February 2013          

Message From MRFF President and Founder Mikey Weinstein

Mikey WeinsteinGreetings valued supporters,

Yet another month of tireless MRFF advocacy has passed, a month that has once again illustrated the extent to which our foundation serves as a crucial fulcrum of the civil rights struggle within the United States military.

Our fundamentalist Christian opponents have long waged a campaign of withering repression upon the brave LGB (Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual) servicemembers within the ranks of our armed forces. Since the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), we've seen a renewed "offensive" by organizations such as the vile Chaplain Alliance for "Religious Liberty" (CARL) and the Family Research Council (FRC). However, laughable attempts to depict the post-DADT "regime" as one of militant godless arm-twisting in the service of some fictitious "homosexual agenda" fell flat, as I recounted in my July 2012 Op-Ed, Homophobic Chaplain Alliance’s Feeble, Failed Attempt to Rape Servicemembers’ Civil Rights.

Despite their failures, efforts remain in place to retain an environment of ambient hostility towards LGB service personnel. The prevailing reactionary elements within the administration of the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado Springs, CO, made this all too clear through their allowance of the Chaplain's Office's usage of an ostensible "online Jewish encyclopedia" dubbed "Judaism 101." This pedestrian, dilettante "resource" hideously opines that "a man who acts upon that [homosexual] desire" is equivalent to a "kleptomaniac!"

The website also attempts to depict the "role of women" under Judaism as "separate but equal," a phrase that we should all know stipulates the total opposite of "equality." There is no excuse for the chaplain's office at USAFA to circulate such reprehensibly misogynistic content, especially at a time when women -- who comprise more than 14% of the U.S. military -- continue to face an ever-growing epidemic of sexual assaults.

On Friday, March 8, 2013 (International Women's Day), I'll be in Colorado Springs to protest this sickening anti-gay, sexist offense against our brave servicemembers. The rally will start at 11:00 AM MST on the corner of Academy Boulevard and Voyager Parkway (near IHOP) and food, beverages, signage, and security will be provided. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation calls on those who stand for religious tolerance as well as sex and gender equality to make a stand and demonstrate for this vital cause!

Fundamentalist Christianity is a fortress of inequality within American society at-large, and the U.S. military is certainly no exception. MRFF is actively campaigning to put an end to the undue and disproportionate influence of "American Taliban"-style sedition within the military, but your help in this fight is absolutely crucial. MRFF has and will continue to steadfastly fight against all forms of discrimination, regardless of whether they occur on the bases of ethnicity, sexuality, gender, or religious preference (or lack thereof). Unlike our faux-"superpatriot" opponents, our patriotism isn't some tacky, bejeweled lapel pin or gaudy "Uncle Sam hat" hiding fallacious anti-Constitutional agendas. For us, true patriotism is a matter of fighting tenaciously to ensure that venerable promise spoken of by Thomas Jefferson as he laid out his vision for this country: "Equal and exact justice to all [people], of whatever state or persuasion." Please make your fully tax-deductible donation today!

Your Eternal Ally,

Michael L. "Mikey" Weinstein
Founder & President
Military Religious Freedom Foundation

MRFF Featured News
February 2013

Connect with MRFF:

 

 

MRFF DEMANDS U.S. AIR FORCE TAKE SWIFT CORRECTIVE AND PUNITIVE ACTION

USAF Academy Promotes Reprehensible Homophobic Website
as Source for Jewish Holiday Information

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USAFA uses horrendously homophobic uncredentialed website to reference Jewish holidays, alongside usage of the reputable and well-known About.com to reference Christian holidays.

Shamefully, whoever drafted this abhorrent "NOTAM" document clearly knew of an extremely thorough resource for information on Jewish holidays (click here to view this legitimate reference page), yet instead chose to publicize the execrable "JewFAQ" website throughout the U.S. Air Force Academy

Click here to learn more

 

An Open Letter from Edie Disler,
MRFF Director of LGBQ Affairs,
to Lt. Gen. Mike Gould,
Superintendent of USAFA

Subject: Command Climate

Thursday, February 28, 2013


To: Lt. Gen. Mike Gould, Superintendent, U.S. Air Force Academy
Brig. Gen. Dana H. Born is Dean of the Faculty, U.S. Air Force Academy

CC: Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force
Mikey Weinstein, Founder and President, Military Religious Freedom Foundation

Dear Lt Gen Gould:

I remember with such fondness working with you at the Pentagon when you were SecAF Widnall’s Military Assistant and I was her speech writer.  I also recall you saying to me once, “even though you’re not a USAFA grad, I think of you as a Zoomie.”  I happily took that as the compliment it was intended to be. 

Despite serving nearly 10 years on the faculty of USAFA (’88-’93 and ’04-’09), I largely lost what loyalty I had to it after being disgracefully pulled out of the classroom and investigated for the egregious sin of bringing LGBT Air Force Academy graduates (one of them with 44 combat missions), the early members of the Blue Alliance, into my classroom of firsties.  Apparently these fourth year cadets were theoretically ready to supervise people or fly a plane, but USAFA thought that the topic of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy was too much for them to handle.  Finishing a career under the cloud of a CDI (Commander-Directed Investigation) cast an all-encompassing pall on what had otherwise been 25 fairly successful and productive years.  I’m telling you this because that is why I volunteer my time to Mikey Weinstein as Advisor to MRFF on LGBT matters.  While I endured the embarrassment of the CDI other faculty members (unbeknownst to me) called Mikey to tell him what was going on.  Those faculty members were mortified at how I was being treated.  So, Mikey reached out to me and has valued my opinion ever since; that's part of what has gained Mikey and MRFF five Nobel Peace Prize nominations.

Four years later, even after the end of the ban on lesbians, gays, and bisexuals in the military, it seems as if a whole new battle has begun.  For some reason, sensitivity to the personal opinions of the homophobes takes priority over human rights.  Deferring to those who would deny rights is hardly new.  Segregated units and barracks were the accommodation given to racists in the military during and after World War II.  When I was a missile launch officer gender segregated missile crews were the accommodation given to wives who didn’t want their husbands pulling alert with a woman.    And now, “freedom of expression” is the accommodation being given to homophobes despite the damage it does to unit cohesion.  Just because something comes from a chaplain does not mean it’s OK.  I attend a Baptist church in Texas.  Yet I know of Baptists who, to this day, use the Bible to justify their opinion that races should not inter-marry.  Would it be OK for a military chaplain at USAFA to publicly denounce the marriage of an African-American 2nd Lieutenant to an Anglo 2nd Lieutenant in the Cadet Chapel upon graduation?  Why is it OK for chaplains, and even active-duty officers, to spout homophobic rhetoric even while they may be supervising LGB subordinates?

I will finish by asking you this.  Do you have openly gay or lesbian active duty faculty members to act as mentors within Spectrum, or even at large?  I suspect the answer is “no.”  Why do you suppose that is?   Lt Gen Gould, I’m sure your life partner would agree that the mentorship of female military members was a lifeline for women in uniform who came through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.  LGB persons in uniform would serve the same purpose today, if they weren’t in such fear of their command climate.

Edie

Edith A. Disler, PhD, MBA, Lt Col (Ret) USAF
MRFF Director of LGBQ Affairs

 

MRFF FEATURED BY FORBES: "MIKEY WEINSTEIN, AVENGING ANGEL OF MRFF"

Religious Computer Game Brings Wrath Down on Pentagon

Monday, February 25, 2013

Selected Article Excerpts:

  • May God have mercy on the Pentagon’s soul, for the lawyers may not. A computer game to train Army chaplains may draw a lawsuit from a civil liberties group who fear the game will become a tool for fundamentalist Christian coercion in the U.S. military.
  • Spiritual Triage is a tool to allow chaplains to train for a situation where there are mass casualties, including ministering to dying soldiers. The theory is that chaplains will get more practice in coping with highly stressful situations if they can supplement their face-to-face classroom training with a computer game.
  • Except that there are a couple of obstacles between the Army and eternal bliss. The first is that the Army’s Chaplain School says it never asked for the game and doesn’t want it. The second is Mikey Weinstein, the avenging angel of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, who says he may file a federal lawsuit to stop the development of the Spiritual Triage game. Though he won’t disclose his legal strategy, presumably it will focus on whether the game violates the separation of church and state.
  • Weinstein, himself a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, has long fought against what he and others see as a pervasive effort by fundamentalist Christians to impose their values on the U.S. military, which has been plagued for years with accusations of coercion and proselytizing by fundamentalist Christians among U.S. military personnel, as well as incendiary actions such as proselytizing among Afghans. Weinstein particularly points to the influence of dominionist theology, a militant, nationalistic belief which holds that the U.S. is a Christian nation that should be governed by Christian rather than secular law.
  • Yet I suspect the real question over Spiritual Triage won’t be the game itself, but rather who decides what goes into the game. As would be expected, the Army says it will be designed with input from military chaplains. But if Weinstein’s fears come true, the content will be more likely to reflect the values of a specific religious denomination. That may or may not happen, but Weinstein is correct to point out that there are so many religious denominations among the major religions that they can’t possibly all be included.

Click here to read this article at Forbes

 

MRFF FEATURED BY NBC NEWS

Army wants outspoken West Point cadet to pay up

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Selected Article Excerpts:

  • An Army cadet who left West Point Academy just months shy of his graduation to make a high-profile protest of religious proselytizing at the school now faces Pentagon demands that he repay the cost of his education — either through active-duty service or by paying as much as $250,000.
  • Page's supporters see demand for recoupment as punishment for a scathing commentary he wrote calling attention to what he considers illegal Christian proselytizing at West Point and discrimination against non-religious cadets. The commentary was published in The Huffington Post as he was leaving. [...] Page's supporters believe he's being punished — apparently not by West Point, but the Pentagon — for his unflattering portrayal of academy.
  • "This may be the clearest example I've ever seen of reprisal and retribution," said Mikey Weinstein, the president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit watchdog group that battles evangelism infused in military business. "It sends an extremely dangerous message to anyone who wants to stand for their constitutional rights."

  • Weinstein, who recently brought Page on as his assistant at the nonprofit, says that in December he and Page separately received assurances from West Point leadership that the former cadet would not be called into active duty or handed a huge bill for his early departure.

  • Weinstein is threatening legal action. "My message for the Army is they better be ready to face a whistleblower lawsuit," he said. "If they are not going to fairly state why they are doing this, they can tell it to the 12 members of a federal jury."

Click to read this article at NBC News


MRFF FEATURED BY
HUFFINGTON POST

Blake Page, Cadet Who Quit West Point Over Religious Objections,
May Have To Pay Back Army

Friday, February 15, 2013

Selected Article Excerpts:

  • A former West Point cadet who resigned from the military academy in November over what he says was unconstitutional Christian proselytizing may now owe the institution hundreds of thousands of dollars in a turn of events that have left the 24-year-old "shocked."
  • Now, Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, is accusing the Army of retaliating against Page for going public with his story. The new controversy was first reported by NBC News on Thursday.
  • Weinstein added that if the Army chooses to seek financial reimbursement from Page, his organization will pursue a "massive federal lawsuit," citing the Military Whistleblower Protection Act.

    Graduates of West Point are not typically responsible for paying tuition while at the institution. Instead, students "pay off" their educational costs through military service. Students who resign or are dismissed from West Point may be subject to recoupment.

  • Approximately one week after Page left West Point -- and after he went public with his story -- he said he received a call from an official telling him that a mistake had been made and the superintendent's decision was not final. The official added that Blake should "keep his head down" until a final decision on recoupment had been made -- a process that could take up to six months.
  • Weinstein, an Honor Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, said that it is "extremely rare" for the secretary of the Army to rule against a recommendation coming through the chain in command, making the move to investigate Page's possible recoupment a clear "declaration of war" against the former cadet.

    "They're screwing this kid for standing up and doing something bravely,"
    Weinstein said.

Click to read this article at HuffPost

 

MIKEY'S COLUMN FEATURED BY HUFFPOST, TRUTHOUT

‘Django Unchained’ Christians Evangelizing
Military Youth on the Taxpayer’s Dime

By Mikey Weinstein, MRFF President and Founder

Monday, February 25, 2013

Selected Article Excerpts:

  • From the onset of Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2001, U.S. military servicemembers and their families have borne the tragic brunt of prolonged operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Herculean task at hand, spanning the full spectrum of human endurance, from coping with multiple deployments to the hopelessly bleak, inhospitable frontlines of the War on Terror hasn’t fallen on war fighters alone. Indeed, the oozing sores of perpetual anxiety, debilitating depression, and other extreme disorders have proven themselves across military and civilian communities to be communicable diseases, affecting servicemembers and their dependents alike. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has become a household word across the nation, as active-duty servicemembers, for the first time in a generation, are more likely to fall on their own swords and take their own lives than face death in a war zone. This national tragedy continues to play out despite the phasing out of the U.S. role in Iraq and a sharp drop in troop levels in Afghanistan.
  • Some of the most acute psychological torment has fallen heaviest on servicemembers’ children. Speaking as a veteran "military brat" from a family with a long and proud multigenerational tradition of service in our nation’s armed forces, I can surely empathize with these youth in terms of the trials that they face.

    Enter Tarantinoesque fiction – except it’s real.

    It came as a sickening jolt of shock when we at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) learned that a group of savagely opportunistic fundamentalist Christian vultures known as "Club Beyond" are using taxpayer dollars – let me emphasize that point one more time: TAXPAYER DOLLARS – and Department of Defense property to aggressively prey on these youth, as well as advertising their activities via the official Army.mil website. Club Beyond’s mission, in their own words, is to "‘celebrate life with military kids, introducing them to the life giver, Jesus Christ, and helping them to become more like him,’ while offering youth a chance build meaningful relationships." [italics added]. All of the foregoing would be just fine and dandy if only the United States military was not subject to the United States Constitution – but it is. Thus, the just-mentioned "sickening jolt"... (continued, click to read more)

Click to read this article at Huffington Post

(also featured in Truthout and Alternet)

 

MIKEY'S COLUMN FEATURED BY HUFFPOST, TRUTHOUT

Evolution, Revolution, and the U.S. Senate
Confirmation of Lt. General Robert L. Caslen

By Mikey Weinstein, MRFF President and Founder

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Selected Article Excerpts:

  • Since receiving word a little over a week ago of President Obama's nomination of Lt. General Robert L. "Aroma of Jesus Christ" Caslen to become the next Superintendent (i.e. "Commander") of West Point, I have been voraciously digesting volumes of information in order to determine what position I should take on his pending Senate confirmation. [...] [Caslen] once publicly demonstrated that his personal mission of Christian proselytizing and evangelism was significantly superior to his sworn oath of commission to the United States Constitution in the scandalous Christian Embassy video [...]

  • Indeed, it was never Caslen's chosen denomination of Christianity, nor his professed personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which was the gravamen of our unconstitutional charges and effusive outrage. Far from it. What WAS the source of this "anti-Caslen" fury was the time, place, and manner in which the General chose to promote and practice his faith. He chose wrong on all three categories – egregiously so. Well, that was then and this is now.
  • OK, everyone, please grab your coats - because hell is apparently freezing over. After literally painstaking consideration of every salient detail available to me, I am pleased to announce that the Military Religious Freedom Foundation fully endorses the United States Senate's confirmation of the President's nomination of Lt. General Robert Caslen to the position of Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
  • It is important for me to make something exceedingly clear to the nearly 200 MRFF clients at West Point, along with the well over 31,200 MRFF clients throughout the U.S. armed forces (the overwhelming majority of whom - approximately 96% - are either practicing Protestants or Roman Catholics). The Lt. General Caslen who, pending likely Senate confirmation, will soon be returning to West Point as the Superintendent, does not at all appear to be the same Brig. General Caslen who chose to use his position [...] to unconstitutionally endorse his dominionist, fundamentalist, evangelical Christian faith in uniform.
  • Shortly after the announcement of Caslen's nomination, I began reaching out to MRFF clients and supporters who have been working closely with Lt. Gen. Caslen in the "post-Christian Embassy" era and especially during his current deployment to Iraq, where he is serving as the Chief of the Office of Security Cooperation. [...] Without exception, every one of these men and women who are directly associated with MRFF have reported to me that Lt. Gen. Caslen today has a powerfully revised view of the world that particularly includes a genuine respect for plurality, diversity, and the dire national security implications of unbridled religious extremism in all of its poisonous and divisive forms.
  • This new position, where Caslen will be THE titular leader of America's oldest - and arguably most iconic and venerable - military academy will be a thorough test of the magnitude of his "evolution" and of his comprehensive mettle. For instance, to stand up and say that branding an entire cadet regiment as Christian Crusaders is wrong will take guts. Further, to acknowledge that flaunting Christian pageantry at mandatory events by requiring prayers is wrong would be revolutionary. [...] For Lt. General Caslen to avoid that same mortally myopic oversight, to ignore the shameful plank in West Point's eye while speaking out against specks in the eyes of others (à la Matthew 7:3), would be a significant transformative first step on the long, laborious road to a truly Constitutionally compliant U.S. Military.
  • It is presently unclear, of course, as to what Caslen will actually do at West Point. What IS clear is that he incontrovertibly deserves and merits the chance to do it.
  • I will continue to monitor Lt. General Caslen's performance and seek a meaningful, good faith dialogue between him and MRFF in order to unequivocally ensure that the precious religious freedom of the many MRFF clients at West Point are assiduously defended from the top down and even bottom up. I believe that Lt. General Caslen has "evolved." It is my conviction that he has well learned that one's personal religious rights, be they evangelical Christian rights or not, shall never trump the bedrock civil and human rights of one's fellow Americans. That fact is foundational Constitutional truth.

Click to read article at Huffington Post

(also featured in Truthout and Alternet)

 

MRFF FEATURED BY HUFFINGTON POST

Army Threatened With Religious Freedom
Lawsuit Over Alleged Sectarian Prayer

Friday, February 8, 2012

Selected Article Excerpts:

  • Staff Sgt. Victoria Gettman is frustrated and disappointed by what she calls a "completely incompetent" response to complaints she filed in September to her chain of command after a Christian chaplain allegedly gave a sectarian prayer following a mandatory military event at Fort Sam Houston.

    Now, more than four months after the incident in San Antonio, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is preparing to file a federal lawsuit if the Army refuses to review -- and appropriately respond -- to Gettman's complaints.

    Gettman's story was first reported by The Huffington Post this past October: She recounted how she and her fellow soldiers from the 264th Medical Battalion were attending a mandatory suicide prevention session -- part of the military's resilience training -- when a chaplain took the stage and led the room in a mass prayer that Gettman, an atheist, characterized as sectarian.
  • She now feels that she has exhausted all of her options. "I'm so frustrated, I'm so aggravated," Gettman said. "I just don't know what to do."

    However, Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, doesn't consider Gettman's case closed, and he and his litigation team intend to pursue an "aggressive" federal lawsuit if the Army fails to rectify Gettman's complaints.

    Weinstein said the foundation's message to the Army is twofold: First, the Army should "move with light speed" to review and remedy this case. Second, if the Army decides not to review Gettman's complaints, Weinstein said the Army should prepare to "tell it to the judge."

    "We are waiting for the Army to put the final nail in the coffin of its administrative attempt to address what has happened here, which is nothing more than the most vitriolic, humiliating and dehumanizing reprisal and retribution [against] a wonderful soldier,"
    Weinstein charged.
  • Weinstein contends, however, that Gettman's complaint is not an anomaly: Not only did 11 other soldiers attending the suicide prevention program file complaints, but there have been numerous allegations within the ranks of Christian proselytizing in recent years.

    Gettman said this whole incident has raised her concerns about young soldiers who are "very inexperienced with the rules and regulations" and may be dissuaded from filing similar complaints in the future.

    "I am scared for the younger soldiers that try to go in there and make complaints because I know that it can be intimidating ... I had to fight my way," Gettman said. "I feel bad for all these young soldiers in this situation who are trying to get help."
     

Click here to read this article at Huffington Post

2/22/13 - Christian fundamentalist blog attacks MRFF for opposing mandatory prayer ceremony, implies demonic possession

2/8/13 - DEFENSE NEWS – MRFF Steps Up to Challenge Computer Training Game,
"Trojan Horse" for Fundamentalist Christianity

2/5/13 - AMERICANS UNITED – Cadet Coercion Condemned

 

You can see the above stories, as well as much more, at MilitaryReligiousFreedom.org


Nightline logo
MRFF's Inbox

We at MRFF receive an enormous amount of email both from our supporters and our detractors. "MRFF's Inbox" allows us to share these emails with you. The following is a small sampling of the sometimes vibrant, sometimes vile correspondence which we've received within the past month:

FEATURED INBOX ENTRY

Gutted

Was this a follower
of the Prince of Peace?
Calling on Christ to gut a son of Abraham,
son of Isaac and son of Jacob?
This man
called on the
One who called on us to
"love our enemies",
"pray for those who persecute you" and to
"turn the other cheek" in times of
conflict.
No.
This man followed Mars,
the Roman God of War while he
spewed his anti-Christ(ian)
hate.
Or perhaps,
this man was a
follower of Huitzilopochtli,
the Aztec God of War,
who demanded human blood sacrifice.
The butcher God who required
Dismemberment.
Disembowelment.
Hearts ripped from chests.
Flailing bodies thrown down
the blood soaked temple
like so much litter.
No, this man of hate did nothing but
gut the gospel.
Gut the love,
Gut the forgiveness.
Someday this killer will hear
the Prince of Peace say
sadly, "Get away from me, I
never knew you."

18 February 2013 (name withheld - author is a devout Evangelical Christian and stalwart MRFF supporter)

This poem was written in response to this recent hate mail received by MRFF:

Michael Weinstein of MFRR: You and your foundation are the largest threat to America. And it’s historic and most important national Christian faith. My family and I and our church and pastor take happiness in knowing what Jesus will be doing to you and your family and followers of the darkness. As he will disembowel the antichrist and his evil legions, Christ will rip out your guts and the innards of your wife. And of your children and followers and worshipers of your dark path. Your spent entrails will pave the path for his Kingdom of Peace to come forever. This is your purpose. And what your inherit and deserve. (name withheld) 


Requesting MRFF’s Help at the
Air Force Academy for our Cadet Child

Dear Mr. Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation,

We are the very concerned parents of one of the Air Force Academy cadets you are representing in the current matter of the anti-gay “jewfaq.com” website reference currently being used by the Air Force Academy’s Chaplains Dept. to apparently “explain” the totality of the Jewish faith on line. Our son (or daughter) happens to be gay. He (or she) is not “out” at the Academy for fear of the consequences that would occur if this fact was made known. This is his (or her) decison and we respect that. We are Jewish and belong to a conservative synagogue in (city and state withheld). Our rabbinical staff does not believe that “being gay” is a sin or unnatural. We have told them of this matter and they are as shocked at what the Academy has done as we are. Our child was Bar (or Bat) Mitvahed there and confirmed as well. Our child is a person of great integrity and dignity. And he (or she) does not deserve to have his (or her) sexuality compared to that of a “kleptomaniac”. We do not understand why the Academy’s Chaplains are refusing to replace that debasing website with one of the many which do not exhibit bigotry towards anyone else? Our child is under enough stress as is our whole family over this incident. We love our child and want to eliminate the source of this official Academy-sanctioned shame. Can you please tell us what you and MRFF can do to help us? It’s clear that the Academy will do nothing in this regard. Our home phone number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. Please call after 5 pm ( time zone withheld).

sincerely,

(USAF Academy cadet’s parent’s indentifiers all withheld)

Click here to read the compiled correspondence regarding the homophobic Orthodox Jewish fundamentalist links circulated in internal U.S. Air Force Academy memo


Thank You Professor Samuels

Mr. Weinstein, on behalf of the entire 4 generations of our family from (state withheld) please express our sincerest thanks to Professor Steve Samuels for standing up for our (cadet’s name withheld) who is so dear to our hearts. We know that the Professor is the only one brave enough to come forward and do the right thing. My father was in the Battle of the Bulge in WW II and would have loved to have met Professor Samuels. He admired courage and conviction above all. Father would have been incensed at how the AFA has allowed these personal attacks on our cadet (son or daughter) and so many others too. Our cadet (son or daughter) is gay. (He/she) does not yet feel able to come forward at the AFA about this because of the hatred the MRFF has revealed. None of us blame (him/her). The MRFF is fighting for (him/her) and in doing so also fights for so many others as well as the legacy of my dad and the honor he cherished. We know the fight would be much harder for you and the MRFF without Professor Samuels coming forward. We would hug you all if we could. But for now this e-mail is our best hug.

(USAF Academy cadet’s parent’s name and location withheld)


MRFF on Guard vs. the Self-Righteous Hypocrites

Brother Mikey
Sister Bonnie

Dude. I wasn’t shocked by your endorsement of Gen. Caslen.

I believe you are thoughtful, well balanced, and that you do your homework with rigorous diligence & attention to detail.

The proof is in the tasting of the pudding. Has Gen. Caslen reverted to a more covert and subtle tack? Does he see the need to keep personal salvation separate from public image of Government? How does he define need?

I trust your judgement. You have become the focal point of very shrewd believers. You provide the fulcrum to focus their strategy. The "where do I put the lever?"

I trust you because you ratify my thoughts, which I have nurtured for decades.

I trust you to be a man of action, a knight errant on guard against the depredations of the self-righteous, the hypocritical, and the fascist.

I trust you to be on guard against the knife in the back, the spotless leopard.

Semper Fi,

Hugs to All

2/12/13 - VMFA-122

2/8/13 - Thanks for MRFF’s Advocacy

2/7/13 - Jesus is Going to Rip Your Guts Out

2/5/13 - Your Organization is Changing the Course of History

 

Click here to read the many more emails which MRFF has received in the MRFF Inbox!


MRFF Needs Your Constant Vigilance to Uncover Unconstitutional Religious Incursions in the Military

The constitutional violations occurring in our military are so numerous and widespread
that we can't possibly find all of them ourselves. MRFF counts on its supporters and volunteers --
the indispensable "eyes and ears" who alert us to everything from the most egregious of constitutional
violations to articles we might be interested in.

So, keep the emails coming, and never think that anything is too insignificant or assume
that we might already know about it. You never know -- you might have stumbled into the
next bombshell of a story and not even realize it.


Please report anything that may be of concern to: [email protected]


NO SNOWFLAKE IN AN AVALANCHE: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, its Battle to Defend the Constitution, and One Family's Courageous War Against Religious Extremism in High Places (Vireo, 2012)

By Michael L. "Mikey" Weinstein and Davin Seay

Click here to learn more


SUPPORT MRFF!

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The media outlets referenced in the links above have no affiliation with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, nor have expressed endorsement thereof. While we make every effort to ensure that news articles pertaining to our Foundation remain available for you to access, we are unable to guarantee that the articles linked above will remain online and unchanged indefinitely