Ethics briefing suspended at Vandenberg after questions raised about separation of church and state

Posted: Aug 4, 2011 11:12 PM by Nancy ChenEthics briefing suspended at Vandenberg after questions raised about sep

A class at Vandenberg Air Force Base is suspended and making national headlines for its focus on Christianity.

The U.S. Air Force suspended the ethics class after concerns were raised about its emphasis on faith; the class is actually a 45-minute briefing.

Military chaplains have taught the briefing for at least twenty years; it's meant to train officers to consider the ethics of launching nuclear weapons.

31 officers reported the class to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a watchdog group that focuses on the separation of church and state.

Presented by a chaplain, 14 of the 43 slides invoke faith, delving into St. Augustine's qualifications for just war and the Old and New Testament; they also give examples from the Bible to justify war.

One example: quoting Revelation 19:11 that Jesus Christ is the mighty warrior.

"(It's) beyond the pale and is going to cause oceans and oceans of blood," said Mikey Weinstein, the president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said in an interview via Skype from New Mexico.

Weinstein says he's ashamed of the Air Force because of the briefing.

The Air Force says the presentation is meant to stimulate thinking and discussion about a very tense moment.

"If they're given a lawful order to employ their weapons system, they need to have their minds made up as to whether or not they're going to follow that order," said David Smith, the chief information officer for the Air Force.

Weinstein says he's okay with the briefing itself, just not the fact that it's mandatory.

He says the Air Force should give its officers options.

"If you're Jewish go here, Muslim here," he said. "If you're a secularist, we're going to have a noted ethicist from UCLA or Berekley come down to talk to you. If this doesn't bother you at all, then the time we would normally be doing this for our class, go to the gym and work out."

Weinstein says of the 31 officers who reported the briefing to his foundation, 29 are practicing Protestants or Roman Catholics.

The briefing was suspended almost immediately after he brought the slides to national attention last week.

"To quote Shakespeare, 'We cried havoc and let slip the dogs of war,'" Weinstein said.

The Air Force says it is now reviewing the presentation with no timeline on its final decision.

One of the final slides includes contact information for the Vandenberg Jewish Community and the Islamic Center of Lompoc.

About 150 students get the briefing each year; the Air Force says it hasn't received any complaints in two years of collecting course critiques.