Tag Archives: american family association

Widespread Public Support for Col Bohannon Builds

The Air Force Times reports that the Family Research Council and American Family Association delivered a petition to the Air Force last week calling for the reversal of adverse action taken against Col Leland Bohannon.

The petition…was accompanied by a letter signed by a coalition of 31 religious liberty advocacy groups that also asks Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to correct Air Force policy on religious expression.

The letter (PDF), signed first by Gen Jerry Boykin, reiterated the legitimate Read more

Mikey Weinstein, General Jerry Boykin Agree. Hell Freezes Over.

boykinmikeyA few weeks ago, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein praised a new Department of Veterans Affairs memorandum (PDF) regarding religious exercise and expression, saying the [emphasis added]

MRFF [was] validated by [the] Department of Veterans Affairs Memorandum! The VA finally gets it: POW/MIA Bible displays can’t favor one religion.

Yesterday, retired US Army General William “Jerry” Boykin commended the same Veterans Read more

American Family Association Lauds Air Force Academy

In a seemingly rare occurrence, the US Air Force Academy received a bit of positive press when the American Family Association asked people to sign a petition thanking USAFA for protecting the religious liberty of its cadets. Noting the faux-controversy of USAFA football players taking a knee in the end zone, the AFA first quoted the official USAFA response:

The United States Air Force Academy places a high value on the rights of its members to observe the tenets of their respective religion or to observe no religion at all. Recently, the United States Air Force Academy received a complaint about its football players kneeling in prayer. An inquiry was initiated, which found the football players’ actions to be consistent with Air Force Instruction 1-1 and its guidance on the free exercise of religion and religious accommodation.

The United States Air Force Academy will continue to reaffirm to cadets that all Airmen are free to practice the religion of their choice or subscribe to no religious belief at all. The players may confidently practice their own beliefs without pressure to participate in the practices of others.

The AFA concluded with:  Read more

Air Force Closes Door on Mikey Weinstein

The American Family Association recently highlighted the prior story about the Air Force re-issuing its Weinstein Guidance — essentially slamming the door on activist Michael “Mikey” Weinstein.

Notably, Weinstein himself seems to have provided evidence the door really was shut — across the Air Force.

On Monday, 23 March, Weinstein distributed an “open letter” demanding that Col Mark Slocum — commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB, NC — stop saying his Airmen were “doing the Lord’s work over there.”

Yes, Mikey Weinstein really had a problem with that euphemism, claiming Col Slocum’s use of “this unlawful phrase” placed him

in violation of [his] oath to the United States Constitution and USAF Instructions…

Weinstein demanded a reply, post haste:  Read more

Mikey Weinstein Demands Removal from AFA Bigotry Map

The American Family Association recently made waves when it published an interactive “bigotry map” designed to “expos[e] anti-Christian bigotry in America.”

Highlighted in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is none other than Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

MRFF on AFA Bigotry Map

While the atheist Center for Inquiry “demand[ed]” to be added to the AFA’s map, Weinstein’s reaction was not so jovial: He had his lawyers fire off a letter demanding to be removed. In an unusually whiney-sounding missive, Read more

Cadets Speak Out, Religious Liberty Group Meets with USAFA

While many people may have opinions, the fact is there is no Air Force policy or regulation at all that addresses Bible verses or other public displays of religion — even in an official office setting, even by Air Force “leaders.”

Based on actual military policy, Air Force cadets — and enlisted, and officers — remain free to have verses on their whiteboards and Bibles on their desks, even if some people don’t agree or like it.  The mere association of an Air Force leader with a religious belief cannot reasonably be interpreted to be improper — or else far more censorship and restriction on conduct needs to occur. After all, if a cadet can’t handle seeing a Bible verse on a whiteboard, how will he react when he sees his commander wearing a yarmulke?

US Air Force Academy cadets spoke out — anonymously — after the recent kerfuffle over Bible verses on dry erase boards. Their statements are mature and well-considered:  Read more

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