Religion at the Academy

Ms. Rodda,

I sent this to a family friend recently, and I think I’d like to share it with a wider audience, and you seemed the most reasonable person to get in touch with from the contact page.

I graduated from USAFA in May, 2010. I recently heard about the problems with the Cadets for Christ, and it prompted me to put together something that collected my thoughts on the problems with religion at the Academy.

My major problem with the Warwick’s organization is not necessarily that they seem to be practicing an abhorrent application of the Christian faith, but the fact that the proselytization is occurring on goverment property. I’ve no qualms with young men and women of common faith sharing it, but that’s only because the line between place of work and home are so blurred on a campus like the Academy’s. However, when there is active proselytization occurring on Academy grounds, it seems to go against a lot of existing policies. It’s something that I saw pretty often in fact, and in one or two cases tried to stop, but the religious atmosphere on the hill can make it a little difficult.

As for this nebulous “atmosphere” I referred to, it’s not one that meets what I ascertain to be Air Force or military standards. For the most part, religious groups have free reign in the cadet area, and most cadets don’t have a problem with it. Evangelical Christianity is pretty common there, which in and of itself isn’t a problem. However, I couldn’t count all the times I was invited to religious functions and handed flyers to attend things like “the Mill,” most often by my superiors, and most often while they wore a uniform. On at least one occasion, while I was a four-degree, I was visited in my room by a senior cadet who tried to engage my roommate and I in a personal discussion about our faith. At the time, I wasn’t even aware there was anything wrong with it, which speaks to the ignorance of the average cadet on such matters. I was also approached during my Recognition by a cadet in my own squadron who asked me what I wanted to succeed for, and he wasn’t satisfied ’til I told him it was my faith. Unfortunately, I allowed these things to happen without speaking out, partially because I knew of no outlet for a 4-degree to speak up, and partially because I had no idea that things like this wouldn’t be allowed. My first-class year, I was stunned when fellow cadets didn’t realize that you could not proselytize to your peers or subordinates while performing military duties. While I realize this is only anecdotal, of the near dozen people in the room, only one person besides me understood that while acting as a superior, proselytization is wrong.

Ignorance is not the only problem, as sometimes both nonbelievers and people of non-Christian faiths are met with hostility. I was once told that, because I was an atheist, I did not deserve to defend my nation. At a lunch table once, Muslims were referred to as “towel-heads.” While this would always be an unacceptable statement to begin with, it was said in the presence of four-degrees and other military peers. I also had a roommate freshman year who said, in no uncertain terms, that all Muslims, men, women, and children included, should be killed due to the threat they pose to American society. The religious atmosphere at the Academy is one that not only penalizes non-Christians, but it fosters bigotry and religious hatred.

The Cadets For Christ strikes me as an organization that is a product of this atmosphere. They work by illegally proselytizing because they can. They meet no opposition from cadets or staff, because many of these people are ignorant of the policies in place to protect people from this kind of action. Cadets for Christ is a symptom of a deeper problem at the Academy. They fit a niche in this environment well, and it will take some serious education and enforcement before the problem is solved.

(USAF Academy Graduate’s Name Withheld)