DENVER — A retired Air Force general who once served as commandant of cadets at the Air Force Academy will assess the religious climate at the school, where allegations and court battles over religious tolerance have flared for seven years.
Patrick K. Gamble, who retired as a four-star general in 2001 and is now president of the University of Alaska, was asked to take an “independent, subjective look at the overall climate at USAFA relating to free exercise of religion,” the Air Force said in a statement Friday.
Additional Photos
The Air Force said the review is not an investigation, and that no detailed report is expected.
Gamble said Friday he was assembling a team of five or six other members with expertise in law, religion, academics and other areas to conduct the review. He said it was too early to release the other members’ names.
Gamble said his goal is to see whether various programs and provisions put in place since 2004, when religious intolerance became an issue, are working.
Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and a vocal critic of the academy, criticized the scope of the review as it was outlined in the Air Force statement.
The problem at the school is not with any restriction on the free exercise of religion, but with unwanted proselytizing by fundamentalist Christians, a violation of the constitutional concept of the separation of church and state, he said.
Gamble said he had not ruled out looking at the separation issue. He said his review team is still getting organized and its scope hasn’t been determined.
“We’re going to take a blinders-off look, and nothing’s off the table, but nothing’s on the table, either,” he said.
Gamble said he wasn’t sure whether he would report his findings orally, in a written report or both. No date has been set for the team to visit the school, he said.
The tolerance issue surfaced when many cadets reported in a 2004 survey that they had heard slurs about other religions. Some said they felt ostracized because they weren’t religious.
An Air Force task force concluded in 2005 there was no overt discrimination by evangelical Christians, but it said the academy failed to accommodate the religious needs of some cadets and staff. It also cited a perception of intolerance.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.