Tag Archives: military religious freedom foundation

Booted General Boykin Calls for Apology — for the Troops

The US Army post at Fort Riley recently cancelled a scheduled prayer breakfast because Michael “Mikey” Weinstein complained about the speaker: Retired LtGen William “Jerry” Boykin.

A wide variety of people have come out in support of LtGen Boykin, including Franklin Graham, Ted Cruz, and Congressman Tim Huelskamp — the Representative for the District encompassing Fort Riley.

LtGen Boykin is now calling for an apology from the US Army — not for him, but for the troops [emphasis added]:

What is really important about this is that the leadership of Fort Riley caved to pressure by these extremists and denied every person who planned to attend this event their own First Amendment rights.

I am told that there were many people who planned to attend and that 80 percent of the soldiers at the Fort self-identify as Christian. Attendance was totally voluntary, and no one was compelled to be there…

The Commanding General of the 1st Infantry Division, Maj. Gen. Wayne Grigsby, should apologize to the soldiers of Fort Riley and assure them that the leadership of Fort Riley will stand up to the anti-religious freedom agitators and defend their rights of assembly and the right to believe and live out their faith.

LtGen Boykin’s call for an apology is an outstanding reminder Read more

Mikey Weinstein gets Prayer Breakfast Cancelled, Gen Boykin Disinvited

Retired LtGen William “Jerry” Boykin was scheduled to speak at Fort Riley’s prayer breakfast next Monday. Michael “Mikey” Weinstein — president of his self-founded Military Religious Freedom Foundation — found out and demanded the Army withdraw the invitation.

The Army post at Fort Riley responded by cancelling the event, saying it would be rescheduled later — without General Boykin:

“Due to a number of scheduling conflicts … the breakfast will be rescheduled for a later date,” 1st ID spokesman Master Sgt. Mike Lavigne said in a Wednesday email…

Citing Fort Riley’s “diverse community,” Lavigne said 1st ID “will pursue the invitation of a different speaker for the prayer breakfast once it is rescheduled.”

The move may placate Read more

Soldier Complains After Bible Used During Army Ball

Update: The US Army later vaguely said it was “looking into” the complaint, though no complaint had been filed.

A US Army Soldier was “completely flabbergasted” that the POW/MIA ceremony at the Adjutant General’s Corps Regimental Association ball in South Korea included a Bible:

During the toast portion of the event, soldiers stationed throughout the crowd brought forward items used to construct the missing man table…

As the soldiers came forward, they briefly spoke about their item’s significance, the anonymous soldier said. The last of the items brought forward was a Bible.

The soldier who brought it forward talked about “strength through faith, and reminding us that we were founded as one nation under God,” the attendee said.

According to the article, the anonymous Soldier said  Read more

American Bible Society Celebrates 200 Years of Military Ministry

The American Bible Society is celebrating its 200th anniversary, noting that among its earliest leaders were members of the Founding Fathers and that it has a nearly two-century history of providing Bibles to the US military:

The first president of the American Bible Society, Elias Boudinot, was also the first president of the Continental Congress, and its second president was John Jay, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Its distribution of millions of Scriptures to American forces dates to the Mexican War of the 1840s, when Mexican civilians were also provided with Bibles. At one point two decades later, during the Civil War, ABS representatives were able to reach both sides simultaneously.

The ABS has provided Bibles in “military themes” and colors for Read more

Sites Highlight Nomination of Jewish General as Chief of Staff

goldfeinA wide variety of sites, most connected in some fashion specifically to Jewish news, have highlighted the fact President Obama has nominated a Jewish General, General David Goldfein, to be the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force:

Gen. David Goldfein will become the second Jew to command the U.S. Air Force…

Goldfein, who has been the vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force since August, will be the first Jewish combat pilot to hold the top position, and will be the second Read more

Petraeus: Anti-Muslim bigotry aids Islamist terrorists

petraeusIn a column at the Washington Post, former US Army General and CIA Director David Petraeus rails against “inflammatory political discourse…against Muslims and Islam:”

Those who flirt with hate speech against Muslims should realize they are playing directly into the hands of al-Qaida and the Islamic State.

The terrorists’ explicit hope has been to try to provoke a clash of civilizations — telling Muslims that the United States is at war with them and their religion. When Western politicians propose blanket discrimination against Islam, they bolster the terrorists’ propaganda.

Petraeus doesn’t say what Americans should do about this objection to Read more

The Citadel Denies Uniform Exception for Hijab

Update: New articles identify the student as Sana Hamze.

Update: Norwich University in Vermont has reportedly granted the same unnamed applicant the right to wear a hijab in her uniform. CAIR implies the student may yet take legal action against the Citadel.  Alumni from Norwich reacted similarly to those at the Citadel, with at least one noting Norwich has a civilian program for those who do not wish to adhere to the rules of the military corps of cadets.

citadelThe Citadel, “The Military College of South Carolina,” has denied a request for a waiver from an incoming cadet to wear a hijab with her cadet uniform, among other exceptions. From the President of The Citadel, retired LtGen John Rosa:

The Citadel has relied upon a highly effective educational model requiring all cadets to adopt a common uniform. Uniformity is the cornerstone of this four-year leader development model. The standardization of cadets in apparel, overall appearance, actions and privileges is essential to the learning goals and objectives of the college. This process reflects an initial relinquishing of self during which cadets learn the value of teamwork to function as a single unit…

The Citadel recognizes the importance of a cadet’s spiritual and religious beliefs, providing services for specific needs whenever possible…

The prospective cadet, who had already Read more

ACLJ Defends Military Prayer from “Anti-Christian Zealots”

After Michael “Mikey” Weinstein wrote a letter calling the Marine Corps University’s National Day of Prayer event unconstitutional, the American Center for Law and Justice quietly sent a letter to BGen Helen Pratt defending her handling of the event.

The ACLJ letter (PDF) was “quiet” because, while it was sent at the end of April, the ACLJ didn’t publicize it until just prior to the prayer event.

When Weinstein saw it, he was apparently red-faced.

After a well-worded rebuttal of Weinstein’s errant legal analysis, the last few pages of the ACLJ letter “introduce” BGen Pratt to Mikey Weinstein — using his own ‘colorful’ words. And this was apparently a subject of great embarrassment for Weinstein, whose MRFF quickly fired off another letter defending Weinstein, a letter that could best be summarized as a two-year old saying “nuh-uh.”

As an example, given the singular opportunity to rebut Read more

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