Film links Christianity, war

Here we go again.

The image of Colorado Springs as a hotbed of religious controversy is getting new legs with help from a critically acclaimed documentary that premieres Friday in New York.

Nearly one-third of "Constantine's Sword" is devoted to a scandal over reports of religious discrimination and overt Christian proselytizing at the Air Force Academy from 2003 to 2005. The film singles out Focus on the Family and New Life Church as being aggressive proselytizers at the academy during that time, film director Oren Jacoby said.

The film also gives screen time to New Life Church founder Ted Haggard, who resigned in the wake of accusations that he had sex with a male prostitute and used drugs. His interview in the film took place while he was still at the church and at the height of his religious and political influence as head of the National Association of Evangelicals.

But the film takes aim at more than Focus, New Life and the Air Force Academy. Based on a 2001 book by former Catholic priest James Carroll, "Constantine's Sword" argues that war, anti-semitism and Christianity are inextricably linked, and mixing military might and evangelical Christianity in the Iraq war mirrors past "holy" wars.

Religion and war, or church and state, are melding into one, the film suggests. Case in point: the Christian zeal at the Air Force Academy, a military institution.

"If you were not an evangelical at the academy, there is reason to believe there would be discrimination against you," Jacoby said. "And if you were an evangelical Christian, it was a way to move up the chain of command. That violates the Constitution."

Academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker said the film does not provide a balanced account. Although the academy had problems in the past, inroads have been made to foster acceptance of religious diversity among cadets, Whitaker said. Most recently, the academy invited three speakers to give cadets a different perspective on war and religion than one delivered by three previous speakers - self-proclaimed "former terrorists" who converted from Islam to Christianity.

"Our cadets are free to believe or not believe whatever they choose," Whitaker said.

One of the people invited to speak April 9 to give a different perspective to cadets was Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Weinstein, an AFA graduate, appears in the film and believes it has an important message. "When we mix government and religion, oceans of blood generally result," Weinstein said.

As for the film's assertion that Focus and New Life had infiltrated the campus, Whitaker said that's nonsense. "There is no holy war going on here," he said.

New Life and Focus declined to address the film's claim that they actively proselytized at the academy, but Focus defended the military institution.

"The Air Force Academy is scrupulous about freedom of religion, both freedom for religion for those who want to worship and freedom from religion for those who don't," Tom Minnery, Focus senior vice president of public policy, wrote in an e-mail.

The film is creating a stir nationally. Some Catholic leaders say it is anti-Catholic and that Carroll is a flawed historian. In a news release, Catholic League President Bill Donohue called Carroll "an embittered ex-priest."

Whether the film will draw a large audience remains to be seen, but it received rave reviews at film festivals last year and is making its way into theaters. It will be shown in major cities before its nationwide roll-out, which Jacoby said will likely include screenings in Colorado Springs.

Sue Skiffington, director of public communications for the city of Colorado Springs, is prepared to field inquiries about the city's reputation upon the film's release.

"It is unfair how people take a topic and then think that represents who we are as a community," Skiffington said. "Anybody who thinks people in Colorado Springs are narrow-minded needs a different tour guide."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0367 or mark.barna@gazette.com