Bullying the troops from the pulpit

Evidently the investigation of excessive recruiting and influence of evangelical chaplains at the US Air Force Academy was only one indication of the growing influence of evangelicals in the military. Here's an account of a weekend event sponsored by the Air Force:

"There were personal testimonies about Jesus from the stage, a comedian quoting Scripture and a five-piece band performing contemporary Christian praise songs. Then hundreds of Air Force chaplains stood and sang, many with palms upturned, in a service with a distinctively evangelical tone. It was the opening ceremony of a four-day Spiritual Fitness Conference at a Hilton hotel here last month organized and paid for by the Air Force for many of its United States-based chaplains and their families, at a cost of $300,000. The chaplains, who pledge when they enter the military to minister to everyone, Methodist, Mormon or Muslim, attended workshops on "The Purpose Driven Life," the best seller by the megachurch pastor Rick Warren, and on how to improve their worship services."

See link for entire article from NY Times.