{"id":16016,"date":"2012-02-27T03:23:04","date_gmt":"2012-02-27T06:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=16016"},"modified":"2015-06-27T19:14:05","modified_gmt":"2015-06-27T22:14:05","slug":"mrff-maaf-find-roots-in-ohio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/27\/mrff-maaf-find-roots-in-ohio\/","title":{"rendered":"MRFF, MAAF Find Roots in Ohio"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Columbus Dispatch <\/em>highlights a familiar connection\u00a0of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers through Ohio State University<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two of the most-prominent national organizations fighting for religious freedom in the U.S. military have roots at Ohio State University.<\/p>\n

Retired [sic<\/em>] Army Capt. Jason Torpy incorporated the nonprofit Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers while getting a master\u2019s in business administration at Ohio State in 2006.<\/p>\n

Air Force Reserve Capt. Casey Weinstein, whose experiences at the Air Force Academy helped lead his father to begin the [MRFF], also has an MBA from Ohio State. His wife, Reserve Capt. Amanda Weinstein, is working toward a doctorate in economics there now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s interesting to see OSU as a common thread, but “prominent” is probably a strong word to describe the MRFF and MAAF.\u00a0 Torpy was formerly in the Army, but he isn’t retired.\u00a0 The paper wasn’t entirely clear in the beginning, but the two younger Weinstein’s aren’t merely the inspiration for the elder Michael Weinstein, they have been actively involved in his “charity.”<\/p>\n

The article notes the distinct difference in tone between the two organizations, which have occasionally stepped on each other’s toes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to bash you in the media,\u201d Torpy said…\u201cI\u2019m not going to sue you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The MRFF, on the other hand, will <\/em>“bash you in the media” and sue — it’s part of the Weinstein Method<\/a> of which he’s so proud.<\/p>\n

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation and members of the Weinstein family have sued the Air Force Academy twice, as well as the Defense Department and other groups.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Christian Military Fellowship was apparently sought for comment, as Weinstein has criticized the group.\u00a0 Their president had Weinstein pegged pretty well [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe makes his living by filing frivolous lawsuits<\/em><\/strong>,\u201d said Robert Flynn, the fellowship\u2019s president. \u201cTo me, he really isn\u2019t seeking to help.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As noted several times<\/a> here, Flynn’s perceptions seem to be accurate.\u00a0 Weinstein has a habit of capitalizing (in a fundraising way) on the initial scandals<\/a> associated with his client’s claims — and then doing nothing <\/em>when the case has been dismissed, as they always <\/em>have been<\/a>.\u00a0 Weinstein has never filed a single <\/em>appeal, despite his repeated claims he would do so.\u00a0 Instead, he gains media attention and the fundraising opportunities it brings, and his clients — often low ranking members of the military — he discards when they are no longer useful as his pawns.<\/p>\n

Flynn also accurately perceives the manufactured controversy in other quarters:<\/p>\n

As for Torpy\u2019s group, Flynn said he agrees that all groups deserve recognition, and he thinks the military gives it. The atheists and freethinkers sometimes see problems where there aren\u2019t any, he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Flynn is correct.\u00a0 As an institution, the military doesn’t discriminate on the basis of religion.\u00a0 “Atheists and freethinkers” may see non-existent problems<\/a>, or they may go searching for them<\/a>, as Torpy did when he lodged a vicarious protest after seeing a picture of a cross on the internet<\/a>.\u00a0 On the whole, however, the military institution generally does an admirable job of protection the religious liberty of all <\/em>of its troops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Columbus Dispatch highlights a familiar connection\u00a0of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers through Ohio State University. Two of the most-prominent national organizations fighting for religious freedom in the U.S. military have roots at Ohio State University. Retired [sic] Army Capt. Jason Torpy incorporated the nonprofit Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[712,366,2877,253,107,85,2,5218,7,2878,65],"class_list":["post-16016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-and-religion","tag-amanda-weinstein","tag-casey-weinstein","tag-christian-military-fellowship","tag-jason-torpy","tag-maaf","tag-mikey-weinstein","tag-military","tag-military-religious-freedom-foundation","tag-mrff","tag-robert-flynn","tag-usafa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16016\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}