In an interesting twist to an old tale, Allen West — a retired Army LtCol and former Florida Representative — compared the “covert action of atheist groups” in the United States to the militant attacks by the terrorist group ISIS in Syria and Iraq:

What is the difference between the violent actions of ISIS and the covert actions of these atheist groups? Let’s be honest, the desired end state and result is the same — the death of Christianity.

Citing Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s attacks on religious liberty (specifically, his support for the  Navy lodges banning Gideon Bibles), West said 

I think Mikey is seriously out to lunch because neither he nor anyone else is being forced into being Christian…Neither the Navy nor any U.S. military service promotes or advances any particular religion and certainly does not demand its service members follow any particular religion…

He’s right. The US military is officially neutral toward religion, and it supports the religious liberty of its troops.

By contrast, Weinstein advocates instituting a “religious test” in the US military, saying Americans who hold certain religious beliefs should be prohibited from public service. (Incidentally, prohibition from public service based on religion is a philosophy from 1930s Germany.)  While Weinstein claims his organization is predominantly composed of Christians, his organization has said only Christians that adhere to beliefs they find “right” and acceptable (that is, only “true Christians“) should be allowed in the US military.

While Weinstein has never advocated institutional violence, he has declared “war” on Christians, and Weinstein has spoken of violence against a variety of individuals from Rush Limbaugh to retired Delta Force leader LtGen Jerry Boykin.

Weinstein uses the specter of a Christian “national security threat” and impending Christian coup to justify his hatred against Christians and calls for government action against them. In large part, his vitriol has been unopposed: Think what would have happened if someone had declared war on Judaism and demanded the government prohibit Jews from military service or restrict their religious liberty.

Weinstein is clearly an extremist, though he has rarely been treated as such by the press or the public. Only recently has he lost most of his public platform in the press, and even some of his own supporters have abandoned him over his extremism.

West makes an interesting comparison. Extremists in the Middle East and extremists in the United States seem to want much the same thing.

Weinstein is no al Baghdadi, but even Weinstein advocates extremist ideology. Fortunately, advocates for religious liberty in the US military have blunted Weinstein’s attacks on the Constitution, and religious freedom has prevailed.

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