"Military Buddhist Chapel Represents Tolerance"

National Public Radio has a feature this week about a special space at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO: "the only Buddhist chapel on a U.S. military base."

I've previously blogged about religious controversy at the Air Force Academy. NPR explains how that played into the decision to build this chapel:

The controversy prompted the Air Force to issue guidelines for religious expression. The military also has made efforts to accommodate all faiths. These include the construction of the 300-square-foot Buddhist chapel at the Air Force Academy paid for by the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism.

The floor is bamboo, and the walls are Port Orford cedar. The focal point is a cherry and ash altar with a Burmese Buddha statue on top.

Read the rest here.

[Photo by Jeffy Brady for National Public Radio. "Steve Honda, an Air Force Academy military trainer, kneels before the altar in the base's Buddhist chapel."]