Thursday, June 23, 2005
The Air Force Academy Evangelical Crisis - The Report is in!
Regular visitors to this site know that this the religion scandal at the Air Force Academy has become a pet project of mine. With the Academy literally only a short bicycle ride from my house, this is one of those hometown issues that has national importance.
First lets lay out the timeline:
ACADEMY TIMELINE
2003
April: Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida issues advisories to staff, faculty and cadets urging observance of National Day of Prayer.
June: Weida issues a commander’s guidance telling cadets their first duty is to God.
2004
February: A faculty and staff survey shows half of non-Christians feel people at the academy respect individuals whose religious views and faiths are different from their own.
March: Fliers promoting Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion of the Christ” are placed at every cadet’s place in the cafeteria.
July: Yale University Divinity School observes a week of basic training. It advises that “stridently evangelical themes” encourage religious divisions. The report isn’t made public until April.
August: More than half the cadets responding to a survey report hearing religious jokes, comments and slurs. One-third of non-Christian cadets say they believe Christian cadets get preferential treatment.
November: The academy says it received 55 complaints of religious intolerance dating to 2000.
Nov. 17: Football coach Fisher De-Berry hangs a banner in the athletic department stating, “I am a Christian first and last . . . I am a member of Team Jesus Christ.”
2005
February: DeBerry says religion is “what we’re all about” at the academy.
March 29: The academy launches Respecting the Spiritual Values of all People, RSVP, a training program of 50-minute sessions for small groups of cadets, faculty and staff.
April 28: Americans United for Separation of Church and State says its investigation finds cadets frequently are pressured to attend chapel and receive religious instruction. Report is sent to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
May 3: The Pentagon announces a task force review of the academy’s religious climate.
May 9: Weida is nominated for promotion to major general.
May 12: Academy chaplain, Capt. Melinda Morton, says she is fired for speaking out about claims of religious intolerance. Air Force officials say her duties changed as part of a planned reassignment. The Anti-Defamation League calls for the Air Force to put Weida’s promotion on hold.
May 24:
Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper sends a message to all major commands reminding them to be sensitive to all religions and for commanders to not use their office to promote a specific belief.
June 3: Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. John Rosa Jr. tells a meeting of the Anti-Defamation League in Denver the academy has religious bias problems that could take up to six years to fix.
June 8: The Air Force reveals Weida is under investigation by the Air Force inspector general for “specific allegations of improper conduct.” The academy confirms the retirement of Morton’s boss, Col. Michael Whittington, has been put on hold pending a Pentagon inspector general’s investigation of Morton’s dismissal as executive officer.
June 19:Rosa accepts a position as president of The Citadel but will remain at the academy for several months.
June 21: Captain Morton resigns her commision.
Thanks to the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph for this timeline.
And yesterday, June 22, the Air Force Review Committee released its report. Its findings...well, lets just say that there are problems, but nothing to bring about the great scandal that has resulted.
First off, I want to say that General Weida and Coach Deberry’s comments were wrong. Offical government representatives, which both men are, should not, in their official capacity, recommend any religious system or actions. Privately, they should not be limited in talking about their faith, but they must be clear to state that these are their positons, not those of the Academy or the U.S. government. I remember my accounting professor, the first day of class saying, “Look I am a Christian. It guides my ethics, and you will probably see that. Its important to tell you where I come from. If you would like to talk more about this, please see me privately. Now, on to accounting.” I think that kind of introduction if both fair and proper. If Coach Deberry wanted to tell his players something similiar, great! But saying that religion is what the Academy is about and calling his team, “Team Jesus Christ” is neither accuarate nor appropriate. In the article today, both men have apoligized for their actions and have indicated they will not be repeated. If the issues raised in this ruckus have done that, then it is probably a good thing.
Having said that...the issue got blown way out of proportion. While Weida’s comments began the timeline, they were not what started this. Even the flyers on each cadet’s dining place was not the issue (it was done by cadets, and it is my understanding that any group wishing to promote something can do likewise). The big issue was the Yale report of the July training. The Yalies simply didn’t think that an Academy chaplain should tell cadets attending his voluntary talk that they should evangelize their fellow cadets. Never mind that this is a central tennet of Christianity, and to stop it from being done would violate the 1st Amendment. It doesn’t pass the smell test with pluralistic religious advocates or the Americans United for Seperation of Church and State. That started everything.
When that got released in April, the American’s United took the ball and ran. Captain Melinda Morton got her 15 minutes of fame, because she said that she agreed with the Yale findings and alleged that she was transferred over the issue (and as yet unproven accusation).
Since April Evangelical Christianity has gotten drug through the mud in the coverage of this issue. The acting Secretary of the Air Force commisioned the report. Many of us, including me, feared the wost - a report that would give into fear rather than facts.
In the end, the report finds that while they are issues, most related what they call “unintentional ignorance of what’s appropriate.” The report did say that the Academy needed to make more space for all religious expression, which I concur with (it is inappropriate not to have kosher meals for Jewish students and to make cadets attend sporting events on holy days of their religion). These should have been and will be fixed!
The report found there is no instiutional or widespread problem. The fact is that you cannot create a totally secular institution when you have people of faith involved. And, you wouldn’t want to. People need the space to be religious, and to share their faith in appropriate ways - off duty and outside of official roles.
What does seem clear is that the report did not vindicate four of the leading players in this drama. One was General Rosa, who had quickly made a name for himself by saying he saw problems that permeated the entire organization. Rosa first made a name for himself when he came in after the first scandal at the Academy, one of sexual abuse (which later turned out to be also overblown and which made several politicians look like opportunity hounds, namely Senator Wayne Allard, R-CO, whom I voted for but who came out looking like a fool).
Another person who was not indicated was Captain Morton. It was clear from the coverage that she had disdain for evangelical Christianity. She didn’t think it had a place at the Academy. That may be her position, and she is right in the sense it does not belong in official business. But she is wrong that students and staff do not have the right to free exercise of evangelical Christianity. If she was shunted off because of her whistleblowing, that is wrong, and needs to be righted. She has now resigned her commision, and I wish her the best. I encourage her to present her case to the world, in full, and if she was mistreated, then she should be justly compensated. But her case against the Academy itself was not proven.
Then there is Academy graduate and Washington lawyer, former Captain Mikey Weinstein. Weinstein’s son is a current cadet, and he made this issue his focus for months. He alleged the Academy was nothing short of madrasa for training religious right soldiers. While there was truth to his claims about crude langauge and jokes - which is wrong, but which should and can be dealt with through existing Academy codes of conduct - he too was shown in the end to have his worst charges unproven. In today’s story he says, “the task force missed the boat in going easy on the academy, which he said has a climate that is oppressive, discriminatory and prejudicial.” With all due respect, 55 complaints over a four year period, while sad, doesn’t indicate a climate of oppression. In ways similiar to the silly use of Gulag by Amnesty International (an organization that I have financially supported over the years) and Senator Durbin’s Nazi reference, he showed that, as is true in so many ways, we have lost touch with reality. When words like oppression are used to describe what was happening at the Academy, we lose the ability to judge and name serious issues around the world.
One final player was not vindicated, but this person is not an Academy official. Her name is Pam Zubeck, the staff writer at the Gazette who covered this issue with a quality that comes right out of the Michael Jackson case. Daily we were treated to articles that made this issue seem like nothing short of the end of civilization. I note that her timeline in the story leaves out her three-day story about the top cadet sending an email to his fellow cadets that contained hundreds of inspirational quotes - from generals, humorists, and yes the Bible (12 quotes). That series of article showed her to be a journalist seeking to make a name for herself. The final report shows that, while the issue should have covered, it deserved nothing like the gallons of ink she splashed across the pages day-in and day-out. But Zubeck didn’t go down without a fight. From today’s article she included this little coment:
“The team also noted some academy personnel said evangelical Christian views of women don’t square with those of the Air Force. One female cadet was urged by her Colorado Springs church to change her pilot goal because it “was not a proper Christian role for women.””
Now, as an egalitarian I find that comment silly and wrongheaded, but what in the name of George S. Patton does a civilian Colorado Springs church telling a freely attending cadet that she is wrong to be a pilot have to do with this story? The answe is nothing, but it does tell us a lot about Pam Zubeck.
This story as a whole is a sad one. No one comes out looking good. I think, from what I have read, that the Air Force report is a good one, with good solid recommendations that will help people to do what is right in their miltiary duty. I wish it hadn’t taken a scandal to produce it, and I truly wish that Fisher Deberry, good man that he is, had taken more care with his words and thinking.
Lets all pray that going forward that the Air Force Academy runs smoothly and heathily, and that we can save the ink in the paper for real scandals, like the torture facility found in Iraq being used by the insurgents, the fact that black men are being ripped off by the current Social Security system, and that the continent of Africa is dying because of Western neglect and African mismanagement. These are the true scandals. Lets pray that these will get attention and that fixes can be found for them as well!!!
See my previous entries on this topic:
