Tag Archives: mikey weinstein

Free Speech, the Constitution, and the US Military

With a few recent controversies over US troops making (or being prohibited from making) religious statements, a common thread has found its way into a few responses that demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the US Constitution.

These comments were along the lines of “if he worked for a private company [the soldier] would be fired” for making a religious statement, or this one from an MRFF supporter:

This is so ironic: A civilian employer can monitor and repress “free speech” in the workplace, yet the military…is supposed to let these Talicrisps (fundamentalist christians with fried brains) just rant freely…

For those who haven’t read the Constitution lately, the US Constitution prevents the government from restricting the rights of its citizens. The Constitution does not restrict a private citizen from restricting the rights of another citizen.

While there are many nuances, a private company can Read more

Commander Threatens Soldier for Religious Facebook Post

As noted at FoxNews, a Colorado Springs-based US servicemember posted her opinion on Facebook — and has been threatened by her commander as a result:

The soldier, who is an evangelical Christian, said she returned home from church on Sunday and was watching a documentary about a minister who endorsed homosexuality…

Her Facebook message read:

“A lot ticked off, now to all my gay friends you know I care about you so don’t think otherwise. I’m watching this documentary and this gay guy went to a church and the Pastor was telling him that he needs to embrace his way and know that it is not a sin. Ok umm wow, dude it is. I’m sick of people making Gods word what it’s not. Yes God loves you as a person but He hates the sin. Tired of hearing about Pastors being ok with homosexuality.”

She was reportedly told to

either remove the post or face a reduction in rank and pay.

There is contradictory information about whether she is an Airman or a Soldier, which may be just as well, as she wasn’t seeking to make a public statement and actually asked Fox to pull the article, which it did for a short time.  She appears to have substantial Read more

More Groups Seek Equal Treatment with Weinstein

The American Family Association has joined other groups in asking [PDF] that they, too, be allowed to meet with senior US military leaders on issues of religious freedom and tolerance — as Michael Weinstein was:

Because religious freedoms are extremely important to us, to military service members and to our veterans, we request a meeting with [the JAG, Deputy IG, Deputy Chief of Chaplains, Director of AF EO, and other staff members], which will confer the same courtesy extended to Mr. Weinstein and MRFF.

While Weinstein claimed he was invited, the Air Force excused the meeting by saying he’d simply asked for, and been granted, an audience.  In so doing, Air Force leaders opened themselves up to exactly what has happened: They are forced to grant other groups the same treatment, lest they succumb to the accusation that they gave Michael Weinstein “special treatment.”

No word yet on whether these groups have received personal emails from Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh, as Weinstein did — a move that supporters claimed legitimized his cause.

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Religious Freedom Group Investigates Military Chaplain Censorship

In what is likely a continuation of an action by the Military Religious Freedom Coalition, the Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking to learn how and why the Air Force chose to censor an article on faith written by Chaplain (LtCol) Kenneth Reyes.  The ADF notes Col Duffy’s decision — based explicitly on someone’s “offense” — has wider implications than just one web posting by Chaplain Reyes.

The FOIA also seeks to know the extent of the relationship between Col Brian Duffy, the Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson commander, and the MRFF — namely, Read more

ACLJ: AF Commander Unwitting Pawn in MRFF Strategy

Skip Ash, the senior litigation counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, has stated that in its effort to appease Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, the Air Force actually committed the very violation it thought it was trying to avoid:

Despite the MRFF rantings, the chaplain committed no violation of the U.S. Constitution, federal law or military regulations by what he did. It was the commander at the base and his staff who actually wronged the chaplain by buying into the MRFF’s skewed view of what the Constitution and military regulations require. The commander was wrong.

The ACLJ also sent a letter (PDF) to Col Brian Duffy, the base commander who ordered Chaplain Kenneth Reyes’ article removed because of someone’s claimed “offense.”  The letter rightly notes Blake Page, Michael Weinstein’s “special assistant,” didn’t even get the basic facts of the situation correct, nevermind accurately apply the law [emphasis added]:  Read more

MRFF: Air Force Created New Regulation Because of Christians

As previously noted, Michael Weinstein boasts about his hate mail like some people do pictures of their grandkids.  The MRFF publishes some of those emails, and, more often than not, a “volunteer” staff member posts an online rebuttal.  The replies are often critical and sarcastic, meaning they’re mostly red meat for MRFF acolytes.  Occasionally, though, one reveals the underbelly of the MRFF opposition to religious liberty.

Such was the case with Joan Slish, an MRFF “advisory board” member who has two claims to fame: First, according to the MRFF website, she left the Assembly of God because they were the wrong kind of Christian (though she oddly still claims an AoG Pastorate).  Second, she inadvertently revealed in 2011 that the MRFF was the arbiter of “true” Christianity — telling the world the MRFF would vitriolically attack the religious liberty of the wrong kind of Christian.  (Weinstein was already doing that; Slish was simply the first ‘staff member’ to admit it.)

Now she can add a third trophy:  An official MRFF email reply riddled with statements at times false, at others ridiculous, and almost always comical — but one that also has another peek behind the MRFF curtain.

She falters right out of the gate in following the MRFF tradition of Read more

Media Paints Distorted Picture on Military Religious Freedom

Recently, the Catholic church came out in support of a coalition of chaplain endorsers advocating for religious freedom protections in the US military.  Combined, the groups represent the overwhelming majority of faiths of US military servicemembers (and, in fact, the United States).

In apparent response to that broad unity, a US News and World Report article tried to paint a picture of a divided front:

Some evangelical groups are gearing up for a fight on military chaplains and same-sex marriage while others say they’ll seek Read more

Commander Who Pulled Chaplain Post Issues Statement

Update:  An Army Chaplain weighed in with a response to Col Duffy’s decision to pull Chaplain Reyes’ article, and a comment on the Commander’s statement from a recently retired Air Force Colonel takes Col Duffy to task:

Sir…Can you understand how your actions in kowtowing to [MRFF] threats now opens you and your fellow Blue Suiters up to even more insidious actions? Do you think this group will just roll over after having demanded that you take administrative actions against Lt Col Reyes for having had the audacity to write and publish this article? After they labeled his use of “no atheists in foxholes,” as a “… bigoted, religious supremacist” phrase? I believe we both know the answer to that question.

Sir, you hit the nail right on the head when you stated that you must protect the constitutional right of free speech and the free practice of religion…Where you go wrong is when you decide that this article, regarding faith and one’s perception of it in their own life, somehow is “governmental establishment of religion.”

The Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Facebook page was inundated with criticisms of Col Brian Duffy’s decision to pull Chaplain (LtCol) Kenneth Reyes’ column and issue an apology to Michael Weinstein. Those criticisms appear to have been completely deleted and replaced with a statement from the Colonel.

In short, the Colonel admits the article was removed out of concern for “those who may have been offended,” and called his decision a

“balance…between constitutional protections for free exercise of religion and the constitutional prohibition against governmental establishment of religion.”

A few commenters called that out, given that not even the MRFF claimed the Air Force was violating the First Amendment with the article.  Besides, the Constitution says nothing about “offense,” which is the stated reason the article was pulled (which caused a spate of responses claiming various things were offensive, and demanding Col Duffy remove more content from his website).  Several atheists chimed in and criticized the censorship as well — noting it wasn’t an “atheist vs Christian thing” — but a Weinstein vs Christian thing.

Then, though, the Colonel turned stern and took the unusual step of commenting on potential punishment — something normally rebutted with a “we make no comment on personnel matters.”  In short, this time Col Duffy flatly refused Michael Weinstein’s demands and says he has “not and will not reprimand anyone.”  The entire statement follows:  Read more

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