United States Air Force Academy
Photo Credit: JAC
We track some of the freedom of expression issues, the rights of religious people and efforts to suppress them by outsiders at the Academy. The Air Force Academy is a special case in that it is both an academic institution that grants degrees (i.e., university degrees) and an active Air Force installation. So here are some documents to help get an understanding of what has gone on there since 2004 when it was charged there was religious discrimination against non-Christians at the Academy.
After charges were filed in the press and other places an investigation of the situation was ordered. Here are some quotes from the subsequent “The Report of the Headquarter’s Review Group Concerning the Religious Climate at the U.S. Air Force Academy”:
“...The HQ USAF team found a religious climate that does not involve overt religious discrimination, but a failure to fully accommodate all members’ needs and a lack of awareness over where the line is drawn between permissible and impermissible expression of beliefs....”
AND
“...The team also researched the background behind the widely reported “55 complaints,” in reality a collection of observations and events reported by about thirteen people, and purported to have taken place over a four-year period...”
Here are some key documents to help you better understand the allegations and the report from the Pentagon. Also find follow-up reports that points to other details and the expansion of the story to the whole of the military. To gain access to the information, hover your cursor on the underlined portion of each line and click on the link that is provided:
Documents and Links are listed (roughly) chronologically--most recent at the bottom of the list:
- The Allegations
- HQ Investigation & Final Report
- News Article on AF Evangelistic Policy
- Government Moves to Dismiss!!
- Air Force Academy Case Will be Appealed
- Atheist View of Lawsuit
- Christian Fascists
- Charge of Whitewash
- ACLJ Opinion
- Widening Investigation
- AF Releases Revised Religious Guidelines (2006)
- AF Updates Religious Expression Rules (11/11/2014)
- Officer’s Christian Fellowship on Religious Rights Article
- Confirmation on Prosecution
- Military Hostile to Religion?
- Pentagon Backpedals on Court-Martial
- Pentagon Says Military Personnel Can Evangelize but Not Proselytize
- Weinstein Restrained
- USAFA Rejects Demand by Atheist Mikey Weinstein
- General Saluted
- Weinstein Rant
- Superintendent Addresses Racial Slurs at USAFA
- Racist Grafitti Written by a Black Cadet
- Racial Slurs Were Hoax
- Black Cadet Admits To Writing Racial Slurs
- Victory for Religious Liberty at the US Air Force
- Air Force Academy hosts talk of Shroud of Turn’s alleged authenticity