Christian university in the world.

More than 23,000 online students are in the military—twice as many as students who live on campus. Liberty offers extra financial support to veterans and those on active duty, allowing them to be credited for knowledge learned in the military and to study online from a war zone.

Liberty has been turning out “Christ-centered aviators” for a decade. In fall 2011, Liberty added a concentration in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS, aka drones), making it one of the first handful of schools to do this. Now at least 14 universities and colleges in the U.S. have permits from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones, and many institutions, including community colleges, offer drone training.

If one chooses to concentrate studies on piloting drones, the load will include a half dozen courses on “intelligence.” Liberty students can also pick up a minor in strategic intelligence and take courses in terrorism and counterterrorism. (Liberty’s school of government brags that Newt Gingrich helped develop its course on “American exceptionalism.”)

Currently, the vast percentage of drone pilots are training for war, but that is widely expected to change in the next few years. Congress has instructed the FAA to integrate drones into U.S. domestic airspace by September 2015.

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posted June 28, 2013 09:30 AM            

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posted June 28, 2013 09:44 AM            

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Originally posted by Ami Anne:
I don't get the point

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With all due respect, I didn't think you would.

Christians murdering people with drones strikes some people as ironic you know? The drone war is especially heinous because so many civilians and children have been slaughtered by them.

Therefore this...

"Liberty has been turning out “Christ-centered aviators” for a decade. In fall 2011, Liberty added a concentration in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS, aka drones), making it one of the first handful of schools to do this."

posted June 28, 2013 09:45 AM            

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Originally posted by CatMote:
the big war is coming. thats all i see.

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posted June 28, 2013 10:59 AM            

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted June 28, 2013 11:06 AM            

Blessings to you

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted June 28, 2013 12:53 PM            

I was shocked by the article tho. Drones for Christ

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A campus bookstore prominently displays Resilient Warriors, a book by Associate Vice President for Military Outreach Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Robert F. Dees.

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Check out the conference of the Resilient warriors http://www.dnaministries.org/page/Warrior-Resiliency-Conference-39

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4. Going Into the World and Making Disciples
This session will train you to begin seeing your role in the military and military family as an opportunity to make disciples world-wide. Phil uses Scripture and exciting examples to inspire and equip you to make disciples in your military relationships, church, neighborhood, and community.

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No shame in their game.

posted June 28, 2013 01:39 PM            

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posted June 28, 2013 05:27 PM            

All the Christians I know personally are either gung-ho for war in the Middle East and would fully support Liberty's pro-war agenda, or they are just ambivalent. None of them says, "These are human atrocities, this is just wrong."

posted June 29, 2013 12:13 PM            

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Originally posted by doommlord:

Too bad religion tries to spread itself by armies (manned or unmanned) as it shows how weak their faith and religion is.

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posted June 29, 2013 03:08 PM            

(no i really don't have anything better to do today....never mind me)

posted June 29, 2013 03:27 PM            

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Originally posted by doommlord:
My it seems like getting drone operation training is fairly easy now...even here!

Too bad religion tries to spread itself by armies (manned or unmanned) as it shows how weak their faith and religion is.

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Indeed. When a religion relies on weapons, it shows their weakness.

posted July 01, 2013 11:12 PM            

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Originally posted by Ami Anne:
I don't get the point

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Originally posted by Faith:
With all due respect, I didn't think you would.

Christians murdering people with drones strikes some people as ironic you know? The drone war is especially heinous because so many civilians and children have been slaughtered by them.

Therefore this...

"Liberty has been turning out “Christ-centered aviators” for a decade. In fall 2011, Liberty added a concentration in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS, aka drones), [b]making it one of the first handful of schools to do this."

...is disturbing. However it is consistent with the fact that American Christians have been co-opted by the Neocons and deluded into pushing for endless wars of aggression under the pretense of some kind of "holy calling." [/B]

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posted July 01, 2013 11:21 PM            

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Originally posted by juniperb:
No suprise it was founded by Jerry Falwell. He`s as fundie as they come.

I was shocked by the article tho. Drones for Christ

No shame in their game.

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posted July 02, 2013 09:38 AM            

It's a very hard delusion for Christians to shake: once they believe they are doing God's work by murdering people or supporting war, they don't want to deal with any other way of looking at the situation, because then they'd see the blood on their hands.

I used to be sort of like a neocon. Once I realized how wrong I had been, my conscience bothered me for years. Literally, it took me a few years to stop feeling so terribly guilty and stupid. I can imagine that it would be even worse for a Christian.

My fundamentalist friend tried to tell me that ALL Muslims harbor in their hearts a plot to kill us (including my Muslim friends) therefore we must get them before they get us. To her, they are all a threat. This same friend tells me I'm going to hell unless I get my act together real soon and accept Jesus as my savior.

posted July 02, 2013 09:45 AM            

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Originally posted by Lexxigramer:
Thank you for posting this. Very creepy. "shudder"

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You're welcome. Yeah it's scary especially if you are in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

Just found this:

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A study conducted by a US military adviser has found that drone strikes in Afghanistan during a year of the protracted conflict caused 10 times more civilian casualties than strikes by manned fighter aircraft.

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posted July 02, 2013 04:08 PM            

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posted July 02, 2013 04:51 PM            

This drone carries the Hellfire missile with a laser designator. This drone is battle tested and ready to wh1p some azz.

posted July 02, 2013 09:38 PM            

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Originally posted by YoursTrulyAlways:
Onward Christian Soldiers.

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This hymn is to be sung by those fighting the Great Jihad. It was not meant for little boys with little dicks amusing themselves with yet another pisssing contest.