Tag Archives: camp arifjan

Jewish Chaplain Considers Messianic Jews

The issue of US military chaplains being Messianic Jews boiled over several years ago.  Ultimately, the Navy decided that a Messianic-Jewish chaplain-candidate had to wear the Christian cross as a religious symbol, rather than the Jewish tablets he wanted.  He chose to resign instead, and no one else has stepped forward to continue the controversy.

Still, there are Messianic Jews within the military, and Chaplain David Frommer wrote about his experiences while deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, when he discovered that one of the half-dozen Jews in his congregation was Messianic.

one of the Jewish civilian contractors arrived with a personal box of Havdalah supplies, prepared to conduct the service on his own in the room across the hall. He was one of my favorite congregants and had enthusiastically participated in all the services and classes I had offered…“It’s so Read more

Sergeants Major Become US Army Chaplains

An official Army article documents the unique stories of Chaplain (Maj) James Freitag and Chaplain (1Lt) Cecil Edwards — two men who rose to high enlisted ranks before being commissioned as chaplains:

With a combined total of 60 years of service, two former reserve component sergeants major are currently serving as chaplains and both are deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Of the soldiers who enlist in the Army, very few reach the rank of sergeant major. In the history of the Army only two sergeants major have become chaplains.

It has long been said that, in general, former enlisted troops can Read more

Atheist Soldier, MRFF Member Goes Anonymous for Jesus Manga

Michael Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation has long relied on “anonymous clients” to support its ends (to their detriment, thanks to Chris Rodda). Conveniently, the lack of detail helps Weinstein obfuscate the appearance of being a self-licking ice cream cone — of creating and then “saving” his own clients — and it sometimes helps his numbers, as when supporters provide both attributable and anonymous support to his cause.

Unfortunately, Weinstein has been caught in these machinations before, as in 2010, when the USAFA pagan lay leader, TSgt Brandon Longcrier, was quoted publicly in the local paper, and then suddenly those same quotes appeared in an “anonymous” message to the MRFF.  Longcrier was already associated with the MRFF.  In other words, the complaint originated from within the MRFF, despite Weinstein’s efforts to portray it otherwise.

Similarly, a band of brothers teamed up with Weinstein to protest the USAFA invitation given to retired Lt Clebe McClary.  All but one of those participating in the public outcry were already activists associated with the MRFF — a fact they conveniently omitted, an obvious attempt to make their movement seem more “broad.”

In April of 2010, Akiva David Miller — also of the MRFF — wrote a letter to the MRFF complaining about religious symbolism in NASCAR.  Again, a member of the MRFF was writing a public letter to the MRFF — all for public show.

In other words, these aren’t forlorn, helpless troops calling out to Weinstein to be their savior.  They’re already “clients” of Weinstein, and they’re either volunteering or being solicited to pen diatribes that come across as pathetic and plaintive cries for help from the “repressed.”

Now, Weinstein’s done it again.  In fact, Weinstein may have gone a step further and actually manufactured a complaint to fit his needs.

Yesterday, Weinstein released a message complaining about a “Jesus Manga” comic book, calling it “anti-Semitic” and saying it “may” be homophobic Read more