A chaplain at the US Air Force Academy, Capt. MeLinda Morton, alleged a “‘systemic and pervasive' problem of religious proselytizing at the academy,' according to the New York Times (May 12, 2005). Whether or not the allegations are true remains to be seen. But they're all too plausible. My experience teaching for almost two decades as a civilian English professor at the US Naval Academy suggests that religion is part of the conservative world-view that the academies promulgate. Its givens are the givens of the military. It shouldn't be a surprise if this affinity comes out in the open, as it may have done at USAFA.

Here at Annapolis noon meal prayers in King Hall, the cavernous T-shaped building where more than 4,000 midshipmen settle three times a day, inhale food, and decamp en masse, are being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union, and are vociferously defended by the administration. USNA is the only academy to continue this tradition. Our graduation ceremonies, this year presided over by the Commander-in-Chief, includes an invocation to God the Father. (They leave out Jesus.) According to the institution, once you've expanded Christianity to include Judaism (the so-called Judeo-Christian right that supports President Bush) that's as far as you have to go. What of someone who believed in God the Mother? Or the many Gods of Hinduism? Or no God at all?

It's clear it's Christianity that was at the center of the Academy in the old days, and that's being expanded. The most prominent building from a sailboat out on the Severn River is the chapel, whose golden dome is used to get bearings. There is a cross over the door; it is used for both Catholic and Protestant services, though chapel has not been mandatory for many decades. A Tiffany window in this chapel portrays “The Heavenly Commission,” a newly-minted ensign receiving his commission from a hand emerging from the clouds above.

Though the Navy has a history of anti-Semitism, this seems dead in the era of right-wing “Judeo-Christian” support for neoconservative politics. A “Jewish chapel” was recently opened behind King Hall; the “Jewish chaplain” is responsible too for the handful of Muslim students we have.

Organized religion isn't going to go away in the military. Its givens are too much like the demands of the military. The German army went into World War I with belt buckles saying “Gott mit uns,” God with us. Lt. Gen. William Boykin made headlines last year by saying that he knew his God was the real God and the Muslim god was “an idol,” and by insisting that God put President Bush in the White House. But then of course, even President Bush, the commander-in-chief, has suggested similar interpretations of politics.

Bowing heads to a higher power whose Will is unclear, and must be revealed, is first cousin to the obedience the military requires of soldiers in ranks, or of junior officers. You don't have to understand what your commander officer says, just carry it out. (There is one difference: if you recognize the military order as illegal, you may not follow it. In the heat of battle, this is difficult.) “Acknowledging God” is something conservatives repeatedly demand the right to do, even if this takes the form of having a rock with an English translation of the Hebrew Ten Commandments in a courtroom. That's all the salute is: an acknowledgment of authority. So too the ubiquitous “sir” or “ma'am” that sandwiches answers from plebes (“Sir, yes sir!”) and that is sprinkled liberally among upperclassmen's responses as well.

Both the military and organized religion gain strength by setting themselves off from the world outside: I wish I had a dollar for each time I've heard the phrase “civilian scum” here at Annapolis, an institution funded by civilian tax dollars and ostensibly devoted to their defense. In the current conservative climate, good people are people with faith; they should be the ones helping with social problems; their values should determine how, for example, we teach AIDS prevention in Africa. The clear distinction between Inside and Outside is a structural fact of all conservatisms, such as the military or organized religion.

Capt. Morton is right: everyone in the military has raised his or her right hand to defend the Constitution. And that, whether or not the military likes it, promulgates the separation of church and state. It's difficult for the military to resist the siren song of religion: they're too much alike. But that's the reason why they need to stuff their ears with wax.