SWIFT MRFF VICTORY
FEATURED BY
HUFFINGTON POST
The Pentagon Most Certainly is Listening to Mikey Weinstein
by Chris Rodda, MRFF Senior Research Director
Friday, May 31, 2013
Selected Article Excerpts:
-
For an undetermined number of years, adorning a wall in the Wagon Wheel dining hall at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho was an inspirational piece of artwork proclaiming the message of Matthew 5:9 -- "Blessed are the peacemakers" -- because nothing says "peacemaker" like the image of the medieval crusader that this message accompanied. The artwork was also emblazoned with the word "integrity," because nothing, of course, says "integrity" like an overt display of Christian nationalism.
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This morning, MRFF was contacted by a non-commissioned officer (NCO) from this Air Force Base, who was acting as the spokesperson for a group of twenty-two airmen who wanted this repugnant piece of artwork removed. Were these airmen a bunch of militant atheists who seek to rid the military of all vestiges of religion? Well, no. Seventeen of the twenty-two are Christians, both Catholic and Protestant.
The NCO speaking for the group had first contacted another organization in his area to ask for help in getting the artwork removed. That organization referred him to America's most diabolical defender of religious liberty -- the "Field General of the Godless Armies of Satan," as one prominent mega-church pastor dubbed him -- Mikey Weinstein, head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).
Mikey immediately called the Pentagon because, you know, he can do that (to the obvious consternation of the folks at breitbart.com, certain members of Congress, and other modern-day Christian crusaders).
Mikey gave the Air Force an hour to take action.
By the time Mikey talked to the Wing Commander at the base a few minutes later, the Wing Commander had already been contacted by the Pentagon.
Fifty-six minutes after his call to the Pentagon, the image of the crusader, with its odious melding of the crusader flag with the American flag, had been removed from the dining hall.
(scroll to "MRFF's Inbox" at the bottom of this email to read a letter from
the
USAF Non-Commissioned Officer who spoke on
behalf of he and his 21 aggrieved USAF comrades)
HUFFPOST: CHURCH-STATE SEPARATION UNDER DIRE
THREAT FROM LAWMAKERS
Kansas Religion Bill Urges Military To Defend 'Judeo-Christian Tradition' Against Alleged Discrimination
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Selected Article Excerpts:
- “There is certainly concern with what is going on at the Pentagon,” state Rep. Pete DeGraaf (R-Mulvane), a sponsor of the resolution, told The Huffington Post. “They are singling out Christianity with our troops. We have a long history of being a Judeo-Christian nation.”
- During Friday’s Senate debate, state Sen. Mitch Holmes (R-St. John) told colleagues that he knew of 20 instances of what he described as military attacks on Christianity, including a ban on Bible verses being printed on rifle scopes by the vendor and a proposed policy on proselytizing... The Defense Department has explained that the latter proposal would allow troops to express their faith but not to attempt to convert someone else. But Christian activists have raised concerns about Pentagon officials’ reported meeting with the head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation about the proposal.
- “Unfortunately the Pentagon’s attack is not on all religions,” he said. “We are a Christian nation that is open to all religions. Our Founding Fathers are Christian, our philosophy is Christian, our laws are based on Judeo-Christian ethics.”
THE WASHINGTON TIMES FEATURES MRFF IN 3-PART SERIES
Asking Mikey Weinstein:
Is America really a
"Christian nation"?
Friday, May 31, 2013
Selected Article Excerpts:
-
FLORIDA, May 30, 2013 — Many people disapprove of the separation between church and state because they believe that America is a “Christian nation”. Very often, this idea is supported by the claim that our Founding Fathers drafted and ratified the Constitution on theological grounds. What can be said about this subject?
Some think that secularizing the military is a bad idea because they perceive it as having strong Christian-based traditions. What about this viewpoint? Is it true that the U.S. military is unduly influenced by fundamentalist Christianity?
Mikey Weinstein is a retired Air Force prosecutor and former member of the Reagan Administration. He now heads the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization devoted to securing the religious liberties of our nation’s armed forces personnel. Said devotion has brought much criticism to the MRFF’s doorstep. Today, it might be described as one of the most controversial players in American politics.
In this first part of our discussion, he answers the questions mentioned above.
Asking Mikey Weinstein:
Why are you so controversial?
So, our job is to be the demanders of the commanders. Sometimes you can’t whisper in the ear of the charging elephant. You have to get out in the front with a gun and fire off a few rounds to stop — not shooting them, but to make them see what’s happening.
From our perspective, I don’t care what people think about me. I think about our over 33,000 members in the military.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Selected Article Excerpts:
-
FLORIDA, May 31, 2013 — Standing up for the separation between church and state has been Mikey Weinstein’s top priority at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Currently, how does he believe that the religious liberty of military members is being infringed upon?
Despite being an Air Force veteran and staff member during the Reagan Administration, Weinstein has become an intensely controversial figure as of late. Does he know of any specific reason for this? What is the primary motivation for him to continue on with his work at the MRFF?
In this second part of our discussion, the founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization devoted to securing the religious liberties of our nation’s armed forces personnel, answers these questions.
He also addresses some media criticism of his work.
Why do so many Americans love to hate secularism?
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Selected Article Excerpts:
-
FLORIDA, May 29, 2013 — “My husband is a proud USMC sniper,” the message begins.
“We and our children and all the real marines in our unit are proud Christians. We all walk our life in the Lord’s Word. This means that it is our number one job to bring the lost to the Word and Grace of our Savior. By all the means necessary. If we fail to do so all who do not find Christ will burn in the darkness of hell.
“Mr. Mikey Wienstien has dedicated his earthly life to satan. To trying to stop marines and soldiers and the American forces from bringing the fallen world to Christ. And most of the world is fallen. Christ is the one and only way. This makes Mikey the number one enemy of the Savior. Mikey on tv. Mikey on the radio. Mikey in the magazines and newspapers and Mikey all over the internet. Mikey won’t stop defying Christ and persecuting his followers in the service.
“But Mikey’s earthly life will end one day soon we pray. It is then he will pay. It’s then we will sing and smile. Our prayer circle on base is large and effective. Our prayer circle prayer is a dream of a world with no Mikey Wienstein in it...
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This is just one of the emails sent to Mikey Weinstein, a retired Air Force prosecutor and former member of the Reagan Administration. He now heads the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization devoted to securing the religious liberties of our nation’s armed forces personnel.
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There is something repulsive unfolding across the fruited plains.
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... this repulsive something is, in its rawest form, anger. It is the sort of anger which can easily be cultivated into a seething rage. Of course, rage needs a target. This is when time-tested scapegoats are chased by blood-hungry wolves, even if the poor goats have absolutely nothing to do with the original problem.
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It seems like this anger has found a target for the time being: secularism. That should be none too surprising as religions, especially those of a fundamentalist bent, often gain traction during times of financial hardship. Anti-semitism also flares up during economic downturns, and when the massive inferiority complex associated with this meets theological radicalism, all hell can break loose.
MRFF FEATURED
BY
ALTERNET
Vindicated: USMA Officer Upholds Tradition of Christian Privileging in the Military
By Blake Page, Director of MRFF Affairs at West Point
and Special Assistant to the President
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Selected Article Excerpts:
-
Since my resignation from West Point, one of the most frequently asked questions sent my way has been whether or not I have any regrets. Certainly, I have spent a few minutes contemplating the potential alternative timelines that could have come to be if I had stayed. But, no, I do not regret my decision. Countless events, observations and conversations since then have left me vindicated. Time and time again I have been shown that many in our military suffer from dangerous ideological pollution in the form of Christian supremacy, Dominionism or intolerance in general. Every day as the Special Assistant to the President of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) and Director of MRFF Affairs at West Point I see redundant and nauseating examples of the same old hat. Memorial Day weekend, MRFF sent me to West Point to see first hand how things have been developing since I left.
- A friend of mine invited me to attend his commissioning ceremony in the garden of quarters 100 (the Superintendent's house). Originally, it was scheduled for 2:30 that afternoon, but his "spiritual commissioning ceremony" was taking longer than expected. A spiritual commissioning ceremony is an event hosted by the infamous Officers Christian Fellowship (OCF), in which cadets are reminded of the Great Commission, to go and make disciples of all men, and are also prayed over for safe and successful military careers. Strangely, there are no videos of this ceremony or transcripts of the spiritual commissioning oath publicly available. I am curious to know what these officers are swearing to uphold that takes precedence over their oath to defend the Constitution. Once he had finished that ceremony, I met my friend and his family in the garden to wait for Major Jeffrey Pickler to finish performing the commissioning ceremony for other new lieutenants.
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Major Pickler is currently serving as the Aide-de-Camp to the Superintendent of West Point, Lieutenant General (LTG) Huntoon. He is also very involved in the OCF and was a mentor to my friend, whose ceremony he would be conducting that Saturday afternoon. Around 3:45 the ceremony began. It was going along wonderfully for a while. Then Major Pickler pontificated: "Mike is exactly the sort of junior officer I would want in my battalion!" Here he issued a long list of adjectives. Things like strong, intelligent, honorable, etc; all traits that are quite desirable in a good officer. After he appeared to be done with the list, he paused for a second and looked off into the sky before adding with emphasis, "Christian."
(scroll to "MRFF's Inbox" at the bottom of this email to read
about a similarly egregious incident of Christian supremacist
agitation at the U.S. Air Force Academy)
MRFF's Inbox
We receive an enormous amount of emails at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, both from our
supporters and detractors. "MRFF's Inbox" allows us
to share
this correspondence with you:
Dear Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation,
I want to send my deepest appreciation to you and your entire MRFF organization. I'm an NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) stationed at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, and I have been extremely disturbed and shocked by a clearly Christian picture of religious supremacy very prominently hanging in the dining facility of our Air Force Base. I was raised in a Christian home; however, this picture made me feel terribly uncomfortable, disheartened and disappointed. I and countless other Airmen were forced to look at this "Crusader/USAF" painting while we ate. We had no other choice. I believe the Department of Defense and the USAF shouldn't be shamefully promoting a specific religion, and immediately removing this unconstitutional "Crusader/USAF" framed painting is one small step in overcoming the epidemic of out-of-control Christian religious extremism in our U.S. military. For the record, there are 21 other MRFF clients at Mountain Home AFB that came forward to you and the MRFF on this particular matter of outrage and 17 of them are either Protestant or Roman Catholic. None of us felt as though we could go to our command chains or to any other USAF agency to fix this matter without suffering either direct or indirect negative repercussions. Mikey and MRFF, thank you for so passionately representing everyone's religious views and rights under the constitution, whether they are mostly Christian, as is the case here, or any and every other faith or even no faith! Again, thank you for getting this Christian superiority painting so swiftly removed.
(USAF Non-Commissioned Officer's name, rank, AFSC, and assigned USAF military unit all withheld)
Dear Mikey,
I am a USAFA faculty member with over 20 years of service. During that time, I have attended countless commissioning ceremonies at both service academies and ROTC detachments across the country. During that time, I have never witnessed such an outrageous and disgusting display of the breach of the wall of separation between church and state as I did on Tuesday evening at an official USAFA commissioning ceremony for Cadet Squadron 13. At the conclusion of an otherwise beautiful ceremony honoring the accomplishments of over 20 outstanding cadets, including one of my advisees, the Academy trotted out a crusty old dinosaur, Lt. Gen. (USAF-Ret., thankfully) Fain, USAFA Class of 1963, ostensibly to provide the cadets with a gift from the Association of Graduates but in reality to infect the new Second Lieutenants with some toxic advice that, if followed, will no doubt contribute further to the erosion of good order and discipline within our Air Force. After advising the cadets to “kiss your wives every night,” a shocking insensitivity considering that three of the twenty-three graduates were women, (unless he was expressing his advocacy of same-sex marriage, but only for them and not the males,) he further reminded the cadets that the oath they had just taken obligated them to defend the Constitution against all enemies, “foreign and domestic,” and followed that with an editorial comment that, in the future, those enemies will be far more likely to be domestic. If he is referring to the Christian dominionists whose daily assaults on the Constitution are allowed to continue unchecked by our senior leadership, then I would have to agree. But, by far, the most egregious, disgusting and offensive statement was the suggestion that the graduates should “help return this country to the Christian values it was founded on,” a perverted interpretation of both our nation’s history and current events and, in reality, an appeal to lend support to the ongoing assault on our democratic values and the attempt to replace them with a Christian theocracy. That a retired officer with a distinguished career in both the military and the private sector holds these views is disturbing enough, but the fact that he felt an official commissioning ceremony was an appropriate venue to air those views, and that the Academy leadership permitted him to do so without comment or correction is a demoralizing statement on just how far our Academy, our service and our nation have fallen under the sway of those who would destroy the democratic values our founding fathers established and that we have ALL sworn an oath to protect and defend. Such repeated and egregious insults further convince me that we have “lost the bubble” on both religious diversity and simple respect for human dignity and, honestly, make me wonder why I continue to work so hard to produce educated and responsible officers for our Air Force when my efforts being undermined by careless at best and malicious at worst actions by others across our Academy.
(USAF Academy Professor’s name, title, rank, Academy Faculty Department and all related academic credentials withheld)
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