Good news from the Air Force Academy. They claim no religious bias:
Six months after an Air Force Academy survey that found 20 percent of cadets, faculty and staff experienced religious bias or unwelcome proselytizing by evangelical Christian cadets or colleagues, the school has completed a new survey that paints a decidedly different picture.
And it takes the center right leaning Military.com to let me know that their claims may not be valid. I would say that is serious business:
Neither academy nor Air Force officials will comment on the Gamble survey because it's not been officially reviewed or released; but already it's being slammed by an academy professor who plans to file a waste, fraud and abuse claim against the academy for funding a survey that he said was intended to be "a whitewash."
I had to dig into this one a little deeper. You see, my husband is an Air Force Officer and though he didn't graduate from the Academy, he and I know plenty of Academy Grads. And we're tired of hearing repeatedly that our Air Force Academy has turned into a place to recruit evangelical Christians in addition to training our future officers. The opinions in this diary are my own and do not reflect the opinion of my active duty husband.
So, you're probably wondering how the answers to this latest survey could possibly be true when the Climate Survey of last year expressed a completely different result. Last year, according to Chris Rodda, Senior Research Director for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and her review of the survey:
"353 cadets (almost 1 out of every 5 survey participants) reported having been subjected to unwanted religious proselytizing, and 23 cadets (13 of them Christians) reported living 'in fear of their physical safety' because of their religious beliefs."
How is it possible that the Air Force Academy has become a better model for religious freedom in such a short time? The answer is, they haven't (bolding mine):
The answer is simple: 40 percent of the Academy's cadets and 53 percent of the faculty staff members participated in the Climate Survey, confident that this anonymous survey really was anonymous, while only a few dozen faculty and staff members and only about a hundred cadets (barely more than 2 percent) were willing to participate in Gamble's investigation, due primarily to fears that the interviews with Gamble's team would not be kept confidential. In other words, the cadets who have actually experienced problems did not participate, allowing Gamble to base his findings on a sampling consisting of cadets who at best just haven't personally experienced the problems reported in the Climate Survey, and at worst included those who are among the perpetrators of these problems.
I highly recommend you read Rodda's entire piece. It's actually very revealing of the current climate at the Acadmey. She not only addresses the current 'survey' but also shares opinions from the current staff and a rather shocking video by the current AF Academy Superintendent's wife, a former pilot herself. At first, I was dubious, when Rodda was upset about the sharing of family photos and the discussion of first dates at an Academy event. Honestly, those are standard military fare. We treat each other like family and share information from the stage as if we're close friends. Appropriate? Maybe not. But cause for concern... not normally but, perhaps in this case, yes:
The rest of Mrs. Gould's presentation consisted of showing a slide show of family photos, and repeatedly stating that the priorities of both herself and her incredibly cute husband are: "God first, family second, and job third." According to Mrs. Gould, if you follow these priorities, "you're gonna make it easier on yourself" and "live with joy in your life" because "you're doing the good, the just, the right thing."
As a military wife, I've often encountered religious members within our community. I have been asked to attend church, my children have been invited to events intended to recruit children to Christianity, I have been told that I would make a good Christian, I have been given a LDS Bible and offered friendship in the name of doing the work of God. I have also been very good friends with some of the very people who would prefer that I find religion. Everyone who has remained my friend was willing to accept me as I am. Not all did. That's okay. I also have friends who are extremely religious and they have never, not once, asked me to change who I am. They understand that they live among a diverse community of Americans and that, although their religion may call them to convert others, that they can find their conversions outside of their military friends.
I especially have a big problem when the proselytising isn't taking place among family members, but among the active duty members themselves, even if it takes place when they are out of uniform. In all honesty, the relationships between our military members exists even when the uniform is removed. A colonel is a colonel, whether he's sharing a beer with you at the bar or sitting next to you in church or talking to you at the office. We have rules about fraternization that sometimes feel outdated but when I hear about the actions at the Air Force Acadmey, I sometimes think they aren't strong enough.
Cadets have complained that their Freedom of Speech is being infringed. I would like to remind those Cadets that they are about to enter a career where they sign away their right to Freedom of Speech. Military officers can't say whatever they want, whenever they want. They have to learn the appropriate times to share political opinions and views and they can never denigrate the office of the President. Placing religion in the same place as politics isn't that hard to do - it's an inappropriate conversation to have with a fellow officer. Can you mention that you go to church? Of course. Can you ask someone to attend church with you? Not a good idea unless you're officers of the same or similar rank with no chance that one day one of you will work for the other. Remember the movie Patton?
I want to end this diary with a quote from a cadet published in Rodda's blog:
A very senior cadet leader (that's how I will describe him or her) said, 'This is a clear victory for the Gospel of our Lord and Savior and just as certain a defeat for Mikey Weinstein and his Forces of Satan.' I was really surprised twice with that mean statement. First, that it was even said like that at all in response to the Gen. Gamble report findings. Second, that nobody, not even the USAF Officer or USAF NCO, said or did anything to oppose that terrible statement. I didn't either. I didn't want to get onto the wrong radar screen here at USAFA with regards to religion. I've seen what happens if you do."
It's time for our Active Duty Officers and NCO's to stop ignoring blatant proseltysing. Period.