Most know by now, but for those who don’t, US Air Force BGen John Teichert has been cleared following Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s 22-page complaint about his religious beliefs.
It turns out the Inspector General didn’t even investigate. It did the required first step — analyze the complaint — and determined Weinstein’s complaint was so frivolous it didn’t even warrant an investigation.
Mikey Weinstein’s reaction was typical: Read more
Gina Harkins at Military.com says the Air Force is “looking into” a complaint about the content of a Catholic chaplain’s sermon last month [emphasis added]:
Capt. Antonio Rigonan, an Air Force chaplain at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, said during an Aug. 19 service that many priests who’ve abused children were “homosexuals” and “effeminate,” according to a military officer’s spouse who attended that morning.
In context, “looking into” appears to mean nothing more than “find out about,” since the Air Force had no idea there was a complaint until the press asked: Read more
Until this summer, Col Martin “Marty” France was the Head of the Department of Astronautics at the US Air Force Academy, and he had been for some years. As a permanent professor he was allowed to maintain his rank and his position — and then retire with a promotion, as a Brigadier General.
Nine days after he retired, one of BGen (retired) France’s first acts as a civilian was publicly joining Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF.
In fact, it seems he isn’t ashamed of admitting he was in the tank for Mikey all along, even while he served on the USAFA faculty Read more
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
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
Howard Friedman’s Religion Clause reported on the summary judgment granted in In re Navy Chaplaincy, a very long-running lawsuit alleging the US Navy chaplaincy was essentially rigged for liturgical/Catholic chaplains. The DC federal district court ruled against the chaplains.
However, given how many years the lawsuit has been running its course, it is worth noting who is leading the US Navy chaplaincy now:
In fact, the rest of the US military chaplaincy leadership reads much the same. With one possible exception, the list reads like a who’s who of conservative and Read more
The ACLJ is once again standing as the voice of reason against attacks on military religious freedom by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF. Last week the ACLJ wrote to Secretary of Defense James Mattis — the same recipient of the MRFF’s letter — defending BGen John Teichert. The letter began with what is probably the most astute and clear statement on dealing with accusations from the MRFF:
We must admit it is difficult to know exactly where to start to refute the many false allegations and legal misstatements contained in Mr. Rehkopf’s letter. As we will show below, Mr. Rehkopf imputes impure motives to General Teichert and alleges harm based on his and MRFF’s hypersensitivity to religious expression by persons in uniform.
When Mr. Rehkopf encounters a religious view expressed Read more
Last year US Army SFC Ikaika Kang was arrested and charged with trying to materially support ISIS — including providing them classified information and a drone.
Last week he pled guilty:
Sgt. 1st Class Ikaika Kang, handcuffed and wearing a beige prison jumpsuit, spoke in a clear voice when he told a U.S. magistrate judge he’s guilty of all four counts against him.
“Your honor, I provided unclassified, classified documents to the Islamic State,” Kang said, adding that he also provided the drone.
Kang is among dozens of American civilians, US veterans, and even serving US military members who have been motivated by their Islamic faith to either plot against or attack US troops.
In Kang’s case, there were insinuations Read more