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Academy Flap

Jewish cadets say religious freedom is
compromised at Air Force Academy.

MATTHEW E. BERGER

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Washington
ewish cadets at the Air Force
Academy feel pressure to choose
131 their military duties over their
religion and believe the school is insen-
sitive to their needs because of an overt-
ly Christian atmosphere, a report said.
The comments, taken from focus
groups last month and included as
part of a report released last week by
the military on the religious climate at
the Colorado Springs, Colo., campus,
suggest that some Jewish students are
uncomfortable at the academy because
of what they see as an evangelical
Christian culture.
The Jewish students interviewed for
the report also said the burden is
squarely on them to seek out religious
accommodation and that the proce-
dures to do so are often cumbersome.
"Freedom of religion does not exist
if you are not a Christian," one Jewish
cadet said, according to the report.
The report was released after numer-
ous complaints of religious intolerance
and proselytizing at the school. The
debate has also moved to the halls of
Congress, where Democratic lawmak-
ers have faced strong opposition while
attempting to seek reform at the acad-
emy.
The report was welcomed by Reps.
Steven Israel, D-N.Y., and Lois Capps,
D-Calif., who have complained in
recent weeks about religious intoler-
ance at the school. But the lawmakers
said they remain concerned the Air
Force is not doing enough on the issue.

"We need performance standards;
we need benchmarks; we need
accountability," Israel said at a news
conference.
The report's author, Lt. Gen. Robert
Brady, the Air Force's deputy chief of
staff for personnel, acknowledged the
perception of religious intolerance on
campus, but suggested it came more
from a lack of awareness of appropri-
ate expressions of faith and inadequate
training than overt religious discrimi-
nation or anti-Semitism.
"I think there were cases where peo-
ple have said some things, perhaps
from a lectern, that were overreaching,
forgetting their position, that put
cadets, perhaps, in an untenable posi-
tion in terms of,.`Gee, am I going to
pass Physics 101 if I don't agree with
this guy?' " Brady said.
Brady also said he believed the situa-
tion has improved in recent years.
The report maps nine recommenda-
tions for change, including training
for faculty and staff and increased
access to kosher meals. All of the rec-
ommendations were accepted by
Michael Dominguez, the acting secre-
tary of the Air Force.
"We need to understand . better the
role of religion and culture more
broadly on the way people think and
act and make decisions," Brady said.
"That's important for us in a diverse
force."
In addition, a new position, vice
superintendent of the academy, was
created. Maj. Gen. Irving Halter Jr. is
charged with improving religious tol-
erance at the school.
For its part, the Anti-Defamation

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and Clarence Thomas.
Stevens said in a dissent that the
monument could not be seen as a pas-
sive acknowledgment of religion. "This
nation's resolute commitment to neu-
trality with respect to religion is flatly
inconsistent with the plurality's whole-
hearted validation of an official state
endorsement of the message that there
is one, and only one, God," he wrote.
Public displays of the Ten
Commandments are supported by a
majority of Americans, according to

polls.
It remains to be seen whether the
split verdict will satisfy religious con-
servatives, who have rallied for more
religious engagement from govern-
ment. Roberta Combs, president of the
Christian Coalition of America, blasted
the decision, suggesting the justices did
not respect the Constitution.
"Today's Supreme Court decision on
the Ten Commandments showed once
again that the nation's top court is
completely out of step with the

