Tag Archives: craig olson

Mikey Weinstein Launches Annual Prayer Breakfast Fundraising

In what has become a predictable annual event, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has again begun lodging his regular complaints about prayer breakfasts/luncheons being hosted on military bases or for military audiences around the country.

In January, Weinstein demanded Fort Jackson drop its invitation to Kenneth Copeland, because Mikey Weinstein disapproved of Copeland’s theology.

This month, Weinstein is demanding Whiteman AFB remove the commander’s “endorsement” from the wing’s annual prayer breakfast event announcement.

In the former example, the Army rightfully ignored Weinstein, and the event occurred as planned, despite Weinstein’s desperate pleas.

In the latter example, Weinstein is Read more

I am a Christian First: Ted Cruz and Christian Priorities

AP PhotoWhen GOP Presidential candidate Ben Carson rose in the polls a couple of months ago, a buzz started — mostly among activists and agitators — about the religious statements made by his now-chief of staff, retired Gen Bob Dees. (Dees had long been on Carson’s staff, but Carson’s rise brought sudden attention to otherwise old information.)

Now that Ted Cruz has risen to be Donald Trump’s primary challenger, critics of faith and liberty have shifted the “religious analysis” to him.

At the liberal-leftist Daily Kos, Ian Reifowitz called on his readers to imagine if a Jew or Muslim had said what Cruz had. Citing Politico, Reifowitz quoted Cruz:

“I’m a Christian first, American second, conservative third and Republican fourth…I’ll tell ya, there are a whole lot of people in this country that feel exactly the same way.”

Reifowitz assessed:

Could you imagine, for example, a Jewish candidate for president saying that he or she was a Jew first and an American second? Now imagine the sheer outrage if a Muslim American of any prominence whatsoever declared that he or she was Muslim first and American second. People’s heads would explode.

Reifowitz’s argument was almost immediately Read more

FRC Releases Latest Religious Liberty Report

The Family Research Council released an updated version of its “Clear and Present Danger” (PDF) (previously discussed in January). There are a variety of new issues added, including the removal of the POW table at Patrick AFB over the presence of a Bible, the Navy Gideon Bible kerfuffle, Col Marquinez’s banned article, Chaplain Joe Lawhorn’s punishment, Mikey Weinstein’s “Blessed Day,” Chaplain Wes Modder, Maj Gen Craig Olson, and court-martialed US Marine Monifa Sterling.

One of the more interesting ones was actually an “old” case recently added [emphasis added]:

Soon after the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy was repealed, an Army chaplain of Lieutenant Colonel rank received an e-mail copy of a published article presenting some thoughtful points about the whole DADT debate, from a senior chaplain who was a Colonel. The Lieutenant Colonel chaplain thought it was a good article and sent it to his subordinate chaplains.

It was intercepted by his chaplain Colonel supervisor who indicated she was very angry Read more

The Cure for Michael Weinstein and the MRFF

by Sonny Hernandez

Michael Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) are continuing their vitriolic onslaughts against Bible-believing Christians in the Armed Forces. The self-described defender of religious freedom exuberantly impedes on Christians who do not embrace the cultural pendulum that spurns God. How can the MRFF be advocates for religious freedom when they flagrantly demand the omission of God and besiege Christians who will not compromise the tenets of their faith? In my opinion, the MRFF masquerades as defenders of religious freedom, but their actions corroborate their enmity against anyone who affirms the Bible as the sole source of authority. In my opinion, the MRFF’s habitual actions of antagonizing Christians make even their name misleading.

There are innumerable Christians in the Armed Forces who do not embrace the standards of morality that are congruent with the MRFF. This does not mean that Christian beliefs are inferior to the MRFF suppression. Should members of the Armed Forces worry about being adversely impacted by the MRFF acrimony towards Christians? Absolutely, based upon the habitual actions of the MRFF toward Christians, to include their incursion even on a sermon I preached at my civilian church which will be concisely explained in this article. As a Christian, I have forgiven the MRFF for their attempt to stigmatize my sermon and I welcome the opportunity to respectfully dialogue with Mr. Weinstein. This article will discuss some of the disconcerting practices of Mr. Weinstein and how the Gospel can cure his loathing of Christians. According to John Calvin, “Without the Gospel everything is useless and in vain.”

Disconcerting & Questionable Practices

Mr. Weinstein from the MRFF would disagree with my aforementioned statement concerning the Gospel. The MRFF has produced voluminous Read more

ACLJ: Major Victory for Military Religious Freedom

Last week the ACLJ proclaimed a “major victory” for religious freedom in the US military, citing a belated response finally received from the US Air Force JAG office. More than a month after the National Prayer Breakfast, in which General Craig Olson cited his reliance upon God and Michael “Mikey” Weinstein called for his crucifixion, the Air Force JAG finally responded with a terse, one-paragraph response [emphasis added]:

We have thoroughly reviewed the facts and circumstances involving Maj Gen Olson’s participation in the National Day of Prayer Observance held on May 7, 2015, at the Cannon House Office Building, Washington DC. Maj Gen Olson did not violate Air Force policy by participating in this Congressionally-supported event. His remarks were his own personal opinions and did not represent the views of the United States Air Force.

The letter, dated June 24th, is Read more

General: Gay Pride is About Authenticity, Meritocracy

An official Navy article documented a US military “gay pride” event at Patuxent River, Maryland, on June 2nd that was hosted by BrigGen Tammy Smith — the “first openly gay US general.” While some have said the concept of “gay pride” celebrates sexuality by its very nature, BrigGen Smith said it wasn’t about people’s personal lives [emphasis added]:

Pride is not about anyone’s personal life; it’s a celebration of authenticity. We celebrate pride because we value being a meritocracy, because we want to be an organization that attracts and retains the best talent…We celebrate pride because no one has the right to tell others who they should be or who they should not be.

Gen Smith did not elaborate, so it’s unclear how she views “lesbian, gay, and bisexual pride” correlating with the military’s emphasis on merit.

Her final sentence was somewhat ironic, because Read more

ACLJ Defends General Olson, Criticizes Mikey Weinstein

Skip Ash of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) penned an article last week taking Michael “Mikey” Weinstein to task for Weinstein’s demand that the Air Force court-martial Major General Craig Olson. In the piece entitled “The Radical Assault on Faith in the Military Must be Stopped,” Ash called Weinstein’s allegations “outlandishly wrong” and “hogwash!”  (This comes after Weinstein’s friend, Chaplain Ron Crews of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, described (PDF) Weinstein’s attack as “hysterics” from an “activist[] with an axe to grind against religion.”)

The ACLJ also revealed that they wrote their own letter (PDF) to Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh with a remarkably clear and simple explanation of the error of Weinstein’s ways (Crews wrote a similar one (PDF)). Referring to Weinstein’s imploring of General Welsh to “take a good, hard look” at the video of General Olson’s speech, the ACLJ said [italics original, emphasis added]:  Read more

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson Equates American Christians with Taliban

Update: The Arizona Daily Independent published a letter from retired Command Chief Master Sergeant Chuck Wooten, in which he rebuts Weinstein, saying

To boil this entire issue down to its lowest form, [Wilkerson] and the MRFF are nothing more than predictable liberals. They make a living by fabricating controversy where none exists (think Al Sharpton). They hide behind massively loquacious pieces of hate-filled diatribe which ultimately means nothing. A by-product of their incessant squawking is a colossal waste of tax dollars when a branch of the military or court has to divert attention from its mission to swat these gnats aside.

It must be exhausting for [Wilkerson] and the MRFF to fight a fictitious foe only to have their butt handed to them in defeat.

Retired US Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson is most famous for having been the Chief of Staff to retired General Colin Powell when he was Secretary of State from 2002 to 2005. Wilkerson’s most recent role has been as voice for Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which has a long history of calling for restrictions on Christians in the US military.

After the recent hullabaloo over Mikey Weinstein’s demand for Major General Craig Olson’s court-martial, Wilkerson wrote a piece at the Huffington Post which was entitled “The ‘Taliban’ in Our Midst.”

The article began with a wide-ranging indictment of religion in the military:

Military officers who wear their religion on their sleeve are a danger to our country at any time, but especially after the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001.

Wilkerson probably doesn’t realize he just called every US military chaplain, many US military Jews, and even the rare US military Sikh a “danger” to the United States of America. The rest of his article focuses solely on Christians:  Read more

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