The new secretary of the Air Force was in Colorado Springs last week for a swearing-in ceremony at Mitchell Hall, the Air Force Academy’s mess hall.
In taking his oath, Michael Wynne spoke of integrity, trust and character. He led a “Beat Army!” chant in anticipation of the weekend’s big football game.
One thing absent from all the pomp and circumstance: a formal prayer.
Under interim guidelines on religious expression issued for the entire Air Force in late August, “brief nonsectarian prayer” is permissible during significant events such as graduations, deployments and change- of-command ceremonies.
In this case, an academy spokesman said, no prayer was requested. But he said Wynne and his wife brought a Bible. He rested his hand on the book during the oath and planned to inscribe it and donate it to the school.
Striking the right balance on religion has proved difficult for the Air Force, which is under intense pressure to revise the 2-month-old guidelines, which some say go too far in restricting religious freedom and others feel fall short of separating church from state.
The guidelines, which seek an elusive middle ground allowing religious expression while setting boundaries to avoid government endorsement of religion, discourage proselytizing, public prayer and favoring religion over non-religion.
Top Air Force leaders meeting at the academy last week briefly discussed the guidelines and continue to seek feedback, but there is no timetable for finalizing them, said Capt. David Small, an Air Force spokesman.
“People are picking sides,” said Jack Williamson, executive director of the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces, an independent group that endorses chaplains. “This is sort of new terrain for people to be thinking through, and the system has never been challenged quite this way on this issue.”
The church-state clash began after complaints at the Air Force Academy about slurs against non-Christian cadets, overaggressive evangelizing and top officials inserting their evangelical Christian beliefs into their official roles.
In a June report, an Air Force task force identified perceptions of intolerance but no overt religious discrimination. The interim guidelines were written in response and, when finalized, could be a militarywide model, raising the stakes considerably.
In the past two months, Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family and the Christian Coalition have revved up their supporters to contact Congress to say the guidelines go too far.
Tom Minnery, a Focus on the Family vice president, said the idea that the Air Force can neither favor nor disfavor religion “is just totally unworkable in an arena in which you are asking people to give the ultimate sacrifice. If the military hires chaplains, the military endorses religion.”
On Oct. 25, 75 lawmakers wrote President Bush urging him to sign an executive order protecting “the constitutional right of military chaplains to pray according to their faith.” The letter, written by U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., complains that it is increasingly difficult for Christian chaplains to pray in the name of Jesus.
Jones said in an interview that he would support Muslim or Jewish leaders in the same way. Such prayers, he said, do not amount to governmental endorsement of religion.
“If you are a Christian, people know your faith, that Jesus Christ is your savior,” said Jones, a Catholic. “That is part of your tradition, part of your faith. Why in the world should you have to deny your faith?”
But Rabbi James Rudin, senior interreligious adviser with the American Jewish Committee, said that while chaplains should never surrender their faith, they do not have the same freedom as leaders of congregations because taxes pay their salaries.
“We’re not turning out onward Christian soldiers,” said Rudin, a retired Air Force chaplain. “We are turning out men and women whose oath is not a religious oath but an oath to support the Constitution.”
Another problem area involves chaplains and proselytizing. Given the changing demographics of Air Force chaplains, the topic was bound to come up: In the past decade, the number of chaplains from evangelical Christian churches that stress winning new converts has grown substantially, according to Air Force statistics.
For example, the number of chaplains from nondenominational churches, which are overwhelmingly evangelical, grew from one to 61 and account for 10 percent of the chaplain corps.
In January, the Air Force adopted a code of ethics for chaplains that read, “I will not actively proselytize from other religious bodies. However, I retain the right to instruct and/or evangelize those who are not affiliated.” A few weeks before the guidelines were released, the Air Force withdrew the code for further review without explanation.
Within the Air Force, resistance has surfaced. Maj. Gen. Charles Baldwin, the Air Force’s chief of chaplains, sent a videotape in late October to chaplains urging feedback so the Air Force can change the rules and “get this right,” the Washington Post reported. Baldwin, a Southern Baptist, said on the video that chaplains can share their faith in a noncoercive way.
On Friday, Americans United for Separation of Church and State released a letter to the Air Force urging that prayer be prohibited at events where attendance is mandatory, that chaplains be prohibited from proselytizing and senior officers be barred from proselytizing subordinates. The guidelines, in their current form, do not go that far.
Mikey Weinstein, a Jewish academy graduate who has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the academy of imposing Christianity on others, said chaplains are called not to win souls but to uphold the Constitution and help cadets through difficult times. In the strict chain of command, he said, proselytizing without coercion is impossible.
Because of the lawsuit, the Air Force is refusing to discuss the guidelines in depth. Small said in a statement: “The guidelines reaffirm long-standing practices to ensure every airman’s free exercise of religion, consistent with military necessity. All of our chaplains continue to provide excellent ministry for airmen and their families.”
Staff writer Eric Gorski can be reached at 303-820-1698 or egorski@denverpost.com.
Interim
guidelines
one religion over another
or “the idea of religion
over non-religion.”
in routine meetings,
classes, sports events and
practices.
tradition, “brief nonsectarian”
prayer is allowed to
bring solemnity to significant
events such as
change-of-command ceremonies,
graduations, and
welcome-home and deployment
ceremonies.
in extraordinary circumstances,
including mass casualties,
preparations for
combat and following natural
disasters.
and leaders bear a special
responsibility to ensure
that their words and actions
are not construed as
official endorsement or disapproval
of religious beliefs
or lack of belief.
serve not only those of their
own faith, but to all service
members. They should respect
the beliefs of all, including
those with no faith.
peer-to-peer discussions.
