Despite one ill-fated and ill-willed attempt to keep some US troops from joining together in prayer, the US military celebrated the National Day of Prayer around the world.
Renowned Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias spoke at a National Prayer Breakfast gathering at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to more than 300 US troops, their families, and civilians. There and at a simultaneous symposium he talked on ‘Where is God in Suffering?’ and Read more
In a interesting case of coincidental timing, at the same time Michael “Mikey” Weinstein was demanding the removal of Bibles from POW/MIA displays — Bibles that represented “the strength gained through faith” in captivity — the longest-held enlisted POW, retired Capt. William A. Robinson, was telling Airmen at Lackland AFB about the faith he needed to survive [emphasis added]:
“I had faith in myself, faith in those around me, faith in my country and faith in my God,” said Robinson.
Capt Robinson’s story was mentioned here in 2013 — the first time a POW/MIA table was attacked. (Notably, the IG and EO office defended the table then, and the story died.) Of course, it isn’t just him. Retired USAF Col Fred Cherry said the same thing, as have many other POWs.
Faith in God helped Read more
It’s been long established that Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s awkwardly-named Military “Religious Freedom” Foundation actually fights against the religious freedom of Christians in the US military. Examples abound of cases in which a reasonable, principled religious liberty group should have stood up in defense of an Airman, Soldier, Marine, or Sailor, but Weinstein either refused to defend the troop because they were Christian or outright attacked their religious liberty instead.
Fortunately, genuine religious liberty groups have stood in the gap for such Christians — and have defended them even from Weinstein himself. One of the more notable groups is the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has a long history of, unlike Weinstein, consistent, principled defense of religious freedom regardless of a person’s particular religious belief.
(To wit, the Becket Fund has been fighting for the right of Sikhs to serve in the US military while still being able to practice their religious faith; Weinstein has so far refused to do so, tacitly acknowledging that a “win” for the Sikhs would ultimately be a win for other faiths — including Christians.)
More recently, Mikey Weinstein tried to attack the religious liberty of Read more
The US Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Alabama is being criticized for having a Christian speaker at an event for its Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention month.
The only way victims may overcome the horrors of rape and sex trafficking is to accept Jesus Christ as their savior and king.
That is what soldiers and civilian employees of the Army’s Redstone Arsenal were told by guest speaker Tajuan McCarty on April 27 at a command-hosted event…according to one of those in attendance.
That “one of those in attendance” was an anonymous civilian and acolyte of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, the perpetually offended anti-Christian who believes “Jesus” should only be mentioned in the military during expletives. Weinstein published the letter from the civilian here.
In what may seem a shock to some, Weinstein’s attack on Redstone Arsenal’s event was Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein once declared that US Marines were “national security threats,” and now he apparently thinks they’re both stupid and cowards.
On Wednesday, Weinstein published an email from an alleged US Marine at the Marine Corps University at Quantico, Virginia, who apparently had a case of the vapors over the National Day of Prayer [emphasis added]:
This morning the Commanding General’s Staff Secretary sent an email to the entire [MCU] with an invitation to a…MCU Prayer Breakfast…I feel threatened and my promotion potential on the line if I do not attend this religious event…When the Commanding General sends out an invitation to a religious event I feel compelled to attend…
The Marine can’t seem to get his story straight, saying that both a secretary and Read more
UPDATE: Various media outlets published coverage of the hearing, which generally appeared to go well for Sterling. Noted at the Religion Clause, FoxNews, Washington Post, Stars and Stripes, ChristianPost, Bretibart, the Daily Caller, and NC Register, among others. The ACLJ discussed it here.
The Family Research Council announced retired US Army LtGen Jerry Boykin would attend the oral arguments today for the appeal of US v Sterling, in which former Marine Monifa Sterling is attempting to defend the public display of Bible verses on her desk.
In this case, the court will decide whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) protects a Marine…lance corporal [who] desired to post the verses to give her inspiration and strength, but military superiors ordered her to remove the verses she posted.
A lower court refused to protect her religious expression, interpreting RFRA in a constrained manner to protect only certain types of religious exercise. FRC and numerous other religious freedom advocates are urging the court to overturn this harmful decision.
In point of fact, a lot of people — including 10 US states — filed briefs in support Read more
I. Introduction
In 2013, United States Air Force Chaplain (LtCol) Kenneth Reyes published an article that cogently chronicled the historical and aphoristic phrase ‘No atheists in foxholes.’.[1] Immediately, the article was lambasted with an incendiary campaign that demanded the extraction of Chaplain Reyes’s post. Michael (Mikey) Weinstein from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) was expeditious in reviling the article by demanding its removal which subsequently led to the Air Force removing its publication. Weinstein called the article a “bigoted and religious supremacist phrase” and lauded himself with victory once the Air Force removed the article.[2]
Weinstein’s vitriol was not surprising since he does not win in litigation; he is forced to rely on coercion. However, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) interposed by persuading the Air Force to consider the transparent constitutionality and recurrent legal threats from the MRFF,[3] which eventually caused the Air Force to reinstate the article.[4] Victory for religious freedom and a loss for Weinstein!
Chaplain Scott Reyes’s article is a wonderful military depiction of perseverance that every member of the Armed Forces can relate to, especially if they have served during times of conventional, asymmetric or globalizing warfare. If a member of the Armed Forces is held captive during wartime operations as a prisoner of war (POW), apart from strategic interdictions and a battalion of ground forces, what else is a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine left with? Faith! According to George MacDonald: Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein used to say he would give his last drop of blood — and encourage his kids to give their last drop of blood — to defend the right of people to have their religious beliefs, even if he disagreed with them. While most of Weinstein’s talking points haven’t changed over the past ten years, this one has: He dropped this oft-repeated phrase long ago — likely because he knows it isn’t true.
Still, he leaned in that principled direction recently when on a “religious liberty panel” — a panel with such “diverse” religious liberty experts as the ACLU, AU, and Pedro Irgonegaray, one of Weinstein’s MRFF “voices.” In that panel, Weinstein said:
I don’t care what their [religious] views are. What I care (about) is when they try to use the power of the U.S. military to propagate it.
That’s a demonstrably false statement. Just take one quick example: When Read more