AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.—The Air Force Academy superintendent’s choice of speaker for a prayer luncheon in February has come under fire from a frequent foe of religious practices at the school.
Military Religious Freedom Foundation founder Mikey Weinstein told the Gazette of Colorado Springs that the choice of Marine 1st Lt. Clebe McClary shows superintendent Lt. Gen. Mike Gould is biased toward evangelical Christianity and tolerates an environment where proselytizing is accepted.
Religious tolerance became a sensitive issue at the academy when a 2004 survey found many cadets heard slurs or jokes about other religions and that some felt ostracized because they weren’t religious.
McClary is a wounded Vietnam veteran who says he’s in the “Lord’s Army” and on his website said the Marine initials USMC stand for him stand for “U.S. Marine for Christ.” The school defends Gould’s decision saying the luncheon is optional and that McClary is part of a broad spectrum of religious views.
“Nobody is being forced or coerced to go to this luncheon,” academy spokesman Lt. Col. John Bryan told the paper. “He’s a nationally recognized motivational speaker.”
Weinstein told the paper that he’s requesting Gould’s ouster over the choice.
“We’re done,” Weinstein said. “Gould needs to go.”
A cadet survey taken in December 2009 and last January found that many cadets believe that some religious and racial minorities face discrimination and harassment. The survey also found improvements in reducing the number of cadets who say they feel pressured by others to participate in religious activities.
The school has about 4,000 cadets.
“Such statements are not only antithetical to the clear mission of the United States Air Force Academy, they are totally anathema to the purportedly globally inclusive purpose of this National Prayer Luncheon,” Weinstein wrote in a letter to Gould and Defense Department officials.
Gould has not formally responded to Weinstein’s letter.
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Information from: The Gazette,
