|
Jews at airforce academy blamed for death of jesus { May 3 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/03/AR2005050300737.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/03/AR2005050300737.html
Air Force to Probe Intolerance Reports
By ROBERT WELLER
The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 3, 2005; 6:37 PM
DENVER -- A task force will investigate allegations of anti-Semitism and other reports of religious intolerance at the Air Force Academy after cadets lodged dozens of complaints in internal surveys, officials said Tuesday.
Acting Air Force Secretary Michael L. Dominguez made the announcement Tuesday, saying the actions of senior commanders would be reviewed. The academy released a statement saying it would cooperate with the investigation.
Last week, Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld a 14-page report based on a two-month investigation. It concluded that students, faculty, staff and members of the chaplains' office frequently pressured cadets to attend chapel and receive religious instruction.
Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the group, praised the announcement of the task force but said members planned to monitor the situation.
"It is vital that the task force take this issue seriously and end the official promotion of evangelical Christianity at the academy," Lynn said.
Mikey Weinstein of Albuquerque, N.M., a 1977 graduate who has sent two sons to the school, said his younger son has been the target of anti-Semitic comments.
"There are too many afflicted by the unconstitutional evangelical control of the Air Force Academy at this point to offer any premature optimism until we see some positive, comprehensive action," he said.
However, Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group whose headquarters are adjacent to the academy, was critical of the investigation.
"The Air Force trains the cadets to make the ultimate sacrifice if necessary, and even to imply that it is wrong to talk about the ultimate meaning of life, which is religious, is absurd," said Tom Minnery, the group's director of public policy.
The academy said the problem came to light through internal surveys, and commanders then invited staff and cadets to report religious discrimination. Fifty-five cases were reported, with some cadets accusing evangelical Christians of harassing other Christians and Jews. Some Jewish cadets said they were blamed for the death of Jesus Christ.
After the complaints became public, commanders organized religious tolerance classes and ordered everyone at the academy to attend.
A preliminary report on the investigation is due by May 23.
The Air Force said "considerable efforts" have been made over the past several months to address issues of religious tolerance, including a new training program called Respecting the Spiritual Values of all People, or RSVP.
This is the second time the academy near Colorado Springs has been under a high-profile investigation in the past two years. Nearly 150 women came forward in 2003 to say they had been assaulted by fellow cadets in the previous decade, with many alleging they were punished, ignored or ostracized by commanders when they spoke out.
The academy responded by overhauling the chain of command and policies involving reports of assault.
___
On the Net:
Air Force Academy: http://www.usafa.af.mil
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State: http://www.au.org
© 2005 The Associated Press
|
|
