October 18, 2005

Settlement offered in lawsuit over AF Academy proselytizing

By SUE MAJOR HOLMES


ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) - A Jewish graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, who contends senior officers and cadets attempted to impose Christianity on others at the school, has offered to settle his lawsuit if the Air Force will agree none of its members will try to convert others.

Mikey Weinstein told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he wants the Air Force to stop wasting "time, effort, blood, sweat, tears and money" and agree to uphold the U.S. Constitution.

Sam Bregman, Weinstein's attorney, asked the Air Force on Tuesday to agree to a stipulated order in federal court that no one in the Air Force, including a chaplain, will "in any way attempt to involuntarily convert, pressure, exert or persuade a fellow member of the USAF to accept their own religious beliefs while on duty."

Bregman also asked that the service not permit or advance one religion over another.

"As you can plainly see, we are asking for nothing more than the Constitution already requires of the United States Air Force," Bregman wrote.

A spokesman for the Air Force said the offer had been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Weinstein's lawsuit alleges that during the past decade or more, academy leaders have fostered an environment of religious intolerance at the Colorado school in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

The Air Force has withdrawn a code of ethics issued by the Air Force Chaplain Service in January that endorsed the practice of evangelizing military service members who are not affiliated with any specific religion. The Air Force has said the code of ethics was withdrawn for review but disclose that action only after Weinstein filed his lawsuit.

The code includes the statement: "I will not actively proselytize from other religious bodies. However, I retain the right to instruct and/or evangelize those who are not affiliated."

Weinstein said his settlement offer gives the Air Force a way to "stop burning taxpayer dollars and get out of this embarrassing lawsuit."

"I don't know that the Air Force can show a single instance of any one of its members being disciplined for proselytizing," Weinstein said.

"If this was happening in the private sector, it would last about three seconds," he said.