ACLU targets ‘Noon meal prayer’ at U.S. Naval Academy

 
The U.S. Naval Academy’s "noon meal prayer" is drawing criticism from a civil-rights group that says some midshipmen feel compelled to participate despite a constitutional prohibition on government-controlled religious activities.

The ACLU says in a letter to the school that existing case law would seem to bar the military from organizing "compulsory religious services mandated by the government." (Italics in original.)

"The midshipmen who have contacted the ACLU object to~ and feel coerced against conscience by~ the Academy’s continued requirement that they stand in attendance during an official noon prayer~" lawyer Deborah Jeon writes in the letter. "Plebes~ in particular~ find themselves in a difficult position during the noon prayer~ if~ as a matter of conscience~ they do not wish to join in prayer."
Jeon tells The Sun that her group heard from nine students "who opposed the practice~ which involves students who stand at "parade rest~" then bow their heads and fold their hands while chaplains recite a prayer."

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“The academy does not intend to change its practice of offering midshipmen an opportunity for prayer or devotional thought during noon meal announcements~” Cmdr. Ed Austin~ an academy spokesman~ says in an e-mail to The New York Times.

Jeon tells The Sun that they’re considering a lawsuit. 

ACLU threatens to take legal action against Academy

A national civil liberties group is renewing a push to end mealtime prayer at the U.S. Naval Academy~ where a group of midshipmen recently complained to officials that they felt pressured to participate in the longtime practice.

The tradition~ believed to date back to the college’s founding in 1845~ now involves a chaplain’s leading grace before a noon meal that all 4~200 midshipmen must attend at King Hall. Midshipmen are not required to pray~ though they must stand during the recital~ and most bow their heads.

Nine students recently approached the American Civil Liberties Union for help in getting the academy to end the practice. In a letter recently sent to the academy’s superintendent~ Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler~ the ACLU threatened legal action.

"The government should not be in the business of compelling religious observance~ particularly in military academies~ where students can feel coerced by senior students and officials and risk the loss of leadership opportunities for following their conscience~" Deborah A. Jeon~ legal director for the ACLU of Maryland~ wrote.

The academy has rejected various requests by the ACLU and other civil liberties groups to end the practice~ and a college spokesman said yesterday that its position remains the same.

"The Academy does not intend to change its practice of offering Midshipmen an opportunity for prayer or devotional thought during noon meal announcements~" the spokesman~ Cmdr. Ed Austin~ said in a statement. He said college officials are "coordinating our response with Department of the Navy leadership and will be responding to the ACLU soon."

The ACLU’s latest push in Annapolis renews questions about the role of religion at the nation’s military colleges.

In 2003~ a federal appeals court struck down suppertime prayer at the Virginia Military Institute as a violation of church-state separation.

Two years later~ the Air Force Academy faced charges of proselytizing by college personnel and cadets~ prompting investigations and new guidelines that discouraged most public prayer throughout the Air Force. The academy observes a moment of silence before meals.

This week~ The New York Times reported that about a half-dozen cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point told the paper that religion was a constant at the academy. They pointed to prayers at mandatory banquets and religious terms used in speeches by the college’s former top military leader.

A West Point spokesman said it does not have mealtime prayers.

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For years~ civil liberties groups have petitioned the Naval Academy to stop mealtime prayer. The ACLU said that it has periodically received complaints from midshipmen about the practice and that some students recently wrote anonymously to academy leaders to complain.

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The academy has not responded to the ACLU’s May 2 letter to Fowler~ she said. "The only option that’s left is to file a lawsuit~ and we are considering this~" Jeon said.

A Navy ensign who graduated from the academy last month said that she and a group of students approached the ACLU last winter because they came to believe the practice was unconstitutional.

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Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr.~ a North Carolina Republican who has introduced legislation in recent years to preserve the right of U.S. military academies to offer grace during mealtime~ said the prayer at the academy is an important tradition.

"This has just been part of the education of the midshipmen for years and years~" Jones said~ pointing out that midshipmen aren’t forced to pray. "If that midshipman is standing there with his or her head bowed~ they could be thinking about the next Notre Dame-Navy football game."
 

ACLU Attacks Midshipmen Prayer

Nine midshipmen at the academy asked the ACLU to petition the school to do away with the prayers~ saying that some midshipmen have felt pressured to participate.

The ACLU sent a letter to the Annapolis~ Md.~ school saying it was “long past time” for the academy to abolish the traditional prayer~ contending it violates midshipmen’s freedom to practice religion as they see fit.

The Naval Academy rejected the ACLU’s request~ saying in a statement: “The academy does not intend to change its practice of offering midshipmen an opportunity for prayer or devotional thought during noon meal announcements.”

Some form of prayer has been offered for midshipmen at meals since the school’s founding in 1845~ and it is “consistent with other practices throughout the Navy~” according to the statement.

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Another recent graduate~ who is now an atheist~ told The New York Times that whether officers make participating in the prayer voluntary or not~ “they make it very clear that this is the standard~ and the standard is Judaism or Christianity. I feel it’s inappropriate to have this in a public institution.”

If the ACLU proceeds with its lawsuit~ it’s likely to base its case on a ruling by a federal appeals court~ which in 2003 struck down the Virginia Military Institute’s mealtime prayer as unconstitutional.

The Naval Academy flap is not the only instance of religious practice creating controversy at a U.S. military academy.

Cadets and officers at West Point have told The Times that until recently~ cadets who did not attend religious services during basic training were sometimes referred to as “heathens~” and they complained that mandatory banquets began with prayer.

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