Tag Archives: military religious freedom foundation

Military Religion Question of the Day: Mundy

According to Michael Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation, in the following video,

In violation of military regulations, Lt. Col. Mundy appeared in full uniform on the Christian television program Total Victory Today.

So, did now-Colonel Mundy violate a military regulation? If so, which one?

If you don’t think he violated one, what’s your response to those who say he did?

Don’t know the answer? Ask below, and stay tuned for an update.

The full video, which is nearly twice as long as the YouTube version below, was available on the Total Victory Today organizational website.

Praise for Jewish Chaplain, MREs at Army Base

As previously noted, last year a Jewish US Army basic trainee at Fort Benning was assaulted for reasons that he claimed were related to his faith.  His assailant was discharged, and the victim, Michael Handman, was allowed to leave the Army.

Several news sources are now crediting that scandal with recent activities occurring at Fort Benning.  These actions have included the addition of Kosher MREs at the dining hall and a permanent party Jewish Chaplain.  The base has previously had a Jewish Chaplain, though the relatively small number of Jewish Chaplains limits the number of bases to which they can be permanently assigned.  (The Associated Press text also says that the drill sergeants were “disciplined,” though there is no public evidence to that effect.)

Last year the incident rose to scandal status, involving the MRFF, ADL, and NAACP. Read more

MRFF Files Response against Motion to Dismiss

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation quietly filed its response to the US Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss the Chalker v Gates lawsuit.  The lawsuit challenges the practice of allowing prayer at mandatory military formations and ceremonies. It demands that Specialist Dustin Chalker, an atheist, and “those similarly situated” not be forced to attend ceremonies that include a “sectarian prayer.” In comparing the two filings, it seems as if the two groups of lawyers were sometimes speaking past each other.

The MRFF’s response brings up some interesting points, but also ignores some valid issues. It also significantly changes the concept of the original suit. Read more

Military Christians Equated with Nazis

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has made a significant fundraising push over the past several months.  In a July fundraising email, the MRFF used a letter from a Holocaust survivor who “pled” for financial support for Michael Weinstein’s organization.

In the letter, the author, Walter Plywaski (who notes he is “previously Wladyslaw Plywacki”), appears to associate “fundamentalist Christianity” in the United States with his Nazi tormentors, a moral equivalency that has also been implied by Weinstein in the past.  Plywaski says that Christians are using methods similar to those instigated by the Nazis: Read more

US Army Promotes Religion in Afghanistan

Despite controversies over religion in the military and the sensitivities of troops talking about religion with locals, the US Army has actually assigned a young Captain to do that very thing.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, US Army Capt James Hill’s job is to

turn Islam into a weapon against the Taliban.

Though the Wall Street Journal emphasizes the Captain’s religion (the article is entitled “The Baptist and the Mullah Launch a Faith-Based Attack on the Taliban”), Read more

Air Force Nixes Flyby at Patriotic Christian Event

According to local news reports, the Air Force denied the request of the “God and Country Festival” in Nampa, Idaho, for an aircraft flyby during their July 2 celebration.  Reportedly, the festival has had a flyby for the past 42 years, and was surprised by the Air Force’s decision to deny the request this year because of the festival’s religious content.

After receiving an email denying the request, the organizer reportedly called the Pentagon: 

“I called him immediately and said we’ve been doing this for 42 years, we’ve had flyovers, what is the problem? He said, we have looked up your website and everything on your website seemed to focus on Christianity Read more

al Jazeera Revisits US Military and Christianity

Near the end of June, al Jazeera aired a program called “Fault Lines” that again brought up the issue of religion in the US military (see prior discussion).  The episode was hosted by Josh Rushing, a former US Marine turned al Jazeera reporter.

The “Fault Lines” program can be viewed as Part I and Part II. The program begins with a pan out from a US church with Rushing saying

Many on the Christian right describe the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, well, in similar terms as the Taliban and al Qaeda: as spiritual wars of the highest magnitude.

The prejudicial statement, which describes a minority view as if it was a commonly accepted American perspective, Read more

“Obama’s Church” and its Military Chaplain

A near firestorm was raised on Monday when Time‘s Amy Sullivan reported (and a variety of sources repeated) that the Obama family had decided that Camp David’s Evergreen Chapel would be its “home church.”  The White House staff contradicted the Time article, saying that the Obamas are still looking for a “church home.”  The Time contributor is “standing by” her story, saying that the fact that the Obamas are intending to attend the Chapel while at Camp David justifies her report.

More interesting, however, was the intense scrutiny given to the Chaplain currently associated with Camp David. Read more

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