{"id":4864,"date":"2010-05-03T00:25:38","date_gmt":"2010-05-03T08:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=4864"},"modified":"2011-09-13T23:55:34","modified_gmt":"2011-09-14T04:55:34","slug":"mrff-sticks-its-foot-in-its-mouth-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2010\/05\/03\/mrff-sticks-its-foot-in-its-mouth-again\/","title":{"rendered":"MRFF Sticks Its Foot in Its Mouth. Again."},"content":{"rendered":"

Few people might realize that while the Military Religious Freedom Foundation claims some 16,000 undefined “clients,” fewer than a half dozen people actually speak<\/em> for the MRFF (and even fewer speak with any regularity).\u00a0 It is interesting, then, to observe Michael Weinstein’s inability to control his own message.<\/p>\n

This site has already pointed out the self-contradiction of Chris Rodda<\/a>, the MRFF research assistant\u00a0who said a Chaplain’s sermon was “of course…permissible,” but it was also<\/em> “part of the…problem<\/a>.”\u00a0 (Her\u00a0statement was also in direct contradiction with Weinstein’s own words.)\u00a0 In addition, the MRFF still<\/em> uses the Chaplain’s sermon as an example of the ‘destruction’ of the “separation of church and state.”\u00a0 Rather than defending the Chaplain’s religious freedom, Michael Weinstein is raising money at the expense of it.<\/p>\n

Chris Rodda recently reaffirmed her prior contradictory statement when, speaking of another Chaplain’s sermon, she said<\/p>\n

On the one hand, evangelizing is part of the Christian faith, so the chaplain has the right to talk about it in a worship service…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Apparently, then, Rodda is admitting the MRFF is\u00a0holding up for derision (and questioning the legality of, and raising money off of) what even she<\/em> says is the Chaplain’s right<\/span><\/em> to “talk about [evangelizing] in a worship service.”<\/p>\n

(She then goes on to say<\/p>\n

but on the other hand, the chaplain’s military congregation does not have the right do what the chaplain is encouraging them to do — evangelize in the military workplace.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

which is a false statement.\u00a0 As is the MRFF practice, she provides no support for her statement, apparently believing her word is sufficient.\u00a0 No such restriction exists.)<\/p>\n

MRFF Board Member Rick Baker has also occasionally stuck his foot in the mouth of the MRFF, with Chris Rodda “non-explaining” Baker’s<\/a>\u00a0fairly clear statements.<\/p>\n

The latest example of self-contradiction is fairly obvious.\u00a0 From the Associated Press article (repeated in the New York Times<\/a><\/em> and others) on the Pentagon’s invitation to Franklin Graham:<\/p>\n

Weinstein said that while he doesn’t object to the day of prayer, the Pentagon…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From Leah Burton, MRFF board member:<\/p>\n

For those of you who may not have seen the article in the New York Times yesterday about our efforts<\/span><\/em> at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) to stop the National Day of Prayer<\/span><\/em> and Franklin Graham from speaking at the Pentagon,\u00a0I am pasting the link here for you.<\/p>\n

This is an extraordinary step toward curbing the infiltration of the Christian Dominionists dominance and influence in our military chaplaincy, and exposing their extreme anti-Islam views.\u00a0 I am constantly proud to work alongside Mikey Weinstein on the Board of Directors for MRFF. We are indeed making a difference!\u00a0(emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The AP article, which is consistent with the MRFF letter,\u00a0indicates Weinstein “doesn’t object<\/em> to the day of prayer,” but Weinstein’s board member says the MRFF is trying to stop<\/em> it.\u00a0 If they don’t object, why would they try to stop it?\u00a0 Which is it?<\/p>\n

It would appear that Weinstein can’t even get the three most vocal members of his group to deliver the same message he is.\u00a0 (Burton apparently didn’t even read the article to which she linked.)<\/p>\n

The MRFF board members (there are only two) say photos of officers with crosses are illegal<\/a>, military officers can’t have religious bumper stickers or emblems on their private car<\/a>, and the MRFF is out to “stop” the NDoP<\/a>.\u00a0 All of these are ludicrous, inconsistent with military and government policies, and extremist.\u00a0 They also confirm critics’ accusations that Weinstein has a personal agenda\u00a0contradictory with “religious freedom” in the military; in fact, these statements confirm critics’ accusations the\u00a0MRFF is out to restrict<\/em> religious freedom in the military, rather than defend<\/em> it as he outwardly claims.<\/p>\n

To date,\u00a0Michael Weinstein has neither repeated nor repudiated his\u00a0organization’s statements. However, his biography on his own website explains his agenda.<\/p>\n

In 2006 [Weinstein left] to focus his fulltime attention on the nonprofit charitable foundation he founded to directly battle the evangelical, fundamentalist religious right; The Military Religious Freedom Foundation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The words “religious freedom” appear nowhere on his page except the name of his organization.\u00a0 His aim isn’t religious freedom; it is to “battle” evangelical Christians.<\/p>\n

Weinstein’s board members and research assistant may have spoken\u00a0out of school, or they may have reaffirmed\u00a0the MRFF’s true agenda — which is so extreme even the PR-savvy Weinstein won’t say it.<\/p>\n

Given Weinstein’s history, it is very likely the latter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Few people might realize that while the Military Religious Freedom Foundation claims some 16,000 undefined “clients,” fewer than a half dozen people actually speak for the MRFF (and even fewer speak with any regularity).\u00a0 It is interesting, then, to observe Michael Weinstein’s inability to control his own message. This site has already pointed out the self-contradiction of Chris Rodda, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[5284,175,4,70,19,44,85,2,17,10,420],"class_list":["post-4864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-and-religion","tag-chaplain","tag-chris-rodda","tag-churchandstate","tag-evangelism","tag-government","tag-islam","tag-mikey-weinstein","tag-military","tag-religious-expression","tag-religion","tag-rick-baker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4864","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=4864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}