Michael Weinstein Pens Self-Indicting Diatribe
Michael Weinstein recently wrote a little-noticed piece that railed against the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. The article was clearly intended to incite a feud, with Weinstein making liberal use of shocking semantics, including calling CARL “extremist,” “fundamentalist dogs,” “putrid bigots,” and accusing them of “rape.” Such is the language of those who fight religious freedom, apparently.
The diatribe isn’t worth reading, but the self-indicting hypocrisy and lack of cognitive dissonance from the ever-bellicose Weinstein is entertaining:
- Weinstein calls CARL “Huxleyesque-named,” saying they “they can disingenuously twist, torture, and contort a phrase such as “religious liberty” into its total antithesis without batting an eyelash.”
This is the same man who founded the self-licking ice cream cone “Military Religious Freedom Foundation,” which has done more to try to restrict religious freedom in the military than any other hate group — even going so far as using videos of religious chapel services to raise money for Weinstein’s paycheck.
- Weinstein says CARL is an “activist organization of extremist former armed forces chaplains who claim to “speak on behalf [of] more than 2,000 chaplains.”
Weinstein’s MRFF is an activist organization of…well, himself, mostly. The MRFF is little more than a front that Weinstein runs out of his home computer and the local UPS store. Still, he claims to represent upward of 28,000 ill-defined “clients,” which he admitted is essentially anyone who has been in touch with him [updated link].
- Referring to CARL head retired Chaplain (Col) Ron Crews, Weinstein mentioned “Col. Crews’ preference for fantastic melodrama over reality…”
As has been noted here many times before, Weinstein has cornered the market on drama over fact. As a point of fact, there are more vitriolic adjectives in Weinstein’s piece than actual facts.
It seems possible Chaplain Crews and CARL must have scored some significant points to have earned the thousand-word vitriol from the effervescent Weinstein. Another explanation is just as likely, however: Weinstein has a penchant for latching on to whatever is in the news in the hope of being called by a news organization for his “professional” opinion. Weinstein may be trying to capitalize on the fact CARL has been frequently interviewed and cited in the news recently — while Weinstein has not. He’s essentially positioning himself as the counter-CARL, which, interestingly enough, is what he accuses CARL of doing to him:
CARL tries mightily to pose as the polar opposite of the [MRFF]…
Projection, much?
Weinstein fails to realize Chaplain Crews and CARL have legitimacy he lacks to speak on religious freedom in the military and the chaplaincy: They were (or are) military chaplains, not failed former JAGs. They retired from the military after distinguished careers, while — according to his own words — Weinstein had to threaten the Air Force with a lawsuit so he could quit the military service.
CARL has legitimately presented itself as representing the interests of chaplains and religious liberty. Weinstein’s MRFF has been nothing more than a fundraising vehicle for Weinstein and his personal vendetta against religious freedom.
Yep, Mikey became a “failed” JAG … so that he could go serve as a White House counsel in the Reagan administration! But you already know that. You just choose to omit the reason that Mikey left the military so that your readers won’t know that.
And MRFF’s Advisory Board includes two retired generals (and included a former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until he passed away in 2008), several other former military officers, one of whom was a chaplain, and a former Navy SEAL. Yep, that sure sounds like a bunch of people with no legitimacy to speak on religious freedom in the military.
And, yeah, Mikey works out of a home office and MRFF has a mailbox at a UPS location. And he makes such a secret of that, what with doing all those video interviews and having his photo taken in his home office.
And, since you’re obviously so up on where people work from, I’m sure you can give us the street address of CARL, right? I see that they have is a P.O. Box in Alexandria, Virginia. Odd that I can’t find a street address for their offices … hmmmm.
Looks like CARL is little more than a front that Crews runs from an undisclosed location and a P.O. box. Still they claim to represent more than 2,000 ill-defined chaplains, which essentially is just the number of chaplains endorsed by the endorsing agents on CARL’s “steering committee.”
@Chris Rodda
Speaking? Who is speaking? You, Mike Farrell, and Weinstein. Between the three of you, you’ve got a couple of non-descript years in the Army, a couple of enlisted years in the 1950s Marine Corps, and a man who almost spent more time in law school while “in” the Air Force than he did actually doing his job as an officer. Where’s your legitimacy?
And how many chaplains are in the US military? Not only is 2,000 a substantial percentage of those serving, their service can be directly attributed by endorsement to specific people — meaning their connection is well defined. By Weinstein’s math, I’m probably one of the ~28,000 he cites, though he probably doesn’t remember specifics anymore.
Besides, you missed the point: No one from CARL is out calling people bigoted putrid rapists. That certainly sounds like someone with legitimacy to speak on issues, doesn’t it?
It’s understandable you’re defensive. Its probably annoying working for someone with the temperament of a two-year old.
@JD
Slipping in a little ad hominem of your own this time, eh JD?
Mikey’s temperament is not that of a two year old. It is that of a man who has been exposed to the dark side of Christianity for some years now in a virtually thankless effort to safeguard religious freedom in the US Armed Forces.
To those of you in the military to whom religious freedom means freedom to exercise a virtual monopoly on religion, Mikey is a fearsome adversary. The fierce nature of today’s Dominon Christianity, which is an all encompassing bastradization of “The Great Commission,” calls for strict measures to expose and defeat it.
Religious freedom is for practitioners of all faiths but the incessant drum beat of Dominionist Christianity can be heard throughout the armed forces while its various support organizations create a cacaphony of archaic doctrines and threatening litanies in an effort to crush all other religious belief and non-belief systems.
Dominionist Christianity is an insidious and unAmerican form of worship far more suited to the Fascist Regimes of Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
CARL is just another facet of Dominionism is which only the most dedicated Dominion Christian candidates are vetted. It doesn’t take a nuclear physicist to figure that out.
Sooner or later history will judge the Dominionists and their treacherous activities and stories of wonderment will be told about their exploits in the military just as we now look back in horror at the crusades and inquisitions.
Pingback: God and Country » Chris Rodda Shows MRFF Opposition to “Wrong Kind” of Christians