In a prior posting, I reported on the religious tolerance class being required for all Air Force Academy personnel after complaints by non-Chiristian cadets. Today the New York Times reports that the film being used for the class, titled "Respecting the Spiritual Values of All People", was originally 90 minutees in length, but was cut to 50 minutes. The article claims that chief of chaplains, Maj. Gen. Charles C. Baldwin, objected to some of the original footage. The Times reports: "General Baldwin said he asked that the Air Force cut out segments in the program on non-Christian religions like Buddhism, Judaism and Native American spirituality, as well as a clip from "Schindler's List," the 1993 movie on the Holocaust. The R.S.V.P. program was cut from 90 minutes to 50. Captain Morton [a Lutheran Academy chaplain] said that instead of educating about other religions, it had been reworked to emphasize a more neutral message: that cadets should respect one another's differences."
Another officer, however, told the Times reporter that the Academy is developing a second phase of the program that will educate cadets about "world religions".
