As previously noted, Michael Weinstein had suddenly softened his tone on LtGen Robert Caslen when he found out Caslen was slated to lead the US Military Academy at West Point.

During Gen Caslen’s involvement in the Christian Embassy controversy in 2006, Weinstein said those involved in the scandal were equivalent to al Qaida, Iraqi militant Muqtada al Sadr, and deserved to be court-martialed.  Two years later, Weinstein essentially accused Gen Caslen of fomenting insurrection at the hands of a Christian army, and said the Army was promoting “fundamentalist Christianity” by promoting Gen Caslen.

Weinstein’s self-serving “about face” has already been discussed.  What is interesting this time is Weinstein’s continuation of the faux praise for the General’s “metamorphosis” — while he cites absolutely no reason for or characteristic of LtGen Caslen’s alleged ‘reversal.’

After first reminding people the MRFF once accused General Caslen of “sedition” — a criminal accusation for which he does not apologize — Weinstein then says: 

Caslen, however, has remarkably proven himself to be a very special soldier of an entirely different breed…

Weinstein then brags on the “one hour and 45 minute meeting” he had in Caslen’s “well-appointed office” and claims [emphasis added]:

His totally unforeseen transformation from a militant, dogmatic evangelical Christian fundamentalist into an exemplary illustration of professionalism tempered by Constitutional compliance was surely an organic and painful process, one borne of excruciating, gut-wrenching introspection, self-examination, and auto-criticism…

Note that nowhere does Weinstein cite an actual change in Gen Caslen — Weinstein only cites his own change of opinion.  Weinstein’s baseless characterization — that Caslen has gone through a “metamorphosis” and is now a “good” Christian (by Weinstein’s definition) — is actually a silent indictment against himself:  LtGen Caslen didn’t change — he was always an “exemplary illustration of professionalism.”

Weinstein — self-proclaimed defender of religious liberty — was just too blinded by hatred of General Caslen’s religious faith to see it.

Now that LtGen Caslen has been recognized for his military leadership and promoted and confirmed by the US Senate — twice — Weinstein has simply decided to “join” what he cannot beat.

As an aside, it is interesting to note the Associated Press (and thus all who repeated their work) referred to Weinstein not as a ‘civil rights activist,’ but as a “religious critic.”  It seems they’ve figured out what he’d known for, and it isn’t religious freedom.

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