By Joseph Cotto, Washington Times
OCALA, Fla., October 31, 2013 — Earlier this month, the Air Force Academy announced that it would no longer include the words “so help me God” in its honor oath.
This is of particular significance. On Monday, Mark Thompson of TIME wrote that “(t)he academy — at 7,258 feet above sea level, the closest of all the nation’s military schools to God’s realm — has long had a reputation as the most Christian of the nation’s military learning institutions.”
“Here at the Academy, we work to build a culture of dignity and respect, and that respect includes the ability of our cadets, Airmen and civilian Airmen to freely practice and exercise their religious preference — or not,” Lieutenant General Michelle Johnson, who serves as the Academy’s superintendent, said in an official statement.
“So in the spirit of respect,” she continued, “cadets may or may not choose to finish the Honor Oath with ‘So help me God.’
