It was with some disappointment that supporters of military religious freedom watched Michael “Mikey” Weinstein claim, yet again, that a military commander had granted him special access and attention. Referring to his complaint about the Bible displayed by USAF Major Steve Lewis, Weinstein said:

[Colonel Feltman] and I had a very productive, nearly 12 minute telephone conversation regarding MRFF’s demands…on this unconstitutional matter of Major Steve Lewis’ open bible…

[Colonel Feltman] personally assured me several times that [he] had initiated an “investigation” and that it would be “fair, open and transparent”…

As anyone who has dealt with Mikey Weinstein in the past knows, such treatment is blood in the water to Weinstein. In fact, the US Air Force already knows this — which is why it issued guidance as early as 2010, and which it repeated frequently — telling commanders not to deal directly with Weinstein.

Apparently, Col Feltman didn’t get the memo…but it seems he very soon did.

Not long after the investigation presumably started, Weinstein sent another email directly to Col Feltman demanding to know if the investigation was being done in a manner Weinstein would approve. Weinstein later said:

I wrote to Col. Feltman demanding that he either confirm or deny the [information]. He failed to respond to that demand.

However, Col Feltman did correspond with Weinstein again — but only to transmit a boilerplate message that went out to other organizations as well. It only minimally addressed the conclusions of the investigation, and it shut the door on further direct communication between Weinstein and the commander:

Thank you for your concern regarding religious liberties at the Reserve National Security Space Institute. As pledged, I have reviewed the situation there. I have concluded that no abuse of liberties has occurred, and Maj Lewis’s behavior and the workplace environment at the RNSSI are well within the provisions of Air Force Instruction 1-1…

Please direct any continued correspondence to AFRC Public Affairs…or AFRC Staff Judge Advocate…

That’s the expected response to an initial complaint by Weinstein, consistent with the guidance the Air Force has issued to date. While the initial response was disappointing, it seems Col Feltman was quickly educated about Weinstein and subsequently altered their relationship.

Over the past few years, Mikey Weinstein has been increasingly stymied by a military hierarchy that knows who he is and understands his personal vendetta against Christianity. For that reason, he’s only been able to make headway by finding low-level commanders who don’t know about him yet. With the best of intentions, these commanders attempt to engage him — and very quickly re-learn the lessons the Air Force has already published as “lessons learned.” Unfortunately, religious liberty sometimes takes a hit when this happens, even if the outcome is ultimately not in Weinstein’s favor.

On the positive side, these lower level commanders may someday be senior commanders, where they can continue to protect the religious liberty of their troops from Weinstein’s attacks.

There is some indication, too, that even outgoing commanders are briefing their incoming replacements on Weinstein’s antics and how to deal with him.

To wit, it seems the new Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Gen David Goldfein, is continuing Gen Welsh’s practice of ignoring Mikey Weinstein.

And that is a very effective lesson learned.

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