The United States Air Force Academy is facing allegations from an advocacy organization that claimed Friday Christian cadets, under the guidance and encouragement of Air Force Academy Chaplains, tried to convert Jewish and Muslim cadets to Christianity. Nearly 90 percent of the cadet population is Christian.
Americans United, an activist group that focuses on the separation of church and state, filed a complaint because it believes the Air Force Academy belongs to all Americans, according to a statement from director of communications Rob Boston.
It is not the responsibility of the academy to train “spiritual warriors,” Boston said.
“[The academy] is not the exclusive property of fundamentalist Christians,” Boston added.
A report published by the Yale University Divinity School illuminated the pressing issue of religious intolerance on the academy campus in a July 2004 report. Yale officials, who were hired by the academy to assist in dealing with unrelated sexual assault cases, found that “stridently evangelical themes (observed during basic training) challenged the necessarily pluralistic environment of basic training … and worship encouraged religious divisions rather than … spiritual understanding.”
“A few people stepped over the line,” Air Force Academy public affairs official John Van Winkle said. “You are not allowed to proselytize when in uniforms at all unless [it is known] that you are conducting a religious service.”
Van Winkle stressed that religious intolerance on campus “is not a black-and-white issue.”
“[We have] people coming from all walks of life [here at the academy], and we need to make sure that everyone is aware of the rules [concerning religious observations],” he said.
In order to ensure similar accusations do not surface again, the USAFA has implemented a system known as Respecting the Spiritual Values of All People (RSVP), which will be a requirement for everyone on campus to attend.
“[RSVP] gathers small groups of [cadets, faculty and staff members] in 50-minute sessions that aim to explain diversity, [religious tolerance] and what the Air Force Academy’s expectations are [when dealing with such a heated issue],” Van Winkle said.
RSVP has been greeted with mixed emotions on campus, and school officials “have received a wide range of responses [to the program],” Van Winkle added.
Though the USAFA has been pro-active in dealing with the alleged attempts at converting non-Christian cadets, not all bystanders are willing to accept their actions.
The USAFA acknowledges this is not an issue that will disappear.
“We are just in our first phase [of addressing the issue of religious tolerance on campus], and we don’t quite know where it will go yet,” Van Winkle said.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has also raised growing concern about the alleged attempts at proselytizing at the USAFA and worry about possible religious harassment and evangelization.
“[We] have offered assistance to [the USAFA] to assess the nature of the problem and to provide its expertise and resources for training on issues of diversity and religious freedom,” a press release from the ADL said.
The Air Force Academy has 30 days to respond.