U.S. Air Force 'Christian' passed over
Brig. Gen. Johnny A. Weida, commandant of cadets, was pulled from promotions list before U.S. Senate vote to award 21 Air Force generals a second star. Weida was nominated in May for promotion to major general, but nomination was under cloud for his proselytizing to cadets at Air Force Academy amd complaints from Jewish flyers
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - The U.S. Senate has shelved plans to promote the No. 2 officer at the Air Force Academy, a Christian who has been criticized as proselytizing in memorandums and speeches.
The name of the officer, Brig. Gen. Johnny A. Weida, commandant of cadets, was pulled from a promotions list before a Senate vote to award 21 Air Force generals a second star. Weida, a 1978 academy graduate, was nominated in May for promotion to major general.
An Air Force spokeswoman, Jennifer Stephens, said the Senate had pulled Weida's name off the list.
The Air Force inspector general's office cleared Weida in June of six of seven accusations that he had improperly shared his faith, saying he did nothing wrong.
That included his June 2003 "guidance"statement to cadets that said they were "accountable first to your God." Weida also taught some Christian cadets a chant that some cadets said was a call to convert others. He invoked the chant in a briefing involving cadets of all faiths.
That incident and others caused complaints from some cadets, including Jewish ones, that have led to major changes in practice at the Air Force Academy.
The academy did not immediately respond to a request on Tuesday for comment from Weida.
The Air Force said Weida's nomination was based on his 26-plus years in the service and was examined by the Air Force, Defense Department and White House.
The academy has been engulfed in allegations recently that evangelical Christians at the school have bullied Jews and cadets of other faiths.
An Air Force task force investigated and said in June that it found no overt religious discrimination but definite insensitivity on the part of some cadets and staff members.
Mikey Weinstein, an academy graduate whose Jewish sons say they have endured anti-Semitic slurs at the school, applauded the decision to remove Weida from the promotions list.
''I believe that Johnny Weida lost his constitutional compass, which resulted in him violating the oath he took to preserve, support and defend the U.S. Constitution - as opposed to preserving and supporting the New Testament," he said.
