Tag Archives: military religious freedom foundation

Mikey Weinstein Attacks Grand Forks AFB, Salvation Army

Last week an enlisted Airman at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, sent an email soliciting volunteers for a Salvation Army food distribution that is scheduled to happen today and tomorrow. Apparently, one of the recipients forwarded the email to Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, who says he promptly complained to the base. Grand Forks passed Weinstein to their higher headquarters Public Affairs, to whom Weinstein says he sent this professional email thoroughly explaining his concern:

Volunteering for the Salvation Army “during duty hours”?

That’s it.

A local Grand Forks site quoted Weinstein saying  Read more

Mikey Weinstein Apparently Retires From Air Force Amid Jewish, Secular Accusations

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s contact at Newsweek, the routinely fact-challenged Nina Burleigh, wrote up a blog on Weinstein yesterday that did little more than repeat Weinstein’s recent tirades against the US military.

For example, regarding the Thanksgiving Day cake decorated with Psalms written on it:

Before the end of the holiday weekend, service members at Al Udeid and elsewhere had complained to [Weinstein].

We all know that’s not true. It’s evident Read more

Thanksgiving Day Cake: Offended? Call Mikey Weinstein.

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s pattern seems to be to collect potential “material” and then socialize it among his friends in an attempt to find volunteers to be counted as “anonymous” complainants. Despite his frequent claims, there is no evidence to date Weinstein has ever been approached by a group of aggrieved troops who, of their own initiative, came to him looking for help.

Instead, what appears to happen is Weinstein either finds or is told about something happening; Weinstein then sends it out to people who were blissfully unaware, but agree to be offended, and then Weinstein tries to go on a media warpath with “32 complaints, 25 of which are practicing Christians, etc.”

But sometimes things happen and Weinstein doesn’t know about it — and since no one is offended on their own (without his input), he doesn’t get the chance to complain.

Enter the DFAC cake made at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, last week:

Under normal circumstances, this would Read more

Muslim Airman First to get Beard Waiver

SSgt Abdul Rahman Gaitan has become the first US Air Force Airman to obtain a religious exemption to grow a beard in uniform:

The biggest challenge yet, was getting approval for his shaving waiver from Air Force Headquarters. This required endorsement by the unit commander, base chaplain, installation commander up to the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel Division. This process took Gaitan almost four years to accomplish.

Interestingly, the article explains Gaitan was actually Catholic, but he apparently became disenchanted with the lack of authenticity in the liturgical faith — and he was drawn to the seeming sincerity of Islam he saw in locals while stationed in Turkey.

With the beard openly displaying his religion, Gaitan says Read more

Air Force General Roger Brady: Mikey Weinstein “Extreme”

Retired US Air Force General Roger Brady made some waves in 2005 when he led an investigation of the US Air Force Academy’s religious climate. Much to some activists’ dismay, the report said there were some issues and perceptions, but there was not a systemic or institutional religious problem at USAFA. (Gen Brady also famously criticized Airmen who contacted their congressmen — an explicitly protected form of communication within the military.)

General Brady was interviewed recently by Christianity Today on faith and the military in a Veterans’ Day article that led off noting the recent “controversy” surrounding Air Force BGen John Teichert — as initiated by “former Air Force Captain and activist attorney Mikey Weinstein“.

The interview was highlighted by the Baptist Joint Committee — a liberal leaning group — as having “both some troubling and some heartening perspectives and insights.” That seems accurate, as Gen Brady says thing both sides of the religious liberty debate will support and oppose. In fact, in just two sentences he managed to hit both sides of the fence [emphasis added]: Read more

Mikey Weinstein Non-Reports Alleged Anti-Semitism at USAFA

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s veritable public relations officer, Pam Zubeck of the CSIndy, published an article late yesterday claiming a cadet at the US Air Force Academy said something and another cadet didn’t like it.

And that’s about it.

The incident isn’t explained fully in any one paragraph within the article, but putting the pieces together it appears upperclass cadets at a lunch meal are alleged to have said:

The 11 Jews murdered [in Pittsburgh] would now be burning in hell forever because none of them had accepted Jesus as their savior prior to being shot and killed.

A first year (Fourth Class) cadet who is Jewish apparently Read more

Mikey Weinstein Mocked by Duffel Blog. Again.

Yesterday the Duffel Blog — a military-themed site in the flavor of the satirical Onion — announced that the US Air Force had removed baptism as a requirement for graduation from basic training:

The Air Force announced today that it would no longer require recruits to become baptized Christians in order to graduate basic training following yet another bout of criticism over bias from Air Force leaders who identify as evangelicals…

“The Air Force Academy…has outsourced all science and engineering classes to Focus on the Family,” said MRFF President Mikey Weinstein…“We’ve got a generation of aviators and potential astronauts who think that gravity is the devil trying to suck them down into hell and that Elijah’s magic chariot dust is what propels them into the air.”

Now, it’s clear to everyone else that the Duffel Blog is mocking Mikey’s continuous — and vastly overblown — accusations that the Air Force is secretly turning into an evangelical church. But it is unlikely Weinstein Read more

1 … 13 14 15 16 17 … 162