The Stars and Stripes covers the story of US Army SGT Chris and Cristina Tarantino, who were “reared Catholic” but recently converted to Islam.
She started to wonder what happened after death, she said, and how to best live life on earth.
She was spending time with her older sister, who had converted to Islam after marrying a Palestinian, and she sought her sister’s guidance.
Her sister’s answers about Islam made sense Read more
In a rare break from his focus on Christianity, Military Religious Freedom Foundation “president” Michael Weinstein has called for US Air Force Academy Chaplain (Col) Robert Bruno to be court-martialed for his attempts to convert cadets…to Buddhism:
US Air Force Chaplain Colonel Bruno…should face immediate criminal charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for these disgusting, prima facie examples of dereliction of duty by flagrant violations of the solemn oaths they took…
Actually, strike that, Weinstein didn’t display that intellectual integrity. Instead, he continued his focus on Christianity:
[Chaplain Bruno is a] heinous Poster Child[] of unconstitutional, fundamentalist Christian supremacy Read more
Michael Weinstein seems to revel in excoriating those with whom he disagrees. His attacks are filled with ellipses and alliterative assaults questioning everything from people’s character to their patriotism.
He has equated officers in the US Army with rapists and racists. He’s stooped to gradeschool name-calling. He has even implied the threat of violence upon critics as varied as Rush Limbaugh and Gordon Klingenschmitt.
Another favored Weinstein tactic, though, is the somber and vaguely-worded legal threat. While it seems Weinstein threatens to sue someone virtually every time he opens his mouth, some have had the privilege of actually getting a letter from one set or another of Weinstein’s lawyers. One sent a letter to Trijicon for saying Trijicon’s critics were “not Christian.” Another Weinstein legal threat went out against the publishers of the Colorado Springs Gazette after it criticized his “[opposition] to the free exercise of religion.”
As previously noted, Weinstein’s lawyers also directed a threat of a lawsuit at ChristianFighterPilot.com after this site pointed out Weinstein’s substantial personal compensation from his self-founded “charity.”
It is readily apparent Michael Weinstein, the man who employs vitriolic criticism as naturally as others breathe, can’t stand a whit of criticism himself.
Even from a Jewish soccer mom. Read more
According to the Air Force Times, the Air Force is reviewing “all” materials it uses to teaches “ethics, core values, and character development.” The reason?
More Christian-themed course work surfaced.
The gross misrepresentation of the Chaplain briefing at Vandenberg, promoted by Michael Weinstein and his “religious freedom” allies, has already been discussed. The latest issue is a “complaint” about ethics training in ROTC.
The ROTC briefing, called “Core Values and the Air Force Member,” contains references to the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments as examples of ethical values. Two additional slides list the New Testament teachings of Jesus known as the Beatitudes, and seven of the commandments, including “Have no other gods before me.”
The 22-slide briefing also cites the Golden Rule as an example of ethical values. One of the slides points out that the Golden Rule — “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” — is found in five of the world’s major religions.
Shocking, isn’t it? A slideshow on ethics gives Christian Read more
Michael Weinstein and his associates in his self-founded and awkwardly named Military Religious Freedom Foundation frequently rely on anonymous anecdotes, unsubstantiated accusations, or claims they cannot publicly support beyond vague innuendo.
In short, Weinstein’s credibility relies immensely on “trust me.”
Unfortunately for him, he’s long since lost any semblance of credibility, thanks in part to his researcher, Chris Rodda, who has had some issues with this in the past.
Rodda once belittled supporters of a Christian group at USAFA, claiming their support was a manufactured letter-writing campaign — despite public evidence Read more
Last week, Leah Burton, one of Michael Weinstein’s two MRFF board members, launched her most recent attack on Christians in the military. While she uses the term “dominionist,” like Michael Weinstein she assigns religious labels to people without regard to their actual beliefs. Thus, though she accuses people of being dominionists (and thus plotting to take over the world), she never proves they actually ascribe to that theology (much like the rest of the MRFF staff, it’s easier just to call people names.)
On that topic, Burton recently wrote a blog re-hashing last fall’s infamous Weinstein meltdown, in which Weinstein wrote a letter with a complaint about ChristianFighterPilot.com which was addressed all the way up to the President. In a comment on her own blog, Burton said this about “dominionists,” among whom she counts many “Christians:” Read more
A US Army article again highlights SPC Simranpreet Singh Lamba, the sole non-medical Sikh Soldier granted a waiver of uniform standards so he may adhere to his religious dress requirements.
The article again documents the difficulty Lamba had in having his enlistment accepted. It also repeats the prior news that Lamba has had no significant issues either with the institutional Army or with individual Soldiers, despite his (significantly) minority faith: Read more
Want to know what Michael Weinstein and his self-founded Military Religious Freedom Foundation stand for? Ask his staff and supporters.
GodDiscussion.com, which has a close relationship with Leah Burton — one of two members of Michael Weinstein’s MRFF board — recently hosted a fundraiser for the MRFF in coordination with the Fort Bragg “Rock Beyond Belief.” They were bringing in money for three reasons, in their own words:
(1) the soliders [sic] at Ft. Bragg who face potential legal challenges in having their Rock Beyond Belief secular alternative to Frankin Graham’s Rock the Fort proselytizing concert
(2) legal representation of service members nationwide who face discriminatory “Spiritual Fitness Tests” and
(3) the general fight against Christian extremism within the Armed Forces.
It’s interesting they’d raise funds for Read more