Tag Archives: religious freedom

Weinstein Demands Chaplain’s Head for Buddhist Proselytizing?

In a rare break from his focus on Christianity, Military Religious Freedom Foundation “president” Michael Weinstein has called for US Air Force Academy Chaplain (Col) Robert Bruno to be court-martialed for his attempts to convert cadets…to Buddhism:

US Air Force Chaplain Colonel Bruno…should face immediate criminal charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for these disgusting, prima facie examples of dereliction of duty by flagrant violations of the solemn oaths they took…

Actually, strike that, Weinstein didn’t display that intellectual integrity.  Instead, he continued his focus on Christianity:

[Chaplain Bruno is a] heinous Poster Child[] of unconstitutional, fundamentalist Christian supremacy Read more

Army Atheists Get it Wrong on Chaplains. Again.

The “military director” of American Atheists and coordinator for “Rock Beyond Belief” at Fort Bragg, Justin Griffith, previously misstepped when he tried to ‘humorously’ make the point “there are no chaplains in foxholes.’  (Even some who support him have asked him not to demean the service of chaplains who died in the line of duty or received such accolades as the Medal of Honor.)

Griffith was also so offended by an answer BrigGen Rhonda Cornum gave in a media interview that he misquoted her and allowed another military atheist, Dustin Chalker, to rail on about her misquoted statement.

Now, he’s done it again.

This time Griffith targeted Read more

MRFF Petition Garners Signatures for White House

Dustin Chalker, an Army Sergeant and MRFF “client,” publicly announced that he started a petition on the whitehouse.gov “We the People” website calling for an “End [to] the Military’s Discrimination against Non-Religious Service Members.”

The petition wording reflects some of the sentiment behind Chalker’s failed lawsuit against the Army — a lawsuit that was tossed out because Chalker failed to use the internal grievance systems the Army has in place.  The petition contains similarly vague claims of illegal conduct, which are (still) unsupported to date by any public facts:  Read more

Messianic Soldier Celebrates Faith while Deployed

Senior Airman John Harris is a Messianic Jew who was deployed to the Middle East, but he still wanted to celebrate Sukkot.  With the help of the deployed chaplains, including a Rabbi at a completely different base, he was able to get the support he needed.

“I spoke with the Chapel staff here and they put me in contact with a rabbi at (Joint Base Balad),” said Harris…

“It has been an unexpected joy for me to be able to Read more

Richard Land: God Calls Christians into Public Service

Addressing Regent University’s Robertson School of Government, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Richard Land told students God calls some into public service — with the express intent of influencing the culture.  Referencing Romans 13, Land said

God “does call some of us to be involved in government, because you cannot write laws that will protect you from bad application by evil people…We need for godly men and women to be willing to be open to the prospect that God’s will for your life may be to go into public service, to serve Read more

The Courage of US Military Chaplains

The National Catholic Register ran a piece on military chaplains entitled “Profiles in Courage: Military Chaplains,” documenting the roles and experiences of Catholic chaplains in the US military.  While it noted the typical shortage, it also highlighted a surge of new volunteers:

The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA reported a sharp jump this year in the number of seminarians interested in serving as military chaplains. As the 2011-2012 academic year begins, there are 31 military-affiliated seminarians nationwide, up from three just three years ago.

The article also profiled four military chaplains Read more

Weinstein Predicts Holocaust, Goes After Presidential Candidates

Michael Weinstein recently highlighted an article by ally Bruce Wilson entitled “Rick Perry Event Pastor Predicts Coming “Prison Camps” For Jews.”  Weinstein prefaced it with (emphasis original)

This is the level of religious fundamentalism that threatens our country’s future, and I will NEVER stop fighting it!

The tone was somewhat unusual, given the topic had nothing to do with the military, which is Weinstein’s self-proclaimed forte.  In fact, there’s no public connection to the MRFF at all, save the personal association between the author and Weinstein’s group.  Weinstein’s critical sensationalism on the topic was a display of rank hypocrisy as well, for Weinstein has similarly predicted a dire future for Jews at the hands of American Christians:

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…  Read more

USAFA Follows Rules. Michael Weinstein Complains. News at 11.

As predictable as the sun rising in the East, the US Air Force Academy sent out an announcement that had a topic related to religion, and Michael Weinstein complained.

In fact, he’s “livid.”

The situation:  Apparently, Air Force Academy Chaplain (Col) Robert Bruno distributed a mass email about an upcoming ‘marriage and family seminar.’  The email was approved by the Vice Superintendent, and represented the “regularly” advertised chaplaincy programs occurring daily at USAFA.  Michael Weinstein said:

It could not possibly be clearer that the academy deserves its terrible reputation for fundamentalist Christian bias.

To be clear, even the publicized article notes the USAFA email explicitly followed (and even referenced) the Air Force Chief of Staff’s Read more

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