Though media figures have ignored it when they’ve interviewed him, Michael Weinstein has long been an avid conspiracy theorist.  As he noted when he first started his self-described “war” against “the wrong kind” of Christians several years ago, it has nothing to do with religious freedom:  His war is about American Christians trying to take over the world to persecute Jews.  Quoth Weinstein:

In Plan A, evangelical Christians with a smile on their face will ask you to please, please, please accept their biblical worldview of Jesus. The problem with that is, inevitably, Plan A morphs into Plan B. They stop asking so nicely, and then you have the Holocaust, the pogroms, the Inquisition…
 
This country is going through—right now—a transition from A to B. 

As a Jew I confronted a situation through ears that still hear the cries of my people walking silently into the brick buildings that would reduce them to ash. I cannot stand still and let that happen to my country…

We can expect violence… They may try to harm me but I will not go quietly; I will be a Jew from the Warsaw Ghetto, not Berlin.

His acolytes have largely followed his conspiratorial example, claiming Christians are trying to take over the world via the US military, creating the “national security threat” that justifies their calls for what would otherwise be illegal government restrictions on religious liberty.  When questioned on the lack of evidence for their claims, the response is either that all their evidence is “close hold” or there isn’t any — because those dastardly Christians are just so good at deception.

As noted recently, on-again/off-again MRFF representative Rick Baker thinks a shadow government made up of James Dobson and Colonel Sanders is trying to take over the world for Jesus.  Leah Burton — one of only two MRFF board members — says Christians are trying to start a nuclear war for Christ.  There’s no proof, naturally, as is the case with every good conspiracy.

It should be no surprise, then, that long time MRFF supporter Gordon Duff says the recent “disappearance” of one to three US Air Force KC-135s can be explained by a secret mission to support Israel in a strike on Iran.  Better yet, Duff implies the aircraft may actually be involved in a “mutiny,” supporting Israel without authorization.  (Ed: Contradictory conspiracies, in which the same group claims Christians simultaneously plan a holocaust against Jews while fighting for Israel, only make them more believable, don’t you know?)  The tale might make good fiction, but its little more than that.  Duff has also famously claimed “dominionists” are in charge of most of the military, and that Christians plan to install Mitt Romney as President and then accede to Israel:

The planned overthrow and subsequent declaration of martial law is a massively financed operation [whose] impetus…is a belief by members of the “dispensationalist” pseudo-Christian heresy that pervades America’s military service academies that the United States should be subservient to the State of Israel.

One of Weinstein’s more famous faces has been Ed Asner — recently, the voice of Pixar’s “Mr. Fredrickson” and a favored MRFF patron.  Asner is likewise an ardent believer in conspiracies, claiming, for example, the official US government explanations for the terrorist attacks on 9/11 have been “proven to be one big lie from start to finish.” Asner says “al Qaeda couldn’t have done it.”

Even MRFF ally Mike Farrell, aka BJ Hunnicutt from M*A*S*H, while he declines to see a conspiracy in 9/11, was once a board member for the now-defunct Cult Awareness Network.  The group was eventually driven into bankruptcy, in part because they were found to have kidnapped and attempted to “deprogram” someone who was presumably a cult member.  It seems his conspiracy-hunting ways were part of his inspiration for joining Weinstein’s crusade.

It seems Michael Weinstein’s MRFF is nothing more than a collection of like-minded Jerry Fletchers, convinced that they — and they alone — have the clarity of vision to see the impending End of the World to be wrought by Christians.  Thus, his accusations against military Christians or the US government are biased by a mind that “clearly” sees impending world doom — with the perpetrators hiding in plain sight.  For his part, it seems that at some level, Weinstein — who frequently claims he and his family members concealed carry, and whose “charity” apparently pays for his nearly continuous armed security — really believes Christians are out to get him.  To the degree it undermines his apparent sanity, it is pitiable.

Unfortunately, some in the media and government fail to realize Weinstein is motivated not by a sacrificial love for the Constitution or religious freedom, but by a personal crusade against Christianity and a belief that “they” are out to get him — so he’s going to get “them” first.

Ironically, MRFF’s conspiracy theorists are so disconnected from reality their web of innuendo and accusations has successfully made the work of Chris Rodda — whose poorly supported internet ramblings resemble essays by high school freshmen but generally avoid conspiracy theories — almost seem sane.  Almost.  If she could just get past her inability to support her positions with true facts…