Tag Archives: tony perkins

Chaplain Modder Targeted for Christian Beliefs, Gets Support

An interview with US Navy Chaplain (LtCmdr) Wes Modder at Breitbart revealed a few more details about the Navy’s decision to remove him and attempt to discharge him from the military over complaints about his beliefs.

It seems the Lt(JG) complainant, at points described as a “chaplain’s assistant,” was in fact a new officer filling a temporary job while waiting for his next assignment. With apparent time on his hands — and an agenda — it seems the new officer decided he would go out of his way to make his mark on the Navy.

From Breitbart:

It turns out the young officer seemed to be running his own private investigation into Modder’s Christian beliefs and how they may conflict with his interpretation of proper tolerance for LGBT individuals.

To be clear, there were (reportedly) no complaints in Read more

Air Force May Change Religious Freedom Policy

Mikey Weinstein’s confused take on the Air Force’s policy:  It’s like an umbrella in a tsunami…

McClatchy asked the question no other media outlet has in the past few weeks: What ever became of the “offsite” Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said she was convening?

Late last month, James and Welsh convened a “Religious Freedom Focus Day” conference of senior chaplains and legal and manpower officials to discuss the policy. An Air Force spokeswoman, Rose Richeson, declined to make the results of the April 28 meeting public, saying it would be “too premature to provide an interview.”

It would seem, though, someone may have heard what occurred:

Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council…said that based on what he’d heard from people at the meeting he expected the Air Force to “make a policy change shortly.”

The article says Perkins’ statement “alarms supporters of the policy,” and cites exactly one person: Michael “Mikey” Weinstein.  The policy Read more

“Offended” Cadets Need Correction before Commissioning

LtGen Michelle Johnson, Superintendent of the US Air Force Academy, gave some insight into her reaction to cadets who “protested” the removal of a Bible verse by posting verses and quotes of their own:

Since Monday, there’s been a wave of freedom, religious and otherwise, on the 2,000 whiteboards outside cadet dorm rooms.

In response to the online flap that developed over Monday’s posting and erasure, hundreds of cadets took up their pens and posted quotes from the Bible, Talmud, Qu’ran and non-religious sources.

“It seems 20-year-olds have a sense of humor,” Johnson said.

The academy has told cadets to use taste and caution in what they post. The goal, Johnson said, is to have a climate of respect.

Of course, there’s no evidence the first cadet to put up a verse violated standards of “taste and caution,” so its unclear if that will remain a consistent standard.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council praised the cadets who bravely exercised their faith and their freedom. (Notably, some cadets who joined the protest weren’t even religious — they just Read more

Air Force to Document, Explain USAFA Religious Policy

Since when is the standard of what’s constitutional based on what offends someone else?
– Tony Perkins, Family Research Council, addressing USAFA’s statement that a Bible verse was removed because it made someone feel “uncomfortable.”

Congressman Mike McIntyre (D-NC) asked Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James if she would provide an official explanation of the USAFA Bible verse incident:

Would you be willing to submit a detailed explanation within the next 10 days…of the event that occurred…, what the Air Force Academy policy is, and…how that policy was applied in this situation?

Secretary James agreed to do so. The Air Force has already said its policy is found in AFI 1-1, which says  Read more

DoD to Continue using SPLC as Reference

Despite recent scandals regarding the DoD’s alleged classification of Christians as “extremists” — including an Army-wide standdown in Equal Opportunity training over the controversies — the DoD says it will continue to use the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “reference” in its Equal Opportunity training.

A DoD spokesman answered that while the agency will remove “hate groups” information provided by the SPLC from the training materials used at its Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI), the DoD will continue to use the SPLC’s data in its “non-federal reference material” for DEOMI.

The SPLC — whose work has been specifically cited in recent Army briefings — is one of several “non-Federal” sources the DoD plans to continue using:

“Some of the non-Federal entities used to inform DEOMI’s training,” said Christensen, “include: Anti-Defamation League; Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism; Know Gangs, Political Research Associates, Read more

Update: USAFA Reacts to So Help Me God

…Who is in charge of the nation’s military[?]  “Is it in fact the military chiefs or is it Mikey Weinstein?”

— Tony Perkins, Family Research Council President

A few news sources have picked up on the story about the US Air Force Academy pulling a poster that had the cadet Honor Oath on it — an oath that ends in “so help me God” (discussed here a few days ago).  Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, president of his self-founded charity, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, has celebrated this as his latest “victory.”

The cadet committee on the subject has met, though not yet made a recommendation to the Superintendent:

Academy spokesman Maj. Brus Vidal said the Honor Review Committee…discussed…making no change to the oath, making the “so help me God” portion optional, or striking the entire oath…

Vidal said. “We value an inclusive environment that promotes dignity and respect for all.”

The Public Affairs director did not explain how “no change to the oath” could follow LtGen Michelle Johnson’s order Read more

Congressmen, Advocates Call for Military Religious Freedom

Increasingly, each one of us in our different organizations and capacities have been getting confidential calls and other reports and information from members of the military pointing to this growing hostility toward religious freedom. Unfortunately, members of the military cannot speak out about these things.

This is just a sampling of the cases that have been made public.

– Tony Perkins, Family Research Council

Representatives from 14 groups joined three US Congressmen to release a report on “The Threat to Religious Liberty in the Military” (PDF) and press for passage of legislation allowing US military servicemembers to act and speak on their faith:  Read more

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