A couple of weeks ago, reports surfaced about widespread harassment of non-evangelical Christians at the United State Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, in many instances with the tacit support of school officials.
As it turns out, the bullying and discrimination is even more pervasive than previously thought.
Religious intolerance is systemic and pervasive at the U.S. Air Force Academy and, if nothing changes, it could result in “prolonged and costly” litigation, according to a report issued Thursday by a group advocating strict separation of church and state.
The 14-page report listed incidents of mandatory prayers, proselytizing by teachers, insensitivity to religious minorities and allegations that evangelical Christianity is the preferred faith at the institution.
“I think this is the most serious, military-related systemic problem I have ever seen in the decades I’ve been doing this work,” said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “There is a clear preference for Christianity at the academy, so that everyone else feels like a second-class citizen.”
The Air Force Academy had been rocked by allegations that it was too slow to react to rapes and sexual assaults two years ago, prompting concerns that the school is once again overly passive in protecting the rights of minorities at the academy.
But even more important is the way in which the Air Force Academy was directly responsible for some of the harassment.
The report’s authors were told that cadets who refused to attend chapel after dinner were marched by upperclassmen back to their dorms in a ritual called “heathen flight.” They found that teachers introduced themselves as “born again” Christians and invited students to be saved as well. A history instructor ordered students to pray before a final exam, the report said. And a Christmas greeting in the base newspaper said Jesus was the only hope for the world; it was signed by 300 people, including 16 heads or deputy heads of academic departments, nine professors, the dean of faculty and the football coach.
The report said that Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida, commandant of cadets and professed “born-again” Christian, had developed a system of code words shared with evangelicals.
During a chapel service, Weida reportedly told cadets the New Testament parable about building a house on a rock. The story is meant to convey the importance of a solid foundation for one’s faith.
“Gen. Weida then instructed cadets that, whenever he uses the phrase ‘Airpower!’ they should respond with the phrase ‘Rock Sir!’ thus invoking the parable,” the report said. “Gen. Weida advised the cadets that, when asked by their classmates about the meaning of the call and response, the cadets should use the opportunity to discuss their Christian faith.” […]
Last year, members of the Yale Divinity School visited the academy and said cadets were encouraged to proselytize to others, reminding those not “born again” that they faced burning “in the fires of hell.”
Despite all that’s happened in the United States, officials at the Air Force Academy still tolerate religious minorities being treated as second-class citizens.
The full report (.pdf) on the harassment is worth reading. Keep some Maalox handy.