WASHINGTON (ABP) — A top Pentagon official has ordered the appointment of a special task force to investigate “lingering allegations” about religious discrimination at the Air Force Academy toward cadets who are not evangelical Christians.
A May 3 press release from the office of the acting secretary of the Air force said the panel is being established to assess a range of topics, including academy policy on religious tolerance and the influence of the chain of command on religious liberty at the academy.
Also at issue, according to the release, is whether academy practices “enhance or detract from a climate that respects both the 'free exercise of religion' and the 'establishment clauses' of the First Amendment.” Those constitutional clauses ban the government from either endorsing or limiting the religious practice of individuals or private groups.
The announcement, following several months of allegations about an atmosphere of religious harassment and discrimination at the Colorado Springs, Colo., institution, comes four days after Pentagon officials were sent a report that catalogued and documented many of the charges.
Attorneys for Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Air Force officials the 14-page document which detailed several allegations of constitutional violations by top officials and upper-class cadets at the academy.
Among AU's allegations were that large numbers of top administrators, chaplains and faculty members openly and regularly advocated on behalf of evangelical Protestantism, often using coercive means.
The report singled out two officials — Gen. Johnny Weida, the academy's commandant of cadets; and head football coach Fisher DeBerry — and charged them with repeatedly abusing their authority to coerce students to embrace evangelical Christianity.
Among the report's allegations:
— That Christian cadets who wish to attend off-campus religious services on Sundays are given special allowances to do so that are not extended to members of minority faiths or Christian groups that observe the Sabbath on other days of the week;
— That cadets or academy officials regularly offer sectarian prayers at meals, training sessions for students and at athletic events — in direct contradiction to court decisions;
— That upperclass cadets who are Christians are encouraged by their superiors to proselytize underclass cadets in their charge; and,
— That cadets of minority faiths or no faith are regularly harassed, discriminated against and frequently subjected to religious epithets at the hands of Christian cadets.
The investigation by Americans United, their report concluded, “has revealed numerous flagrant and egregious violations of the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as a general climate of religious coercion and official hostility toward those who do not practice evangelical Christianity. We have concluded that both the specific violations and the promotion of a culture of official religious intolerance are pervasive, systematic, and evident at the very highest levels of the academy's command structure.”
The Pentagon press release said the allegations “are being taken very seriously by the Air Force.” It continued: “This newly appointed task force will assess the religious climate and adequacy of Air Force efforts to address the issue at the USAFA.”
However, it also noted, “Considerable efforts have been made during the past several months at the USAFA to address issues of religious tolerance and respect.” It said that the academy's superintendent, Gen. John Rosa Jr., implemented a plan to address the issue after “discovering perceptions of religious bias during surveys in 2004.” As a result, academy officials instituted a new training program for all cadets, called “Respecting the Spiritual Values of all People,” or RSVP.
The Americans United report alleges RSVP has changed significantly from its original form and “that the resulting RSVP program does not adequately teach and promote the fundamental constitutional requirement of separation of church and state.”
Nonetheless, when asked for comment on the AU allegations, Air Force spokesperson Jennifer Stephens said the service's “leadership continues to be confident that the academy and the Air Force at large will continue to promote self-critique, self-inspection and self-improvement in all areas.”
Stephenson said the task force may include members from outside the Air Force. A preliminary report is due by May 23, she said.