The results:
The Air Force Academy failed to accommodate the diverse religious needs of cadets and staff, although there has been no overt discrimination, a military investigative panel concluded Wednesday.
The Air Force investigation, released by the Pentagon, required academy leaders to clarify their policies on appropriate and inappropriate religious expression. But it also credited them with moving to confront these issues.
The investigation also cited a perception of intolerance among some cadets and staff.
“The (Air Force) 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 where the line is drawn between permissible and impermissible expression of beliefs,” the report says.
What did they find:
The Air Force report cites some incidents but does not go into details: religious slurs and disparaging remarks between cadets and statements from faculty and staff with strong religious beliefs that some cadets found offensive.
There is a lack of awareness on the part of some faculty and staff, and perhaps some senior cadets, as to what constitutes appropriate expressions of faith,” said Lt. Gen. Roger Brady, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for personnel, in a press conference at the Pentagon.
Brady said he was unsure whether many of the incidents qualified as intolerance, but said “there’s certainly insensitivity” at the institution.
“Yes, I think there were cases where people said some things perhaps from a lecturn that were overreaching, forgetting their position, that put cadets perhaps in an untenable position in terms of, ‘Gee, am I going to pass Physics 101 if I don’t agree with this guy?,'” he said.
Which sounds pretty overt to me, but, hey. Just glad it was looked into and they are going to address the issue.
The actual report can be found here– the appropriate way to view this is to not pretend that the AFA was exonnerated, but that many of the specific allegations are credible and that the Air Force is doing something. They did find that there is no ‘established’ religion, which is what would be required for ‘overt’ discrimination. Sentiments, as expressed here, that this was a clear defeat for ‘lefty secularists’, are just simplistic and wrong.
p.lukasiak
Which sounds pretty over to me, but, hey. Just glad it was looked into and they are going to address the issue.
John, I suggest that before drawing any conclusions, you read this…
gazette.com/display.php?id=1307776&secid=1
quite a few people with specific knowledge of religious bigotry and proselytization were never even interviewed, including this one…
The task force also skipped Mikey Weinstein, a 1977 graduate who is Jewish and has sent two sons to the academy where they
Stormy70
Ditto. Faculty should keep their religious views to themselves while teaching class, unless it is relevant to the material. In most cases it will not be. Insensitive remarks between cadets, if the same rank, doesn’t sound like it should be that big an issue. Unless it crosses into a form of abuse. That seems like it will be a fine line, since some people are offended at the slightest remark.
Stormy70
The ditto for was for John’s post, not the above remarks.
p.lukasiak
Insensitive remarks between cadets, if the same rank, doesn’t sound like it should be that big an issue. Unless it crosses into a form of abuse.
Just curious, but in your exalted opinion does calling someone a “dirty Jew” fall under the “insensitive remarks” or the “abuse” category?
Stormy70
Depends on the context, said in hatred it sounds abusive and the person saying it should be decked. But it is a fine line when free speech issues get involved. I’m called a souless Rethuglican, but I don’t consider it abuse. Now, a cadet saying “dirty Jew” should be chastised because there is a military honor code, and I would think this violates it. My brother attended a military school, and lots worse was said to him, but he never considered it “abuse”. He was a freshman “rat”, the lowest on the totem pole. However, this was the way the entire freshman class was treated, not one person singled out for their religious views.
How do you stop one hateful person from using religous slurs? The best one could hope for would be the shame heaped on him by his peers.
gunjam
“The task force also skipped Mikey Weinstein, a 1977 graduate who is Jewish and has sent two sons to the academy where they
Jay
What a lovely world it would be if all you modern Puritans would hurry your personal Rapture and disappear.
Hell awaits you.
Enjoy the incessant praying there.