Air Force releases interim religion guidelines Interim guidelines on religion, released by the Air Force Aug. 29, encourage sensitivity and make distinctions between official communications and personal faith expressions. The guidelines will be finalized after senior Air Force officials meet this month. The guidance was requested in a June report from an Air Force investigative panel, which found “perceptions” of religious intolerance at the 4,300-student Air Force Academy but no evidence of widespread discrimination. Just before the report’s release, MeLinda Morton, an ELCA chaplain who served at the academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., resigned, telling The Lutheran that school officials had engaged in a “departure from the Constitution” ("ELCA chaplain resigns from Air Force," August 2005). Morton said Gen. Charles Baldwin, head of Air Force chaplains, “indicated his intention and desire to restructure the Air Force chaplaincy along unconstitutional lines ... to have chaplains operate primarily out of denominational priorities and engage in proselytization. But everyone in the military is expected to appropriately accommodate the tenets of their faith with their position.” Baldwin denies saying that, adding, “I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution .... The idea that I have emphasized chaplains maintaining their denominational identity is exactly right, but not for the reason Melinda Morton mentioned.” Baldwin said a lack of denominational identity would be “opposite to the free exercise of religion.” The general called the experience of Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida, the commandant of academy cadets who was alleged to have violated the Constitution by proselytizing to non-Christian cadets, a “learning moment.” Air Force spokeswoman Jennifer Stephens says the Air Force Inspector General’s Office determined those allegations to be “unsubstantiated.” Baldwin told The Lutheran: “Gen. Weida was criticized for crossing the line and he has come back forthrightly and said he ... meant no harm. He just didn’t consider his position as the commandant of cadets. ... But we’ve all learned that there are times your position restricts what you can say. ... This [interim] guidance really does help us deal with those kind of things.” An invitation to worship, when coming from an officer in the chain of command, “can create coercion by virtue of the position you’re in,” Baldwin explained. The new guidance warns Air Force personnel “to avoid the reasonable perception” that any official communication or e-mail “implies that the Air Force supports any one religion over other religions, or the idea of religion over the choice of no religious affiliation.” It doesn’t limit “voluntary peer to peer discussions.” The guidelines say while public prayers “should not usually be included in official settings such as [staff meetings, classes or sports events],” they are allowed under “extraordinary circumstances,” such as mass casualties. “A brief nonsectarian prayer” is allowed for special “nonroutine” ceremonies. |
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