Air Force Academy Religious Respect Program May Go Servicewide

As a Chaplain, the only thing that matters to me is someone needs help. After they are respected as a human in need, what they believe is secondary. If I am talking to a Christian, I talk to them about Christ and what He said. It doesn't matter to me what denomination they were trained to believe. If I am helping someone of a different faith, I have a basic knowledge of what they believe and I don't try to change that. If I talk to someone with no beliefs at all, it is the same way. It is not up to me to covert them any more than it is to condemn them if they do not believe as I do. Usually people laugh when I tell them I won't hit them over the head with a Bible or try to convert them especially when I am Eastern (Greek)Orthodox. If I have the right to believe what I make the choice to do, so do they.

That is what Religious Freedom is all about. No one faith has the right to force their views on others. Even if you accept the claim the US is a "Christian Nation" whenever you hear someone say that, you need to ask them what one they are talking about. Don't forget there are so many different denominations of Christians it is hard to keep track. Even within groups, there are divisions so all people should be able to have their rights to use their own God Given Freewill to make their own choices in life. No one should have the right to have what they believe forced on anyone else. This is a step in the right direction.

AFA Religious Respect Program May Go Servicewide
Nov 02, 2012
The Gazette
Colorado Springs, Colo.
by Erin Prater

An Air Force Academy program to teach cadets to respect the religious beliefs of comrades will soon go to all Air Force bases and schools, if academy chaplains have their way.

While a target date has not been set for the program's expansion, chaplains hope to transition the Religious Respect Training Program throughout the Air Force as soon as possible, chaplain Maj. Shawn Menchion said Wednesday at the conclusion of the academy's Religious Respect Conference.

"It may reach basic training for enlisted airmen before it reaches the officers," Menchion said.

The program was launched in 2010 at the recommendation of senior academy leaders after several years of religious-related controversies, Menchion said.

Initially, it was a one-hour training session on the First Amendment's clauses that relate to religious freedom, and was taught by academy chaplains to the class of 2014 at cadet basic training.

Last year, the academy and its partners, including the Anti-Defamation League, developed three additional lessons that will be taught at other times: one-hour lessons during sophomore and junior years, and a two-hour lesson during senior year, Menchion said.

The training teaches cadets "to become allies to other cadets when they witness respect infractions," he said. "We're giving them avenues to address those issues. We emphasize addressing those issues at the lowest level."

"This is something new," Menchion said of the program. "No other military members are getting this training except for the cadets."
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