Category Archives: Government and Religion

Chris Rodda, Mikey Weinstein Go Off Script on Religious Freedom

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation believes the 2014 NDAA language requiring the US military to accommodate religious expression — not just religious belief — is “a good thing.”

Simultaneously, Weinstein’s MRFF also believes the language is “a blank check for bullies.”

Awkwardly, Weinstein and his “special research assistant” Chris Rodda issued opposing MRFF statements on precisely the same subject.

In mid-December, Rodda, speaking for Weinstein’s “charity,” said this in a little-noticed MRFF posting [emphasis added]:  Read more

Homosexuals Claim Discrimination over Military Marriage Retreat

As repeal of the policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell” was occurring “uneventfully,” critics of repeal repeatedly noted that the other shoe had yet to drop on certain points of controversy.

For example, how would the military handle the potential of homosexuals wanting to attend marriage seminars or retreats — when the chaplains who lead them may not affirm a homosexual lifestyle, and the troops who attend them may theologically disagree with homosexuality?

It would seem the shoe finally dropped — and homosexual advocates have claimed “discrimination.”

For its part, the Air Force appears to have been the first service to publish explicit guidance on how to handle such situations:

When you advertise a [Marriage Care] retreat, announce the chaplain who will be leading the event and the chaplain’s endorser.  If the chaplain is permitted to train same-gender couples in a MC event, then you may register all eligible married couples.  However, if the chaplain is not permitted to train same-gender couples in a MC event, be prepared to offer…a MC event at another base or at a later date to a same-gender married couple.

If a same-gender married couple will be attending a MC event, make this known to the other couples as they register.  If those couples choose not to register for this event, be prepared to offer them…a MC event at another base or at a later date.

As was discussed at the time, the Air Force has recognized Read more

MRFF Advocates Blame Christians for Buddhist Threat

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has been recycling the same examples for years when recounting his status as a martyr — dead animals left on his doorstep, a backwards swastika crudely drawn next to his front door, etc — though there has been admittedly no connection between these “attacks” and the work of his MRFF “charity.” He finally gained a fresh story when a Buddhist priest mailed him a single-page letter that said it was “treated” to explode 30 minutes after opening (Mission Impossible-style, apparently). It was obviously a hoax, as confirmed by the local bomb squad.

To be clear, threats against life and property are to be universally denounced, regardless of the ideology of the persons involved. (To be fair, this includes similar language from Mikey Weinstein, which has included his desires for physical violence against his opponents and threats of “confrontation” with this site.)

The threat isn’t really the issue here, though — it’s what its turned into.

It is well-known that Weinstein has publicly stated his opposition to Christians. What some haven’t yet learned is Weinstein gets to Read more

Hill AFB Offers Chapel, not Chaplains, for Homosexual Ceremonies

In the continuing search for eventful news about the “non-event” of homosexuality in the US military, a few news outlets were quick to ping Hill Air Force Base after Utah’s ban on homosexual “marriage” was overturned:

With same-sex marriage legal in Utah, Hill Air Force Base has become one of the few U.S. military installations where such unions can be performed.

It would seem the press was steps ahead even of those who were interested:

As of Thursday, no same-sex marriages had occurred at Hill, said base spokesman Richard Essary…

The base may yet see a whiplash, as the entire Read more

Chaplain Ray Leonard Continues Lawsuit over Religious Freedom

Mark Mueller of the Star-Ledger has an interesting piece on the Rev Ray Leonard — the contract Catholic priest and military chaplain who sued for access to his congregation during the government “shutdown.” It turns out Chaplain Leonard served for 10 years as a priest in China:

During a decade spent teaching and helping the needy in some of China’s most impoverished and oppressed regions, the New Jersey priest learned what it was like to live in a land without religious freedom.

It kindled a greater appreciation for his liberties at home.

That may have played a role in how he reacted to the US government forbidding him from serving his parish:  Read more

2008 USAFA Grad Killed in Afghanistan

Update: Capt Lyon was honored at his return to Peterson AFB before his funeral at New Life Church in Colorado Springs and his burial at the US Air Force Academy.

US Air Force Capt David Lyon — a 2008 US Air Force Academy Graduate (where he had the last name Lissy) — was killed during an advisory mission in Afghanistan on December 27th, 2013. His wife, a 2006 USAFA graduate, was also deployed to Afghanistan, and they were able to spend Christmas together.

She escorted his body home.

Lyon had been a track star at USAFA, but his former coach said it wasn’t his athleticism that made him the man he was:  Read more

Mikey Weinstein vs Bill O’Reilly on Combat

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein made a fairly effective effort to focus the debacle of his “interview” with Bill O’Reilly last week on an O’Reilly quote near the end of the piece. After O’Reilly called the removal of the Nativity at Guantanamo a “cowardly” decision and questioned why Weinstein’s anonymous “clients” didn’t have the “cajones” to come on The O’Reilly Factor, Weinstein pushed back with “at least [my clients] joined the military…” In response, O’Reilly said

“I covered four wars with a pen…so don’t impugn my courage ever again.”

That retort can justifiably be criticized — but can Weinstein criticize it? O’Reilly was apparently referring to being a correspondent and experiencing a couple of “firefights.” According to his own admissions, the closest Weinstein came to combat was giving a briefing on the breakup of AT&T. While Weinstein did serve in the Air Force, he spent nearly half his uniformed career as a student.

O’Reilly looked foolish trying to buttress his combat cred with his “pen.” But Weinstein is throwing stones pretty confidently for someone who lives in a glass house.

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Navy Chaplains Denied Preliminary Injunction

In what seems like one of the longest running military religious litigations in recent history (ongoing since 1999, or earlier), the DC Circut denied a preliminary injunction requested by chaplains who have sued over US Navy Chaplain promotion practices.

The short version is the plaintiffs allege the Navy procedures favor Catholic and liturgical chaplains. See prior discussions.

Via the Religion Clause.

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