Tag Archives: chris rodda

MRFF’s John Compere Highlights Mikey Weinstein’s Bias

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein and his erstwhile research assistant Chris Rodda tend to get hot under the collar when someone (accurately) accuses their organization of bias and bigotry, but its hard to defend against that characterization when your own people are providing the evidence. Former Assembly of God “pastor” Joan Slish has been a frequent source of insider information, and now “disabled American veteran (Vietnam)” John Compere is the most recent to demonstrate his own organization’s bias.

In his most recent “article” for the MRFF (the point of which is irrelevant), Compere — who relies on quotations like some do thesis statements — closes with a quotation from Ronald Reagan that tells you everything you need to know about Mikey Weinstein and his MRFF:

“We were founded as a nation of openness to people of all beliefs. And so we must remain. Our very unity has been strengthened by our pluralism. We establish no religion is this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are and must remain separate. All are free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not.”

Reagan gave that speech at least twice, with minor variations, to the Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast on 23 August 1984 and to the Congregation of Temple Hillel and Jewish Community Leaders on 26 October 1984.

Those are, indeed, Ronald Reagan’s words, given during campaign speeches in 1984 — but they are ripped from context. Despite Compere’s claim to their message, the speech is utterly anti-MRFF. Compere appears to quote the latter version of the speech, in which President Read more

Dissonance: Jewish War Veterans of USA to “Honor” Mikey Weinstein

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein will be speaking next week to a dinner for the Jewish War Veterans of America. In its press release, the local JWV spoke on behalf of the national organization when it said [emphasis added]:

The Jewish War Veterans of the United States…is…committed from its founding, to the elimination of all forms of bigotry…

Sounds fair enough, until they finished with [emphasis added]:

The JWV Department of Minnesota supports MRFF in the fight against religious bigotry and oppression within the ranks…

That’s like saying you support David Duke Read more

MRFF Loses Money for Second Year — but Mikey Weinstein Still Gets a Raise

For the second year in a row, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation — the “charity” he started, operates, and for which he is the sole paid employee — continued to spend more than it brought in, according to its IRS filings for 2016 (the most recent available).

In 2016, Weinstein brought in $681,000, which is about $15,000 more than the prior year. The MRFF’s expenses ballooned to $715,000, putting Weinstein on the very red side of the ledger.

Of course, that’s somewhat academic when you’re running your own charity. For one thing, the MRFF is sitting on a large cash pile, though it dipped below $200,000 just this year.  Notably, too, the difference between the income and expenses is almost exactly equal to the raise Mikey Weinstein gave himself, from $275,000 in (total reported) compensation to $310,000.

While he could have trimmed his pay to operate within the budget, Mikey Weinstein gave himself a raise, from $264,000 in 2015 to $289,900 in 2016.  Put another way, about 43% of the MRFF’s donations go directly to Mikey Weinstein’s salary — leading media scrutiny to say he was “cashing in” based on an “unheard of” salary from those donations.

With that said, it has long been known that Mikey Weinstein appears to have other forms of indirect “compensation” from his charity besides Read more

VP Mike Pence on Being Called Christian Supremacist

From USA Today, as repeated in the Stars and Stripes:

Vice President Mike Pence turned to the Bible when asked recently what he makes of a new critical biography that calls him a “Christian supremacist.”

“The Bible says count it all joy when you endure trials of many kinds,” Pence told the Christian Broadcasting Network in an interview excerpt released Friday. “Any time I’m criticized for my belief in Jesus Christ, I just breath a prayer of praise.”

For those familiar, of course, the “Christian supremacist” label (more accurately, pejorative) is Read more

Mikey Weinstein Attacks Christians while Muslims Plot Attacks on US Troops

Last week US Army SFC Ikaika Kang pled guilty to trying to help ISIS. He was motivated by his Islamic faith so much that he considered being a suicide bomber against his fellow troops at Hawaii’s Schofield Barracks.

Yet, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein and Christine “Chris” Rodda seem convinced US military Christians are the “clear and present danger” to the United States of America.

Nearly two dozen Islam-motivated plots or attacks have occurred either against or within the US military over the past few years.

Exactly zero Christian-motivated plots and attacks have occurred against or within the US military over that same time period (or prior).

Yet Mikey Weinstein and Chris Rodda have awkwardly tried to maintain their focus on Christians — even as Mikey Weinstein became entangled with some of those same Muslim troops.

Remember, after Read more

Mikey Weinstein Targets AF Gen John Teichert over Christianity

Update: Covered by Todd Starnes, who apparently received a visit from Gen Teichert while Starnes was in the hospital.

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s latest target in his war against Christians in the US military — despite his repeated assurances he is not attacking Christians — is US Air Force BGen E. John Teichert.

Until last month, BGen Teichert was the commander of the 11th Wing and Joint Base Andrews in the Washington, DC, area — home to the presidential fleet of aircraft, among other things. He recently took command of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB, CA.

Though it is difficult to tell exactly, it seems Mikey Weinstein is trying to accuse BGen Teichert of using his rank and position to convert people to Christianity, though it took a tortured, cynical, and twisted series of steps to come to that conclusion.

The difficulty is poorly laid out in the 22-page letter [PDF] written by Read more

Mikey Weinstein, MRFF Defend Christian Chaplain…or Did They?

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein bristles at accusations his organization is “anti-Christian”, despite a deep well of examples to bolster that characterization. To defend himself, Weinstein frequently touts the unsupported — and irrelevant — claim that “96% of his clients” and many of his friends and family are Christians. He and his research assistant, Chris Rodda, are also quick to tout instances in which the MRFF (says it) has defended Christians to rebut the accusation it spends all of its time attacking Christians, and Christians alone.

To that point, the MRFF recently said it had “assist[ed] [a] senior Christian military chaplain” with regard to a complaint that arose as a result of his chapel sermon. As published by the MRFF [emphasis added]:

A senior active duty Christian Military Chaplain [sic] contacted MRFF President/Founder Mikey Weinstein for assistance in responding to an investigation initiated after a sermon he preached during a worship service at his military base chapel. This investigation resulted from…complaints levied by a congregation member alleging Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and Contempt for the President of the United States based on the content of this MRFF client’s sermon.

Briefly, the Navy chaplain declined Read more

Soldier Loses Scholarship over Same Sex Marriage Retreat

US Army SSgt Kacie Griffin has reportedly lost her opportunity to go to college and become an officer due to a recent controversy over homosexuals and a Strong Bonds marriage retreat.

SSgt Griffin was the chaplain assistant to Chaplain (Maj) Scott Squires at Fort Bragg, which was planning the Strong Bonds event earlier this year. A homosexual couple apparently expressed interest in the event; Chaplain Squires was unable to lead a marriage event with homosexuals attending, so he rescheduled the retreat — so the homosexuals filed a complaint. The investigating officer recommended Chaplain Squires be reprimanded.

For her part, SSgt Griffin was handling the administrative part of the retreat:

“Griffin informed Chaplain Squires of the application and informed the applicant that Chaplain Squires would speak with her. For this purely administrative act, an Army investigator determined she ‘gave the impression she was not eligible for the event’ and should be reprimanded for failing to ‘timely answer’ her question,” First Liberty Institute attorney Michael Berry said.

Though the “investigation” was reportedly finished months ago — and despite Read more

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