Row over proselytizing at US Air Force academy widens

03 November 2005

November 03, 2005

Four officers of the US Air Force have joined a lawsuit accusing senior officers and cadets at the Air Force Academy of illegally imposing Christianity on others at the school. The 2004 graduates joined the suit filed by former Jewish cadet of the academy Mikey Weinstein. The suit alleges that Weinstein had failed to win an assurance from the Air Force that Christian chaplains would stop proselytizing. The affair already prompted the drafting of a new set of guidelines regarding religious conduct in the Air Force. Meanwhile, Congressional opponents have sent a letter to President Bush asking him to issue an executive order protecting the right of Christian military chaplains to mention Jesus in prayers. A letter signed by more than 70 members of the House of Representatives claims that "Christian military chaplains are under direct attack and that their right to pray according to their faith is in jeopardy." Weinstein said that if Bush issued an executive order that permits chaplains to proselytize he would add the president to the list of defendants.