Buddha and Allah were mentioned almost as often as Jesus at an Air Force Academy prayer luncheon Thursday that had drawn a lawsuit over fears of Christian evangelism.
The speaker at the center of the controversy, retired Marine Lt. Clebe McClary, didn’t shy from embracing faith but talked more about the power of a well-chosen spouse and overcoming adversity with teamwork than Christianity.
The annual prayer luncheon drew about 350 people, about half of them civilians and Air Force retirees. And, as advertised, the event apparently wasn’t aimed at cadets — only two showed.
In a Denver courtroom this week, lawyers for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation asked a federal judge to cancel the luncheon, claiming that McClary, with the connivance of academy brass, would use it to push faith on a group forced to attend by command pressure.
Tom Roeder, The Gazette
