Tag Archives: mikey weinstein

New Air Force Lead Lawyer on Religion, Homosexuality

Homosexual activists recently emphasized the fact the US Senate just confirmed a “gay attorney” as the new General Counsel of the US Air Force. Mr. Gordon Tanner has taken on the civilian role akin to the uniformed JAG of the Air Force.  Tanner also retired as a Reserve JAG; interestingly, he may have worked on courts-martial or discharges enforcing the ban on homosexuals even as he continued to serve.  Still, those activists missed the more newsworthy expression of Tanner’s view on religious expression and homosexuality in the military:

May a member of the armed forces who has a sincerely held belief in opposition to same-sex marriage be subject to adverse personnel action or similar other adverse action, if he or she shares those personal views on the subject in a personal capacity?

Tanner: No. A member of the armed forces Read more

Critics Target US Military Chapel Services. Again.

A video (which you can watch here) of US Marines worshiping God to Days of Elijah — complete with “oorah!” added to the lyrics — went “viral” a week or so ago, spreading across the internet in a bold display of faith and freedom.

And a few atheists really didn’t like that.

It seems Rock Beyond Belief — a one-hit wonder that staged an underwhelming stage show at Fort Bragg — has degraded into a repository of atheists bellyaching about Christians exercising their religious freedom while serving in the US military. Having learned about the video, their Facebook page launched an “investigation” — because some Marines in the video “don’t appear happy to be there, as if they were forced:”  Read more

Congress to Hear Testimony on Military Religious Freedom

A group of military religious freedom supporters — and at least one critic — will appear before the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee this week to testify on the state of religious liberty in the US military.

Advocates for military religious freedom invited to the hearing include

  • Michael Berry, Liberty Institute attorney who acted on behalf of cadets at the US Air Force Academy this year
  • Retired Chaplain (Col) Ron Crews, an outspoken advocate for military religious freedom
  • Travis Weber, Director of the Family Research Council’s Center for Religious Liberty, US Naval Academy graduate and former Naval aviator.

Their organizations are also part of the Restore Military Religious Freedom coalition.

On the critics side, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein Read more

Air Force Seeks DoD Review of Oath

Update: Patrick Vaughn, general counsel for the American Family Association, wrote an article saying “The U.S. Constitution makes it clear: American atheists are not and should not be barred from serving their country through military service.”

Facing scrutiny for its letter-of-the-law requirement that Airmen enlist with “So help me God,” the Air Force has asked the DoD General Counsel to provide an official legal opinion:

The Air Force said Tuesday it was awaiting a legal opinion from the Defense Department’s top lawyer on whether an enlisted airman who’s an atheist can opt out of the phrase “so help me God” in his re-enlistment oath…

“The opinion that we’re seeking will help inform future decisions and the latitude that can be taken with the oath,” Air Force spokeswoman Rose Richeson said Tuesday. “But the Air Force has to comply with law.”

From an objective position, Read more

Mikey Weinstein Threatens Lawsuit over Navy Bibles

Update: A variety of groups signed a letter to the Navy asking them to allow the Bibles to remain in the Navy lodges.

Riding the coattails of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has threatened to sue the US Navy if it fails to remove Bibles from its lodging rooms:

If the Navy refuses to pull the Bibles “out of every single room,” said Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, “we are looking to file a federal lawsuit.”

For the record, Weinstein threatens to sue someone at every turn.  It is likely this threat is as empty as virtually all the others.  (He lost the few lawsuits he filed many years ago, further undermining his threats.)

Weinstein’s apparent paranoia was on full display:  Read more

Air Force Oath: Atheists Protest Right Thing the Wrong Way

The American Humanist Association — the same group vying for an atheist chaplain — has threatened to sue the Air Force because the military enlistment oath ends in “So help me God,” and an Airman at Creech AFB lined out part of the oath on his enlistment form:

According to the AHA, the unnamed airman was told Aug. 25 that the Air Force would not accept his contract because he had crossed out the phrase “so help me God.”…

That is unconstitutional and unacceptable, the AHA said.

“The government cannot compel a nonbeliever to take an oath that affirms the existence of a supreme being,” Miller said. “Numerous cases affirm that atheists have the right to omit theistic language from enlistment or reenlistment contracts.”

They’re correct. The problem with the AHA’s position is they demonstrated an amazing lack of comprehension of the law — and basic public relations skills.

After three pages of pontificating in their demand letter, the AHA Read more

Military Christians Targeted in Face of Islamic Extremism

Recent news reports indicate two US citizens were recently killed while fighting on the side of the terror group known as ISIS, which has declared an “Islamic state” in northern Iraq and eastern Syria.  (Reports indicate that makes at least three Americans killed fighting on the side of the Islamic extremists so far, and others want to.)

A second American citizen who died fighting for terror group ISIS in Syria has been identified as Abdirahmaan Muhumed of Minneapolis, reports have said.

Fox News reported that the 29-year-old Somali-American died in the same battle as Douglas McArthur McCain, the first American to be identified as having died on the Islamic militant side.

It turns out former US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the man sentenced to death for killing more than a dozen of his fellow soldiers in the 2009 massacre, wants to become a citizen of this new Islamic state (more proof, some say, the attack was an act of terrorism, not “workplace violence“).

In an interesting bit of timing, Army Sgt Hasan Akbar — sentenced Read more

Mikey Weinstein Belittles, then Speaks at Georgia School

Update: The recent articles reference complaints filed this past summer by UNG’s “Students for Secular Freedom.”  For background, Cadet David Gormley started a Change.org petition on April 27th calling for “Remov[ing] Christian Prayers From School Sponsored Events.”  This was apparently the day of UNG’s Memorial Retreat, according to a video uploaded to YouTube by Gormley but attributed to another student, Saara Wintersgill.  (Wintersgill is credited on another video from another ceremony the same weekend.) UNG’s SSF subsequently advertised the petition on Reddit, saying a “U.S. Public College Forces Sectarian Prayer on Cadets.”  An atheist posting of the controversy in April generated some interesting comments on both sides of the debate.  The SSF apparently has crossover with UNG’s “Skeptics Society,” for which Gormley and Wintersgill are listed as officers.  Wintersgill has previously published articles at the student paper on the activities of her group.

Cadet Daniel Holder of the University of North Georgia — “the military college of Georgia” — apparently objected to prayers offered at school events. After being “ignored” by the school, he called Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF. Weinstein promptly wrote a letter (PDF) to the school, accusing UNG of violating the Constitution and being “Christian supremacists” [emphasis added]:

UNG’s brazen contempt of our Constitution is undeniable…This state sponsored organization [the cadet chaplain corps] is a Christian Supremacist group…

Until the day comes that the United States chooses to follow the shining examples of Saudi Arabia, the Taliban, and Read more

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