The military now leads the way in a lot of immoral behavior, where five years ago it led the way in honor, courage, and commitment. We need a moral fighting force.
US Navy Chaplain (LtCmdr) Wes Modder — almost drummed out of the service in 2015 after homosexuals complained about his religious beliefs — recently retired, and he expressed frustration that his career was essentially ended by the unjust homosexual complaint: Read more
The homosexual community has vaunted the service of US Air Force MajGen Patricia “Trish” Rose, even presenting her with an award for being the “highest ranking openly LGBT service member in the US military.”
Still, members of the homosexual community likely know there are actually higher ranking individuals who are homosexual, though they’re not “open” — at least not officially.
In fact, someone who outranks MajGen Rose recently took their new position in the military — and their homosexuality is apparently an open secret. This became an issue because lower level commanders were tripping over themselves directing their subordinates to mind their p’s and q’s regarding homosexuality — comments they most specifically addressed toward their chaplains.
Understandably, this Read more
US Army Chaplain (Maj) George Tyger recently highlighted his office door at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, noting he now had a “bigger sign”:
Highlighting the reference to the LGBT “safe zone” sign, Tom Carpenter’s Forum on the Military Chaplaincy reposted Tyger’s photo with a seemingly simple question: Read more
The recent demand letter sent to ChristianFighterPilot.com by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s lawyers wasn’t the first. In fact, seven years ago this coming week, Randal “Randy” Mathis first introduced himself here:
The reason for this first letter was an article entitled “MRFF: Chaplain’s Sermons Permissible, Sort of,” which pointed out the flagrant inconsistency between Chris Rodda and Read more
The US Department of Defense Inspector General recently revealed it had ordered the Air Force to investigate the content of a chaplain’s prayer.
The context was the now well-known complaint by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein against US Air Force Chief of Chaplains (MajGen) Dondi Costin. In response to Weinstein’s complaint, the DoD IG said [emphasis added]:
We asked the Air Force IG to examine both the act of giving the benediction and its content. After conducting interviews and gathering additional facts, the Air Force IG found that Maj Gen Costin’s benediction was a generic, non-sectarian prayer seeking God’s blessing on the event’s honoree…
This is a shocking revelation, particularly in light of who did it. What business does the DoD Inspector General have analyzing the content of a chaplain’s prayer? Under what authority Read more
Apparently believing US Air Force Chief of Chaplains Gen Dondi Costin’s head needs to go on a pole, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has continued to demand the US military punish the men and women who appeared in uniform at a chaplains’ event in July.
Weinstein recently received a statement (PDF) from the DoD Inspector General in response to his initial complaint [emphasis added]:
The Air Force IG found no prima facie evidence that Maj Gen Costin endorsed CARL [the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty] by appearing in uniform and performing the benediction, thereby implying Air Force sponsorship of CARL or sanction of a particular cause, or discrediting the Armed Forces…
We [the DoD IG] also concluded Maj Gen Costin’s attendance and benediction did not violate Department of Defense or Air Force standards on endorsement of or participation with a non-federal entity, uniform wear, public speaking, or free exercise of religion.
That covered all the bases, DoD and Air Force, uniform wear to religion — even the US Constitution. Pretty thorough, right?
Since Chaplain Costin wasn’t punished, it still wasn’t good enough for Weinstein, of course, whose Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently demanded the court-martial of US troops who attended an awards event hosted by the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, a coalition of chaplain endorsers. The reason Weinstein demanded their court-martial was his bigotry toward the Christian beliefs espoused by the chaplain groups represented. Weinstein essentially admitted as much when he hatefully caricatured and lambasted those Christian beliefs in his attack.
But since “Mikey Doesn’t Like Christians” isn’t actionable by the military, he tried to use an old technique that unintentionally won him a battle many years ago: He claimed the service members violated regulations by “endorsing” the chaplains by virtue of their presence at the event in uniform.
The Air Force rebuffed that claim, and there is no evidence any Read more
The following is a very long but outstanding article from Senior Counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) Robert W. “Skip” Ash. Ash, a retired US Army officer, delivers a point-by-point response to retired US Army BGen John Compere, a retired JAG who purports to defend the need to restrict military religious freedom. Compere is an ally and vocal advocate of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, and he has occasionally commented on this site.
Within the analysis you’ll note some themes common among Compere, Weinstein, and his allies, from straw man arguments to misquoting the Constitution. Their position is impassioned but inconsistent with either basic religious liberty or the US Constitution.
Our thanks to Skip Ash for his tireless work in defense of military religious freedom. You can also read his article at its original ACLJ site.
Why the Angry Atheists are Wrong: A Reply to “Our Constitution, Any Religion & the Military”
By Skip Ash
Every so often, I visit the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) website to see what Mr. Weinstein and his fellow travelers have been up to. When I visited the website on October 31, 2016, I came across a short article entitled, “Our Constitution, Any Religion & the Military,” written by MRFF Advisory Board Member, retired Brigadier General John M. Compere, whose listed credentials read, “Brigadier General, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, US Army (Retired); former Chief Judge, US Army Court of Military Review; disabled American veteran (Vietnam era); Military Religious Freedom Foundation Advisory Board Member; and Texas rancher.” As a partially disabled veteran myself, I appreciate and salute General Compere’s service to our Nation.
I began to read General Compere’s article with considerable interest. As a Constitutional law attorney, however, I was quickly disappointed in both what Read more
