Michael Weinstein has been working hard to recover from his self-inflicted public relations debacle that began with the Sally Quinn article praising his ‘heroic’ and substantial influence over the US Air Force. As part of that effort, Weinstein got a high-ranking supporter to write a letter defending him — anonymously, of course.
Mikey ~
…As a retired, multiple-star, senior officer (General or Admiral) you know that I was asked by the Chief of Staff…to be my Service’s direct day-to-day interface with you. During those three years, and specifically because of that relationship, my Service avoided countless…breaches of religious civil rights…
As a direct result of this relationship, we had military Service-wide policies written/documented for our entire Service to follow!!
Once again, though, Weinstein’s ego may have undone his own attempts at obfuscation.
The supportive letter refers to “policies” written for the “entire Service” as a “direct result” of Weinstein. The only service that has done that, which Weinstein has claimed influence over, no less, is the Air Force. Based on the timeline, the Chief of Staff is certainly Read more…
In a shockingly blunt piece, Michael Weinstein seems to have inadvertently undermined his own defense against those who claim he’s “anti-Christian” by essentially admitting that he’s opposed to a vast swath of American Christianity. Said Weinstein [emphasis added]:
Do you know that in this country in 1970, we only had ten mega-Evangelical churches, meaning those with 2,000 or more members? But after 9/11, a new mega-Evangelical church has opened up in our country every 48 hours.
That is their right. That’s fine. But when they engage the machinery of the state and the people in the government, that’s when we have a terrible, hideous problem.
And this is coming right down from the DoD, up and down the chain of command…
Weinstein seems to clearly convey Christians from these ubiquitous “mega-Evangelical churches” (as opposed to Evangelical megachurches?) are the ones “engaging Read more…
The US military has long recognized the value of the family, even as it applies directly to the military mission. For that reason the military services have had a variety of programs to not only counter divorce, but also to help make marriages and families stronger. An Air Force Times article notes budget cuts have apparently not eliminated the marriage enrichment programs in the Air Force.
The Army’s long-running program is Strong Bonds, a chaplain-led retreat which gets husbands and wives away from the day-to-day toils to focus on their relationship:
It’s a chance to really look at marriage with Read more…
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has announced the entire Department of Defense will mimic the “health and welfare” inspection conducted by the Air Force late last year to round up “offensive” materials.
The workplace searches will be conducted by “component heads” before July 1, and Hagel expects each service to submit a report summarizing the findings. The Air Force leadership will submit a report based on inspections it ordered in late 2012 and will not be expected to conduct a new round of searches.
The article also notes Secretary Hagel intends to hold leaders responsible for the “cultural change” necessary for an environment of “dignity and respect.”
The “culture” has recently come under scrutiny, as Commandant of Read more…
The blog of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) describes how the group took a 1980 Cessna 206 and broke it down to its smallest components in an extensive rebuild effort:
[The] 1980 Cessna TU206, named HC-BMO, served 20 years in Ecuador… After accumulating almost 10,000 flight hours (about 1.4 million miles) we reassigned it to Africa. But first, we routed it through Nampa for a new engine and a major airframe overhaul…
We drilled out and replaced over 11,000 rivets to expose and check every square inch of every surface. We inspected each Read more…
Update: Respected Christian leader John Piper agrees with calling Obama’s statement “blasphemous.”
The ACLU is applauding the Military Access to Reproductive Care and Health (MARCH) for Military Women Act, which would allow US military facilities to conduct abortions if paid for privately.
This sentence pretty much summed up the ACLU position:
It’s not hyperbole to say that overturning the ban on privately-funded abortions on military bases can save lives.
Yes, they actually said killing innocent children “saves lives,” but in the current culture that shouldn’t be too surprising. The Baptist Press noted President Obama said pro-life laws — which are an effort to protect children — are “impeding progress.”
“After decades of progress there’s still those who want to turn back the clock to policies more suited to the 1950s than Read more…
In case you were wondering why the Washington Post blog on Michael Weinstein’s visit to the Pentagon made him out to be so “heroic” — and never once raised a critical eye to his cause – it’s because the author, Sally Quinn, supports his cause.
In her recent commentary on the National Day of Prayer, Quinn calls the National Day of Prayer “unconstitutional”, and she spends most of her column lightly mocking Greg Laurie’s call for a national religious revival. Tellingly, she never pauses to acknowledge Laurie’s liberty to make such statements.
Quinn also criticized the US Army at Fort Leonard Wood for Read more…
Michael Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation has a history of claiming only the “right kind” of Christians deserve religious liberty in the US military. In 2011, the MRFF demanded the US Air Force Academy rescind a speaking invitation given to someone who “does not represent true Christianity” [emphasis added]. For that same event, Weinstein was personally outraged the invitation was given to the wrong kind of Christian. In another scenario, Chris Rodda readily admitted the MRFF opposed the religious beliefs of Christians, not any action or conduct on their part.
The MRFF just recently refined their definition of “acceptable” religious Christian belief.
Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired Army Colonel and recent addition to the MRFF. He also joined Michael Weinstein at his much ballyhooed Pentagon meeting last month. Wilkerson recently published a tirade against “so-called” Christians who are the target of the MRFF’s wrath:
Another perniciously destructive anomaly threatened good order and discipline in the ranks. And this one came from so-called Christians.
I write “so-called” simply because these people do not believe in the Christ of the Scriptures; they believe in some human-crafted, almost demonic Read more…
The Wall Street Journal had a fairly balanced article on the recent dust up over Air Force leaders choosing to meet with religious freedom critic Michael Weinstein at the Pentagon in late April. Author Mollie Ziegler Hemingway accurately notes that there’s been a bit of sensationalism in recent headlines:
Initial reports on these matters were exaggerated, taken out of context or simply false.
But she also acknowledges that, exaggerated or not, there are still some valid concerns:
For one thing, the Pentagon statement clarifying that military personnel would not be court-martialed if they “evangelize” also said that “proselytization” is considered a [UCMJ] offense. Yet the definitions of those two words are almost identical…
Further, the WSJ piece notes that regardless of any hyperbole in recent claims, there remains concern over the mere fact the Air Force met with Weinstein: Read more…
Jay Sekulow of The American Center for Law and Justice recently sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel calling on them to “repudiate” any relationship the US military had with Michael Weinstein. Sekulow, who once debated Weinstein at the US Air Force Academy, previously called Weinstein a bigot. In a new article, he’s called Weinstein a “nut” and legal hack who’s all bluster and no substance [emphasis added]:
“The rhetoric and language [Weinstein] uses is hateful; it is violent. He threatens physical violence on people. He’ll beat them up and he’ll fight to the death,” he tells American Family News. “[Weinstein] is a nut - and I don’t use that word lightly…”
“Look at [Weinstein's] casework – oh wait, it’s very tough to find. You know why? He never won a case in court,” notes Read more…
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom said Afghanistan has improved, but it still suffers from poor religious freedom:
Afghans still can’t debate religion or question prevailing Islamic orthodoxies without fear of being punished, a U.S. commission said in a new report on Tuesday…
The environment for exercising religious freedom remains “exceedingly poor” for dissenting members of Afghanistan’s Sunni Muslim majority and for minorities, such as Shiite Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs Read more…
For the third time in a week, the US military released a statement attempting to articulate the DoD’s policy on religious freedom. In response to multiple media questions, LtCmdr Nathan Christensen issued the following statement [emphasis added]:
There is no DOD wide policy that directly addresses religious proselytizing. Furthermore, there is no effort within the department to make religious proselytizing a specific offense within the UCMJ, including under Article 134.
Service members may exercise their rights under the 1st Amendment regarding the free exercise of religion unless doing so adversely affects good order, discipline, or some other aspect of the military mission; even then, the Department seeks a reasonable religious accommodation for the service member. In general, service members may share their faith with other service members, but may not forcibly attempt to convert others of any faith or no faith to their own beliefs.
Concerns about these issues are handled on a case by case basis by the leaders of the unit involved.
In other words, the prior statement that did try to “directly address religious proselytizing” is…retracted?
The statement essentially reverts the DoD from the “new” (first, “uncomfortable,” then evangelism vs proselytizing) back to the “old” more Read more…
This is perhaps one of the funniest things on The Internet:
Casey Weinstein: Daniel, make your points, but hyperbole like calling people ‘enemies of the constitution’ won’t stand Read more…
Update: USAF Public Affairs took the somewhat unusual step of contributing to the comments sections of a few articles that derided Gen Welsh’s comments. LtCol John Sheets issued the following statement on behalf of the CSAF:
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III gave the following statement to clarify what he meant in using the phrase ‘hook up mentality’ to describe the culture from which the military recruits its people: “My reference was certainly not blaming the victim; it was based on some young men treating young women with a complete lack of respect. There is no place for sexual
assault in our Air Force and we’re committed to solving this problem. As I’ve said to our Airmen many times, you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem.”
- Lt Col John Sheets, Air Force Public Affairs
That seems consistent with the fair reading of his original statement (for which the Washington Post provided more context). Young men and women treat each other with a lack of respect in the modern social context of sex. They then bring that into the Air Force, and the Air Force has to deal with it.
On Tuesday General Mark Welsh, Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, appeared to indicate that the moral culture of society was having an impact on the culture of the Air Force:
In testimony Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Air Force’s top commander, Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, appeared to blame broader society, noting that 20% of women report they had been sexually assaulted “before they came into the military.”
“So they come in from a society where this occurs,” he said. “Some of it is the hookup mentality of junior high even and high school Read more…
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