The controversy over the role of religion in the Air Force and at the U.S. Air Force Academy continues to spur interest.
Jeremy Gunn, director of the ACLU's program on religious freedom spoke at the Air Force Academy Thursday, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. Gunn told Air Force cadets and faculty that the alleged war on Christians in America is a myth driven by politics. In fact, he said, religion has never enjoyed a time of greater freedom. Philosophy Professor Col. James Cook, who invited Gunn to speak, said the debate over the role of faith in the military has led the school to seek out a variety of opinions without taking sides.
Meanwhile, today's edition of the Forward profiles Air Force Academy alumnus Mikey Weinstein who has led opposition to federal legislation to permit military chaplains to offer sectarian prayers. Weinstein is suing the Air Force Academy over anti-Jewish slurs and coercion experienced by his sons while they were students there. The suit also challenges the Air Force's revised guidelines for chaplains. (See prior postings 1, 2, 3 .) Weinstein, a lawyer who worked for the Reagan White House and once served as Ross Perot's general counsel, has formed the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to call attention to religious coercion in the military. Weinstein strongly criticized the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish organizations for their positions on church-state issues in the military and their refusal to file amicus briefs in his lawsuit.
And the blog Jews On First this week carries a report about another issue exposed by Mikey Weinstein. Air Force Maj. General Jack J. Catton Jr. has used his military e-mail account to urge 200 of his Air Force Academy classmates to support a Colorado Republican congressional candidate, Retired Air Force General Bentley Rayburn. The Air Force general wrote: "We are certainly in need of Christian men with integrity and military experience in Congress." He attached a message to the e-mail from candidate Rayburn, who, referring to Congressional debates on religious intimidation at the Air Force Academy said: "For those of us who are Christians, there is that whole other side of the coin that recognizes that we need more Christian influence in Congress."
