Evangelicals protest new Air Force religion policy

WASHINGTON — Evangelical Christian groups, members of Congress and a senior military chaplain are pressing the Air Force to soften or drop its restrictions on public prayers and evangelizing in the armed forces.

The Christian Coalition, Focus on the Family and other Christian advocacy groups have deluged the White House and Pentagon with thousands of phone calls, letters and e-mail messages denouncing the Air Force guidelines as an infringement of religious freedom.

Seventy House members sent a letter to President Bush last week objecting to the guidelines and urging an executive order protecting "the constitutional right of military chaplains to pray according to their faith." Thirty-five members of Congress signed a similar letter to the acting secretary of the Air Force.

About 10 days ago, the Air Force's chief of chaplains, Maj. Gen. Charles Baldwin, sent a videotaped message to active-duty and reserve chaplains and their assistants suggesting the rules need to be changed and inviting feedback to help the Air Force "get this right."

Baldwin, a Southern Baptist, advised chaplains that the guidelines do not prevent senior officers from discussing their religious beliefs with subordinates. "This is America, and for those of us who come from belief systems that require us to tell others of our faith and what we believe, this is so important that we feel free to do this. Just have to put it in the right context and never again coerce anyone to believe something that they don't want to believe," he said on the videotape, obtained by The Washington Post.

The Air Force issued its three-page "Interim Guidelines Concerning Free Exercise of Religion in the Air Force" Aug. 29 after allegations that evangelical Christian commanders, faculty and upperclassmen pressured cadets.

The guidelines, worded as recommendations, urge commanders to be "sensitive" about discussing their faith with subordinates. "The more senior the individual, the more likely that personal expressions may be perceived to be official statements," they say.

The guidelines say "public prayer should not usually be included in official settings," but "a brief non-sectarian prayer" may be included in events of "special importance." Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff, retired Navy chaplain who helped write the guidelines, said they do not restrict prayers in base chapels or voluntary worship services.

The Air Force's top officers are to discuss the guidelines this week. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has told religious leaders that if the rules work well, they may be instituted throughout the armed services, a prospect that alarmed evangelical groups.

"The current demand in the guidelines for so-called 'non-sectarian' prayers is merely a euphemism declaring that prayers will be acceptable only so long as they censor Christian beliefs," said the letter to Bush from 70 House members.

Michael "Mikey" Weinstein, a 1977 Air Force Academy graduate, filed a lawsuit Oct. 6, contending the Air Force violated the Constitution by allowing aggressive evangelizing at the academy. He said he plans to bolster the suit by adding four active-duty lieutenants, including his son, Casey, as plaintiffs.

Weinstein took issue with Baldwin's contention that senior officers can share their religious beliefs with subordinates as long as there is no coercion. "It can't be done noncoercively when you're on duty," Weinstein said. "How does a junior officer say to a senior officer, 'I don't want to listen to this' without worrying about offending the senior officer?"

Air Force leaders declined to comment.