Category Archives: Government and Religion

Franklin Graham Defends Praying USAFA Cadets

15 December 2015 JD

Franklin Graham took to Facebook last weekend to defend US Air Force Academy cadets who, once again, were under fire for their religious expression by none other than Michael “Mikey” Weinstein. In a post with 75,000 likes and more than 18,000 comments, Graham called out the “Atheist Mikey Weinstein and his ironically named Military Religious Freedom Foundation:”

[Weinstein] said Air Force players participating in public prayer “is a scandalous outrage” and calls it “a disgrace” and “a putrid example of Christian supremacy.” Since when is voluntary prayer scandalous or putrid? The Air Force Academy now says that it will conduct an inquiry into the situation. I call this a foul! Join me in praying that the religious freedoms of these young men will not be taken away as Read more

Government and Religion

An Air Force Widow’s Story: Living by Faith

9 December 2015 JD

Just before sunset on Veterans Day, she sat next to her husband’s headstone at Arlington National Cemetery, reminding her three children how their father was with God in heaven and what it means to have faith.

Faith has kept Heather Gray moving forward. It’s what has gotten her through the grief and trials she faced after her husband, Maj. David Gray, was killed by a suicide bomber in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, on Aug. 8, 2012…

One of David’s escorts had brought back a little box, one that usually holds wet wipes, and told Heather he didn’t know what it was, but thought it was something she would like to have.

“Each kid had given David a small toy of theirs to take with him while he Read more

Government and Religion

Update: USAFA Responds to Football Prayer Complaint

9 December 2015 JD

The news coverage of Michael “Mikey” Weistein’s attack against US Air Force Academy football players taking a knee in the end zone before the game is now widespread. As a result, USAFA has released a statement which sheds some interesting light on the situation [emphasis added]: Read more

Government and Religion

US Air Force Band, Military Bases Show Christmas Spirit

8 December 2015 JD

Around the country and around the world, US military bases are helping troops celebrate the season of Christmas. (Many bases are also simultaneously celebrating Hanukkah, though the Jewish holiday is this week, preceding Christmas by a couple of weeks this year.) For the most part, it seems many bases aren’t shying away from calling them what they are, though a few are sticking to the more generic “holidays.”

In their annual flash mob (2014, 2013) shown in the video above, the US Air Force band took over Union Station to play Jingle Bells and Auld Lang Syne in a “World War II Holiday Flashback.” (The songs are probably benign enough this year to avoid Mikey “Ebenezer” Weinstein’s equally predictable annual complaint.)
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar gave Read more

Government and Religion

Chaplains, Shinto Priests Bless Air Force Fire Trucks

8 December 2015 JD

In an interesting “multicultural blessing,” local Japanese Shinto priests and an Air Force wing chaplain conducted a “dedication and blessing ceremony” for a new fire truck at Yokota Air Base, Japan:

The rituals featured a formal reading of prayer and a food and drink offering to the Shinto gods…

After the Shinto priests’ ritual, Maj. Oscar Fonseca, 374th Airlift Wing chaplain, offered up prayers for the fire engine.

The Mission Support Group commander “offer[ed] prayers” during Read more

Government and Religion

Mikey Weinstein Threatens Lawsuit for Being Called “Grinch”

8 December 2015 JD

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has reportedly threatened to sue the Christian Examiner for posting a commentary entitled “How the Grinch stole Christmas – at Dover Air Force Base.”

The commentary is actually a very well-written and astute piece by Dr. Gregory Tomlin, an Assistant Professor of Church History and a faculty instructional mentor for Liberty University Divinity School, who clearly explains both the constitutional and military regulation issues surrounding Weinstein’s complaint about the now-infamous Operation Christmas Child email sent by a Dover AFB secretary.

Tomlin accurately notes that Read more

Government and Religion

USAFA Cadets Defy Mikey Weinstein, Pray in End Zone Before Game

7 December 2015 JD

Before the Mountain West Conference championship game this past weekend, US Air Force Academy cadet football players defied the invective and threats of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein — and prayed in the end zone. As captured on video by NBC San Diego:

Mikey Weinstein’s criticism has been called petty even by his supporters, yet he is claiming these cadets taking a knee in the end zone prior to the game violates Air Force instructions, the US Constitution, and the law: Read more