Economist: CHRISTINA HOPPER, an officer in the American air force, attracts a lot of publicity, for several reasons. Having flown combat missions over Iraq, she has been hailed as the first African-American woman to pilot a fighter aircraft in an active war zone. She is also a passionate evangelical Christian, who believes that she had a divine vocation to become a pilot of war planes. Her nickname, and call-sign, is Thumper, which is short for Bible-thumper.

As an article about her in Ebony magazine noted admiringly, she was the

…recipient of the Air Medal for her courage and bravery during the destruction of a Republican Guard supply line in treacherous flying conditions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. As a member of the 524th Fighter Squadron stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, Captain Hopper was deployed to Kuwait in December 2002 to monitor no-fly zones, but received extended-stay orders when the Iraq War began…

But among her fellow officers, Miss Hopper, now a Major, stands out as much for her piety as her aerial prowess. In a video interview circulated by the Christian Broadcasting Network, she declares that:

My identity has always been and always will be in Christ. Being a child of God…drives my goals…how I act and live on a day-to-day basis.

As long as that statement was made in free time, there is nothing about it that self-evidently breaks regulations which, in accordance with the First Amendment, lay down the religious neutrality of the American armed forces. But for critics, a line was crossed when the media department of the base where she is now serving (Vance, near Oklahoma City) published a flattering portait of her that pointed to her faith as much as her accomplishments in the air.

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