Tag Archives: Jewish

Senior Air Force Officer Defends Mikey Weinstein

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently published an anonymous, 3,000-word essay from a “senior officer” describing why MRFF “clients” always remain anonymous in their complaints against Christians and religion in the US military.

While the treatise is meant to provide justification for the “clients” in Weinstein’s anonymous attacks on Christians in the military, many people would likely agree with the general, neutral premise — highlighting oneself can negatively affect a military career. For example, Tony Carr blogging at John Q. Public and many others have become outlets for members of the military unwilling to name themselves out of fear for their careers. As Weinstein’s acolyte says:

One doesn’t need to commit a punishable offense…to derail a career and if I’m a commander judging a group of subordinates, I don’t even need to bother myself with the mountains of paperwork that would come with actually initiating disciplinary action against one of my junior officers…

Instead, I just can as easily kill the career of an unchosen one with sweet kindness and honesty…If you don’t have a complete, unbroken string of golden soccer trophies for every assignment and year of service, you’re done…

Again, the implication is not Read more

The Hopper Response to Mikey Weinstein: Come to Dinner

LtCol Aaron Hopper is the husband of US Air Force Reserve Major Christina “Thumper” Hopper, the target of Mikey Weinstein’s attack this week claiming she was violating military regulations when she identified faith in God as her life motivation.

He personally responded to Mikey Weinstein on Wednesday…and invited him to dinner.

It remains to be seen whether Weinstein has the courage to meet the Hoppers in person after denigrating Christina from behind the keyboard. If nothing else, Aaron’s admirable response and noble offer may help some of Weinstein’s acolytes realize Weinstein’s targets are real human beings — not the faceless, one-dimensional criminals Weinstein generally makes them out to be.

The Hoppers invite Mikey Weinstein to dinner:

Mikey Weinstein, you have written that my wife could be accused of, “1st degree religious zealotry unbecoming of a military leader,” following a feature article written about her last week. Yet Christina has never pressured anyone in the ranks to listen, agree with, or accept any of her beliefs. She Read more

Mikey Weinstein Attacks Air Force Christians for Their Faith

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently slammed Christian Air Force officers for the high crime of…being Christian.

His first target was US Air Force Reserve Major Christina “Thumper” Hopper. Hopper’s callsign recalls a few Air Force traditions, playing off both her name and her character. (Thumper was the name of the rabbit in Bambi (get it?), and she was also known for her faith — making her a “Bible thumper.”)

In an innocuous Air Force article about her participation in a triathlon, Thumper talked about how she “measure[d] herself”:

The overarching thing that defines all of my life is my relationship with God. It’s what drives me and makes me passionate about life. The reason and the purpose behind everything I do is to glorify God and to make his name known. If that was removed from my life, I would feel that I have no purpose.

Weinstein — who once said he would give his last drop of blood to defend others’ rights to their faiths, even if they were offensive — berated Thumper and belittled her beliefs:  Read more

Rabbi Elie Estrin Commissioned as Air Force’s Only Bearded Chaplain

Rabbi Elie Estrin (previously discussed here) recently graduated from Officer Training School, officially making him an officer in the Air Force Reserve — and the Air Force’s only chaplain wearing a beard:

During the five week Commissioned Officer Training Course, Rabbi Estrin ate Kosher MRE’s (ready-to-eat meals) and said that staff were fantastic about facilitating his required accommodations, some of which included his adherence to Shabbat and the 25 hour fast of Tisha Be’av, a day which commemorates the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem.

(Chaplain Menachem Stern currently serves in the US Army with a beard.)

Religious beards mark one Read more

Mikey Weinstein Calls for Ouster of Muslim Chaplains

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein — who claims to represent more than 13% of all Muslims in the US military — has effectively called for the military to kick out all Muslim chaplains:

Please listen up; nobody is trying to interfere with the Constitutional rights of military chaplains to hold PERSONAL views that are racist, sexist, and homophobic, etc. Chaplains preach their views according to their denominational endorsing agencies dictates and precepts, that much is understood. However, if chaplains believe that they MUST publicly and visibly preach to their troops a message that their Christian comrades are misled “infidels” because of their “choice” to follow Jesus, then these views are fatally noxious and totally destructive to unit cohesion, good order, morale, and discipline in the armed forces.

Actually, to be accurate, Weinstein didn’t use those exact words. This portion of his actual 1,500-word diatribe was tweaked very slightly, as highlighted, to Read more

Navy Commander Tells Subordinates to Take Pride in Homosexual Community

US Navy Capt Ronald Ravelo and the USS Abraham Lincoln

The USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class nuclear powered aircraft carrier currently undergoing a refurbishment in Virginia, recently held a “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender” celebration. One of the presentations came from Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ryan Wampler, who said

Policies like the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ propel this Navy to be the finest in the world…I take pride in knowing that I am part of an organization that…is…setting examples for the rest of the country to follow.

It’s unclear how openly accepting homosexuality makes Read more

US Army Rebuffs Jason Torpy’s Atheist Complaint about Prayer (Video)

Jason Torpy, the perpetually (and vicariously) offended atheist and former US Army Captain, complained last week that a US Army Air Assault graduation ceremony included a prayer:

MAAF has obtained a video showing enforced Christian prayer at Air Assault training at Ft Campbell. Trainees are directed to bow their head to graduation prayer and to give a response that sounds like “Amen”.

The 36-second prayer is in the video above.

Torpy complained Read more

Becket Fund Sides with Military Against Humanist Chaplains

Update: Via The Religion Clause:

[The] Virginia federal district court ultimately allowed Dr. Heap to move ahead with his Establishment Clause and Equal Protection/ Substantive Due Process challenges to the Navy and Department of Defense’s actions.

However the court dismissed challenges brought under other parts of the 1st Amendment, the No Religious Test clause, and RFRA, dismissed The Humanist Society as a plaintiff for lack of standing and on ripeness grounds, and dismissed claims against the individual defendants.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has had what might be considered a banner year in its legal support of religious liberty, winning more than one case at the Supreme Court. Moreover, what separates the Becket Fund from some other stereotypical religious liberty groups is their willingness to not just speak but also act in defense of all religious liberty.

While they represented a Christian family when the Supreme Court Read more

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