Tag Archives: Constitution

Weinsteins Complain about Wright-Patterson

Casey Weinstein, son of MRFF founder Michael Weinstein, was stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB with his wife while they were both on active duty.  He remains in the area looking for a job as a reservist.  Now, a local Jewish paper is carrying an article in which Michael Weinstein has said

Wright-Patterson Air Force base is a “hotbed” of “unconstitutional religious intolerance.”

The younger Weinstein reportedly complained about a “prayer in Jesus’ name” that was a “violation of Air Force regulations” (a conclusion which is actually incorrect).  He also “got in [the] face” of his superior over an email about John Gibson’s The War on Christmas.  [Casey Weinstein, a 2004 Air Force Academy graduate, was a fairly vocal supporter of his father’s accusations against the military even while the younger Weinstein was on active duty.  (He also posted an interestingly accusatory comment here.)] Read more

Government Moves to Dismiss MRFF Lawsuit

In a fairly well written argument, the government has filed a motion to dismiss the ongoing lawsuit against the Defense Department brought by Army Specialist Jeremy Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.  (The response was due, and filed, on the 8th.)  Salient points are below (emphasis added), though many were previously already talked about here.

The short version: he failed to use the systems in place to seek redress; the solutions he requests are already in place; and he does not allege harm by any “institutional bias” for which the only support is a list of vague references.

On the request that Secretary of Defense Gates be required to prevent Constitutional violations by his military subordinates:

Secretary Gates already exercises his authority to prevent constitutional violations through the Army’s existing Equal Opportunity Program — which Specialist Hall failed to invoke…

Read more

Weinstein Re-files Lawsuit

The AP has released an article describing how Weinstein dropped his lawsuit against the Army (discussed in previous posts 1, 2) so he could re-file it, adding an allegation that Specialist Jeremy Hall, his plaintiff, has been passed over for promotion as a result of the ongoing lawsuit.  The text of the new suit is not yet available.  As noted in the previous commentary, the lawsuit previously listed virtually every Christian ministry to the military as illegal entities, and continued to cite “Constitutional violations” about units that no longer existed.

As reported on the Religion Clause.

“Military Religious Freedom,” continued

As noted in a prior post, Michael Weinstein and his Military Religious Freedom Foundation intend to expand their recent lawsuit against the military, intending to impact religion in the military as a whole.  The MRFF’s lawsuit against the Air Force Academy was thrown out in 2006.  Like the Academy suit, the recent lawsuit is based on an individual event, but Weinstein intends to similarly use it to (in his words) Read more

Weinstein Targets Campus Crusade, Again

Michael Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation is again focused on Campus Crusade for Christ.  CCC is the parent organization of Christian Embassy, which was the impetus for an Inspector General investigation earlier this year that found officers unlawfully supported the organization.

Weinstein’s latest accusations–which he contends will be integrated into his ongoing lawsuit against an Army Major and the Secretary of Defense–revolve around the concept of “government-paid missionaries,” a term sometimes used in reference to Campus Crusade military members. Read more

Merry Christmas from ChristianFighterPilot.com

Merry Christmas…can we say that?

Both religious and secular news sources have repeatedly reported on the perceived “war on Christmas,” in which organizations (primarily retailers) have chosen to say (or not say) Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, or some other variation on the theme.  For retailers, it is a business decision, whether good or bad, in which they attempt to appease one group of consumers or another.  What they do probably has an impact on their sales figures, but influences little else.

Another question revolves around what is permissible for government officials.  Lawsuits and controversy have erupted over Christmas (or “holiday”) displays (like in Wisconsin).  Even President Bush has been taken to task for the White House Christmas Cards that don’t mention Christmas, but do contain Old Testament Bible verses that reference the Messianic prophecy.  Military Christians, then, have a confusing cornucopia of examples to look at when trying to decide what is appropriate during the Christmas season.

Is there a right answer?  What can military Christians do or say?  Read more

Update: Weinstein Lawsuit Case Law

In previous posts (original, update) regarding the MRFF lawsuit against Jeremy Hall’s superior officer and the Defense Department, it has been noted that the American judicial system has been loathe to interfere with the separate judiciary of the military.  It has also been noted that, to this point, it does not appear Hall utilized the in-place grievance systems.

So as not to depend on “urban legend” and rumor, a little research resulted in finding the Supreme Court case of Chappell v. Wallace (1983), which addresses both of these concerns, and is quoted extensively below.

In Chappell v. Wallace, 462 U.S. 296 (1983), which can be referenced in its entirety here, the US Supreme Court held that superiors could not be sued by their subordinates because Read more

Another Pentagon Complaint

As previously reported on the Religion Clause, TruthOut is reporting that Weinstein’s MRFF is again complaining about an outside Christian organization having access to the Pentagon.  This time it was David Kistler’s HOPE ministries.

The article makes it unclear whether it is the theology that is the issue (since much of the article is a mockery of Kistler’s views) or the fact it was a religious organization.

While the writer makes it appear that it is “intuitively obvious” that the Pentagon again violated the ‘Constitutional separation of church and state,’ that is not the case.  Chaplains routinely host outside visitors of varied religious persuasions for the spiritual benefit of their servicemen, which is their legal duty.

While Weinstein may disagree, the Constitution and the courts have supported the religious influence of the chaplaincy and its programs in the military.

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