Air Force Pulls SOS Material with “Chapel”

The Air Force has withdrawn an essay that referenced chapel attendance in its correspondence course for junior officers.

The decision came after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation demanded in a March 27 letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz that the service stop using the document on the grounds that it violates the U.S. Constitution.

The Air Force responded to Weinstein’s complaint by saying the coursework would have been withdrawn in this summer’s scheduled curriculum review anyway, as it has already been removed from the in-residence course the correspondence version mimics.

Weinstein was quick to claim “victory” Read more

Air Force Lawyers on Religion and Blogging

As noted previously, the US Air Force’s “The Military Commander and the Law” broke some unique ground in 2010.  For example, it appeared to specifically address the coercion tactics of Michael Weinstein when it advised commanders on responding to activists cold-calling them and demanding they accede to their interpretation of religion in the military.

In another newly addressed area, the JAGs broached the “emerging area” of blogs.  Like the response to activists, this was only addressed in the “religious issues” section of the manual.  This was probably because, like the response to activists, “recent events” had only brought up the issue of blogs and the Air Force as they related to religion, and Michael Weinstein was probably responsible for that, as well.  The most relevant portion of the text:

– Military people have a right to use these sites for religious Read more

MRFF Highlights its Own Lack of Credibility. Again.

Michael Weinstein and his associates in his self-founded and awkwardly named Military Religious Freedom Foundation frequently rely on anonymous anecdotes, unsubstantiated accusations, or claims they cannot publicly support beyond vague innuendo.

In short, Weinstein’s credibility relies immensely on “trust me.”

Unfortunately for him, he’s long since lost any semblance of credibility, thanks in part to his researcher, Chris Rodda, who has had some issues with this in the past.

Rodda once belittled supporters of a Christian group at USAFA, claiming their support was a manufactured letter-writing campaign — despite public evidence Read more

Military Religion Question Answered: Advertising a Bible Study

Recently, an email from an officer announcing a Bible study at Kirtland AFB was the subject of a complaint from Michael Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation, leading to the question here, “Can a military officer advertise a Bible study?”

Some relevant quotes from the original complaint, as sent to (and publicized by) the MRFF by an enlisted Airman:

During the past 6-7 months a unit commander, who is now the Deputy Group Commander decided to send mass e-mails to the wing regarding bible study sessions. These are sessions that were led by the individual sending the e-mails…a person in a command position, clearly a conflict of interest. A lot of us expressed concern about the perception that leadership is endorsing what should clearly be a chaplain endorsed and led activity.
 
Just imagine the following scenario… if you were a young Airman wanting to look good for a Below the Zone package, the Deputy Group Commander is leading a bible study, a young impressionable person might Read more

Warning: “Freedom” Group Says This Site Contains “Outright Lies”

Michael Weinstein, head of his own non-profit Military Religious Freedom Foundation, says ChristianFighterPilot.com is a “Christian supremacist” site containing “outright lies” and “falsehoods.”

This most recent attack finds its source in a letter written by Weinstein and addressed to the Secretary of Defense — and copied to everyone from the Joint Chiefs to President Obama.  In it, Weinstein says a “catalyst” to a complaint from an Air Force Academy cadet was:

The inclusion by the Air Force Academy Public Affairs Office in the daily Academy-wide “Falcon Clips” email of a sectarian Christian-themed blog post…

The “Falcon Clips” are a compilation of public references to goings-on at the Air Force Academy.  They are emailed out daily, and, according to these reports, included a reference to “Bat Signal Busted, Weinstein Declares War Back On.”  It would appear Weinstein Read more

“Freedom” Group Seeks Ban on Religious Exercise in the US Military

Despite running a self-founded “religious freedom” organization, Michael Weinstein is apparently calling for the US military to restrict religious free exercise within its ranks.  His reason?  The Constitutionally-protected liberty offends al Qaeda.

Unlike most mainstream organizations, Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation still revels in publicizing his organization’s communications, wearing both the hate mail and the kudos as badges of honor.  (They even republish comments from their website, because apparently being posted once isn’t good enough…)  Recently, MRFF board member Richard Baker responded to a contact with a lengthy message in which he included many standard MRFF talking points, like this one: Read more

Franklin Graham and Military Religious Freedom, Continued

It is now common knowledge that Franklin Graham’s invitation to speak at the prayer day hosted by the Pentagon Chaplaincy was “rescinded.”

Army spokesman Col. Tom Collins confirmed today, that at the Army’s request, the Pentagon Chaplain’s Office had contacted Graham to withdraw the invitation extended to him to be the main speaker at the Pentagon’s observance of the National Day of Prayer.

As a result, the National Day of Prayer Task Force is also not participating in the Pentagon event.  Graham responded:

I regret that the Army felt it was necessary to rescind their invitation to the National Day of Prayer Task Force to participate in the Pentagon’s special prayer service. I want to express my strong support for the United States military and all our troops. I will continue to pray that God will give them guidance, wisdom and protection as they serve this great country.

(Some have claimed the NDoP itself is unConstitutional, consistent with Read more

MRFF Threatens Trijicon with Legal Action

The notoriously blunt-speaking Michael Weinstein recently demonstrated an unusually thin skin when he threatened legal action against a potential critic of his organization.  The statement at issue occurred in the original ABC News article on the Trijicon gun sights:

Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions “have always been there” and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is “not Christian.”

Apparently, the MRFF is offended by that characterization, though the MRFF isn’t explicitly named and the quote itself is paraphrased.  Weinstein’s organization took the unusual step of releasing its legal correspondence to an internet blogger, who quoted the following paragraph from a legal letter in response to the statement above:

Referring to the Foundation as a group which is “not Christian” is not only inaccurate and shamelessly false, but demonstrably contrary to fact. Approximately 96 percent of the Foundation’s nearly 16,000 active duty military clients and enumerable additional supporters are in fact practicing Christians by faith. To state otherwise not only slanders the Foundation, but also all of its clients. Further, the Foundation’s largest supporter is the California Council of Churches IMPACT, which is comprised of 5,500 Christian congregations, 21 distinct Christian denominations, and, directly and indirectly, millions of individual Christians.

The “legal letter” came from the same law firm that Weinstein is currently employing in Weinstein v Ammerman.

The stern rebuke from Weinstein’s MRFF is laughable.  Consider the ramifications Read more

1 … 103 104 105 106