Air Force, Navy Move To Reign In Some Chaplins

After accusations that evangelical chaplains at the US Air Force Academy are among those pressuring cadets, the service Monday issued new guidelines on respecting religious minorities -- guidelines that many military preachers say are "polarizing."

"There is a polarization that is beginning to set up that I don't think is helpful. Us versus them," said Air Force Col. Richard K. Hum, an Evangelical Free Church minister who is the executive director of the Armed Forces Chaplains Board. He told the Washington Post, "I don't know whether it's an overflow of what's happening in society. But this sort of thing is so detrimental to what we are trying to do in the chaplaincy."

Navy chaplains say they've been told not to publicly pray "in the name of Jesus." Navy commanders, regardless of faith, appear to be worried about the impact prostelization has on moral among those who don't share the views of evangelical Christian clergy members.

It all started with the resignation of the Reverend MeLinda S. Morton, a Lutheran minister who quit her post as a USAFA chaplain. Morton complained about the rise in evangelism on the campus in Colorado Springs, CO. But she said the problem wasn't restricted to the military's religious leaders. She told the Post that, since 1982, she's seen a measurable increase in the level of evangelism among officers in general.

"When we were coneheads -- missile officers -- I would never, ever have engaged in conversations with subordinates aligning my power and position as an officer with my views on faith matters," she said. Now, however, "I've heard of people being made incredibly uncomfortable by certain wing commanders who engage in sectarian devotions at staff meetings."

Since the military recently abandoned attempts to keep the chaplain corps in line with the faiths of those in the ranks, the Pentagon has said the proportion of evangelical Christian chaplains in the various services has increased substantially. At the same time, the number of more moderate Protestant and Catholic clergy members has been on the decline.

By far, the largest number of chaplains represent the Southern Baptist Convention. There's one Baptist preacher for every 40 service members who profess that particular faith.

Rear Adm. Louis V. Iasiello, a Catholic priest and the chief Navy chaplain, told the Post that the issue isn't what's said during single-faith services, where ministers are talking to members of their own particular religion. Instead, the controversy centers on what's said during multi-faith services, meetings or other public events.

"We train our people to be sensitive to the needs of all of God's people," he told the Post. "We don't direct how a person's going to pray. Because everyone's own denomination or faith group has certain directives or certain ways of doing things, and we would never -- it's that whole separation-of-church-and-state thing -- we would never want to direct institutionally that a person could or couldn't do something."

Navy officials say the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces says in its code of ethics that each chaplain must function in a "pluralistic environment" and "not proselytize from other religious bodies." The exception: the code says they "retain the right to evangelize those who are not affiliated," according to the Post.

But at the USAFA, a team from the Yale School of Divinity criticized one chaplain for telling Protestant cadets to let their fellow students know that, if you're not born again, you'll "burn in the fires of hell."

When the Pentagon investigated, officials found "a lack of awareness over where the line is drawn between permissible and impermissible expression of beliefs."

There were other incidents at the academy, according to Pentagon officials. In one case, the head football coach reportedly told team members he expected to see them in church. In another case, Jewish students said they were insulted because of their faith after students were urged by faculty and clergy to see Mel Gibson's controversial movie "The Passion of Christ."

FMI: www.mca-usa.org