Religion and Its Role Are in Dispute at the Service Academies

[BridgeTheGap]

Three years after a scandal at the Air Force Academy over the evangelizing of cadets by Christian staff and faculty members, students and staff at West Point and the Naval Academy are complaining that their schools, too, have pushed religion on cadets and midshipmen.

The controversy led the Air Force to adopt guidelines that discourage public prayers at official events or meetings. And while those rules do not apply to other branches of the service, critics say the new complaints raise questions about the military’s commitment to policies against imposing religion on its members.

Religion in the military has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, especially because the close confines of military life often put two larger societal trends — the rise of evangelicals and the rise of people of no organized faith — onto a collision course.

At the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., nine midshipmen recently asked the American Civil Liberties Union to petition the school to abolish daily prayer at weekday lunch, where attendance is mandatory. The midshipmen and the A.C.L.U. assert that the practice is unconstitutional, based in large part on a 2004 appellate court ruling against a similar prayer at the Virginia Military Institute. The civil liberties group has threatened legal action if the policy is not changed.

But the academy is not persuaded.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/us/25academies.html?th&emc=th

[rexcat]

1. Religion at the Air Force Academy...

has been big since the early 70's and probably before then. I was stationed at Patrick AFB in the early to mid-70's and our squadron commander came right out of the AF Academy and he was very focal about his religious beliefs. I would say this is probably the same for the other military academies and religion is well entrenched and will be difficult to overcome.

My sister-in-law had a nephew accepted in one of the military academies and she said that they look for religion as a fundamental requirement to get in. Unfortunately it did not bother my sister-in-law. (on edit) She also stated that the academies look for people with strong faith because it is easier to "train" to take orders without question. Skeptics are a pain in the ass and tend to question things and that can't be tolerated! Maybe that is why I did not like my military experience and did not like the lifers (both enlisted and officer) because they were generally not the brightest light bulbs in the fixture.

[cloudbase]

2. I was at the

Merchant Marine Academy in the mid seventies. The only religious stuff was grace before meals, and that was done with the regimental commander saying the following as we'd be standing at our tables:

"At ease."
"Grace"
respectful silence for ten seconds or so
"Amen"
"Seats"

Services were available and optional for all midshipmen on Sundays, with Jewish midshipmen given the option of attending a local synagogue (of which there was no shortage in Great Neck, NY) on Friday evenings.

[Speck Tater]

3. I was just a basic training grunt, not an officer.

in 1963. Even back then, during basic training in the Air Force I was told I WOULD go to the church of my choice every Sunday. No exceptions. Myself and another atheist friend decided to worship Robin Hood and hang out at the archery range on Sunday mornings. We never got busted for it.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. The Reformed Druids of North America

The story goes that Carleton College in Minnesota had a chapel requirement. In 1963, group of students, annoyed at the requirement, organized a group they called the Reformed Druids of North America, and started submitting forms attesting that their drinking "the water of life" around a bonfire constituted chapel. The requirement was recinded in 1964. :toast:

To the dismay of the school (and some of RDNA's founders), a core group of the protest began studying ancient Celtic religion and incorporating elements of nature worship. RDNA went on to become one of the principle players in America's neo-pagan revival.


Edited to correct some information.

[agentS]

4. The Risks of Infestation

This is bottom line- Air Force pilots will be flying around with missiles and bombs loaded on their planes.
While their patriotism and their belief in following orders should not be questioned, with the influence of these evangelical churches into the Air Force officer ranks, you can best bet that it will have an impact over the though processes of commanders in the years to come.

Basically, some pilot might get an order from some wanna-be Dr. Strangelove REMF to go bomb a target in Iran because that end-timer wants to kick-start the Apocalypse. Call me paranoid if you want to, but we've already seen what happens when you mix religion with the military (front line soldiers passing out Bibles in Iraq, wound up being targeted by militants calling them "crusaders".

[cosmik debris]

6. Rape and religion are both a problem at the military academies.

I wonder if there is a connection?

[struggle4progress]

7. Rape is about exerting violent power over other bodies. War is also about exerting violent power ..

over other bodies. The connection between rape and warfare has a long history, which does not seem to be particularly religion-dependent

[cosmik debris]

8. Rape and evangelical religion are both

about dominion over women. While one is more extreme than the other, they both intend to make women servants to men.

(And in case you didn't notice, there is very little warfare conducted at the military academies. So associating warfare and rape is not really relevant. When was the last time a war was fought at West Point or Colorado Springs?)