Tag Archives: mikey weinstein

Update: Responses to DoD Changes on Religion Rules

Update: J.B. Wells wonders aloud if the DoD intentionally produced the policy to change the religious freedom focus to turbans and beards while keeping “liberal constituencies” like Michael Weinstein “at bay.”

There have been a wide variety of responses to the US military’s update to DODI 1300.17 (accommodating religious freedom), with language that seems to imply a more open attitude toward outward display and expression of religious belief.

The Christian Post, like many sites, focused on the apparent ability to wear religious accoutrements:

The Pentagon reportedly decided to change its policy on religious wear after Major Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, a Sikh, spoke at a Congressional briefing about the challenges American Sikhs face in the military earlier in January. Kalsi told members of Congress that he believes he can effectively serve his country while still maintaining his religious appearance, including an uncut beard and a turban.

While that may or may not have been a factor, the DoDI clearly includes language from both the 2013 and 2014 National Defense Authorization Acts — that is, requirements levied by Congress, not just reconsideration based on serving Soldiers.

The US Navy appeared to try to quell Read more

Campus Crusade Hosts MRFF’s Atheist Paul Loebe (Video)

Paul Loebe, the former active duty Marine who is now Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s newest “special assistant,” was recently one of two atheists invited to The Epicenter Experience, a college ministry event put on by Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ, a frequent MRFF target). The “conversation” was led by Doug Pollock, and Loebe was (invited and) accompanied by fellow atheist Adam Hann (also a military veteran).

Doug Pollock’s “specialty” is helping Christians “increase the quality and the quantity of their spiritual conversations.”  In other words, how to talk to non-Christians well, which is a natural first step toward evangelism.  Pollock’s conversation with Loebe and Hann was, in essence, a demonstration.

The video of the “conversation” (below), provided by Cru, is actually fairly interesting (and its a fair bit better quality than the ‘pirated audio‘ the MRFF published). Much of the discussion was how Christians had caused the two atheists to feel, from experiences Read more

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Attacks Atheism, Immorality, not Christianity

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has frequently claimed that the public acknowledgement of Christians in the US military — as when a group of US Marines was baptized on a California beach — has provided propaganda and motivation for America’s extremist Islamic adversaries. As has been noted before, Weinstein’s claim has no basis in fact; Osama bin Laden railed against America’s support for Israel far more than he did any presence of Christianity in the US military.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, was recently able to release a “rambling manifesto” (available here) that mentions many things, which might have given him the opportunity to indicate the motivation behind his alleged personal planning of the attack on 9/11. While the document is addressed to the “crusaders of the military commissions” and Mohammed once refers to “crusader Soldiers,” as before, this word does not seem to be a religious attribution. In fact, Mohammed seems to claim the opposite: The evil of the Western world is its atheism and immorality:  Read more

US Military Publishes New Religious Freedom Guidance

A host of websites have reported the US Department of Defense has “relaxed” its rules regarding religious accommodation. More accurately, the military has updated its policies on requesting such accommodations in a manner that does seem to imply they will be more amenable to such requests.  Department of Defense Instruction 1300.17 (DoDI 1300.17) now has “Change 1”, which can be found here (PDF).

“The new policy states that military departments will accommodate religious requests of service members,” [Pentagon spokesman Navy LtCmdr Nathan Christensen] said, “unless a request would have an adverse effect on military readiness, mission accomplishment, unit cohesion and good order and discipline.”

When a service member requests such an accommodation, he added, department officials balance the need of the service member against the need to accomplish the military mission. Such a request is denied only if an official determines that mission accomplishment needs outweigh the need of the service member, Christensen said.

The key word in the quote and the instruction itself — the DoD will accommodate.

These changes include an apparent allowance of religious facial hair and “body art,” as well as direct responses to the 2013 and 2014 National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA) requiring the US military to accommodate religious expression: Read more

Mikey Weinstein, the MRFF, and MIBON Consulting

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein sometimes tries to make the MRFF — the group he created and runs — seem bigger than just him, citing the number of people associated with his “charity.” However, he quietly admits to the IRS the MRFF has only a single employee — Mikey Weinstein.  That admission seems to contradict claims by others, like Chris Rodda, who say they work for the MRFF.

Normally, personnel costs are not considered “program expenses” in IRS lingo (program expenses are “those incurred while performing its tax-exempt activities”). However, that seems to be how Weinstein framed payment for Rodda’s services. Rodda once admitted the MRFF “Research” expense line item — about $25,000 — was her annual pay (though she has faded from the MRFF scene in the past year or so).  Presumably, the legal explanation is Weinstein treats her as a kind of independent contractor, rather than technically an employee.  The characterization of the use of that $25K on “research” — or Rodda — is not something a potential donor would know if Chris Rodda hadn’t spoken out of school.

What else don’t you know?

While Weinstein itemized such administrivia as Internet ($143) and Bank Fees ($14), he declined to explain three of his charity’s top 5 expenses totaling more than $100,000.  One of those is Rodda’s “research.”  Weinstein pays two other repetitive and predictable (and strikingly similar) annual expenses:  “support” and “consulting.”

Weinstein’s third largest expense in 2012 ($43,000) was vague “support.”  While Read more

Donations to Mikey Weinstein Fall, but His Paycheck Rises

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently promised contributors to his “charity” their donations would “represent a…monetary impact” to his cause:

You can rest assured that your generous donation to MRFF would represent a dollar for dollar monetary impact on this Civil Rights/National Security issue that is second to none.

Believe it or not, the awkwardly named Military Religious Freedom Foundation, founded and run by Weinstein (also the sole employee), is a 501(c)3 charity. The advantage of such a designation to Weinstein is he can solicit donations with the same tax benefits to the donors as if they’d given to their local church. The disadvantage (to Weinstein) is he is required to publicize financial documents, which can be quite revealing.

Despite having issues in the past with the public seeing his records, Weinstein has continued to pay himself essentially the same amount each year.  Mikey Weinstein has grossed more than $1.4 million in direct personal compensation (from the donations to his charity) to date.

This year (2012 is the most recent Weinstein has released) was little different. Michael Weinstein’s “reportable compensation” for 2012 was Read more

Lawsuit Against Mikey Weinstein Survives Dismissal

In 2012, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein lost the fifth of five lawsuits he has filed since 2005. None survived to trial. The last was Weinstein v Ammerman, which was a personal lawsuit against former Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt for his “imprecatory prayers.” As with all of his lawsuits, Weinstein promised an “aggressive” appeal when it was dismissed. As with all of his lawsuits, Weinstein never appealed.

The essence of Klingenschmitt’s defense was the only “harm” Weinstein could produce occurred prior to Klingenschmitt’s public prayers. It was said several times that for Weinstein’s case to have merit, he would have needed a time machine.

As a result, following the dismissal of Weinstein’s lawsuit, Klingenschmitt chose to file a lawsuit against Weinstein for “abuse of process” and defamation. The former, because Weinstein allegedly filed his lawsuit knowing it to be false; the latter, because Weinstein allegedly knowingly connected Klingenschmitt with criminal acts he had nothing to do with.

Last week, a New Mexico judge dismissed the abuse claim but allowed the defamation claim to proceed.

A defamation lawsuit filed by a Read more

Chris Rodda, Mikey Weinstein Go Off Script on Religious Freedom

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation believes the 2014 NDAA language requiring the US military to accommodate religious expression — not just religious belief — is “a good thing.”

Simultaneously, Weinstein’s MRFF also believes the language is “a blank check for bullies.”

Awkwardly, Weinstein and his “special research assistant” Chris Rodda issued opposing MRFF statements on precisely the same subject.

In mid-December, Rodda, speaking for Weinstein’s “charity,” said this in a little-noticed MRFF posting [emphasis added]:  Read more

1 … 82 83 84 85 86 … 156