The recent incident involving a POW/MIA memorial table — in which Michael “Mikey” Weinstein claimed a Bible was an illegal promotion of Christianity — serves as a potent reminder of the danger of trying to appease Weinstein.

Consider Weinstein’s response to the Navy’s decision to rebuff his demand [emphasis added]:

MRFF has long enjoyed considerable success in the very recent past in getting Christian bibles removed from military and civilian agency POW/MIA display tables…

He’s right. Weinstein has “enjoyed” coercing agencies into removing Bibles — because they’ve surrendered to him. But they didn’t surrender because they had to. There was no legal, policy, or regulatory requirement for those agencies to remove the Bibles — which caused even members of the US Congress to object to their removal. (In fact, a military IG rebuffed a similar atheist complaint in 2013.) Rather, those agencies removed the Bible because they didn’t want to deal with Mikey Weinstein — and it was easier to placate him than stand up for reason and rights…or so they thought. They figured they’d take the Bible out, he’d go away, and all would be well.  Back to the mission.

But as those who know him can attest, when somebody gives in to Weinstein, it’s like blood in the water. It doesn’t placate him; it emboldens him. And now he’s using his prior “success” to legitimize his current attacks.

In other words, since those other agencies gave in to him, he’s painting them as legal precedent for the Navy to bow here.

That’s the price you pay for giving in to Mikey Weinstein.

If you give in to a bully, you’ll encourage him for his next target.

If you give in to Mikey Weinstein, your cowardice will fuel his desire to further wage his self-declared “war” on Christians in the US military.

Stand up, and do what’s right.  It might not make a difference to you, but it will make a difference to rights of the next young Airman, Sailor, Soldier, or Marine who follows behind you.

More at Stars and Stripes.

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