The Air Force recently snubbed a civil liberties group that had sought the court-martialing of a two-star general, after he delivered a religious speech in uniform to credit God for his many successes. Major General Craig Olson delivered his 23-minute-long speech at a National Day of Prayer Task Force event on May 7, during which he said that God had made it possible for him to fly an aircraft, manage projects worth billions of dollars and negotiate weapons sales with Iraqis. In his speech, Olson asked the audience to pray for leaders of the Defense Department, for whom it is but necessary to humbly depend on Christ. He also urged them to pray for those troops that have been preparing to be deployed again.
Mikey Weinstein, CEO of Military Religious Freedom Foundation, wrote a letter to the Chief of Staff, General Mark Welsh, the following week, demanding that Olson be court-martialed for violating an Air Force instruction that prohibits Air Force leaders from promoting any particular religious belief. Weinstein’s letter also included a link to Olson’s speech that was streamed live on the international channel “GOD TV”.
“General Welsh, as the old saying goes, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’,” Weinstein wrote in the letter. “Thus, please take a good, hard look at this link below and tell me that you're just not sick to damn death seeing an active duty Air Force General Officer boastfully proselytizing and freely witnessing his personal brand of his own fundamentalist flavor of his evangelical Christian faith to literally a worldwide television audience and, concomitantly, streaming over the World Wide Web on "GOD TV.”
In an attempt to substantiate his case, Weinstein cited Air Force Instruction 1-1 that addresses in detail the standards that are expected to be maintained within the Air Force.
“Leaders at all levels must balance constitutional protections for their own free exercise of religion, including individual expressions of religious beliefs, and the constitutional prohibition against governmental establishment of religion,” the instruction says. “They must ensure their words and actions cannot reasonably be construed to be officially endorsing or disapproving of, or extending preferential treatment for any faith, belief, or absence of belief.”
Yet, the Air Force concluded that Olson had not violated the above instruction by delivering his speech at the congressionally supported event.
“His remarks were his own personal opinions and do not represent the views of the United States Air Force,” said service spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Pete Hughes in an email.
Another spokesperson for the event said that Olson’s views were not deemed offensive, as they were in keeping with the views of the event’s host, Republican Robert Aderholt.
Chris Rodda, senior research director for Military Religious Freedom Foundation, argued however that that did not matter, as Olson’s speech violated the standards mentioned in Air Force Instruction 1-1.
“Olson was very clearly endorsing – in uniform – and extending preferential treatment to Christianity and the specific brand of Christianity promoted by the event,” Rodda said. “It makes no difference who it was sponsored by. Either way, that Air Force Instruction 1-1 applies.”
According to Weinstein, the Air Force’s conclusion that Olson was merely expressing his personal views at a public event, goes on to prove how the separation of church and state in the Air Force is currently nothing more than smoke and debris, especially if one takes into consideration the fact that Olson’s speech was broadcasted on international television.
“That is as preposterous as saying night is day or that Danny DeVito could be the power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers in place of LeBron James,” Weinstein said. “There are no boundaries. They've obliterated the boundaries. There's nothing left of the regulation.”
Photo Credits: Christian Examiner
