Tag Archives: military religious freedom foundation

Sikh Soldier Gains Injunction against US Army

singhUS Army Capt Simratpal Singh sued the US Army last week in an attempt to gain permission to wear a turban and long hair, in keeping with his Sikh faith.

Capt Singh had previously shaved and adhered to standards — he is a West Point and Ranger School graduate with 10 years of service — but given recent changes in military policy that placed a priority on religious accommodation, and his own reevaluation of his dedication to his faith, he sought and obtained a temporary waiver.

According to the lawsuit (PDF), the Army was about to Read more

Air Force Replaces POW Bible with “Book of Faith”

Update: Follow-ups by US Air Force Chaplain and Congressman Doug Collins, Christian Today, and the Christian News Network.

powtable1Last Thursday Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF trumpeted his influence in getting a VA clinic to remove a Bible and Bible verse from a POW/MIA table. The story was essentially ignored until FoxNews’ Todd Starnes reported on it yesterday [emphasis added]:

A Bible and Bible verse were removed from a POW/MIA display inside an Ohio Veteran’s Administration clinic after the notorious Military Religious Freedom Foundation complained.

The religious artifacts were part of a “Missing Man Table” recently erected by volunteers at an outpatient clinic in Akron.

Weinstein called the presence of Bible a “violation of the US Constitution.” While the VA didn’t necessarily agree, in an ill-fated attempt to avoid offending someone, they kowtowed.

Starnes accurately reported that official military and government Read more

Mikey Weinstein Demands Air Force Remove Chaplain Video. Because Jesus.

mikeywilliamsLast month, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein claimed he had made an “important achievement” in “rebuilding the shattered wall separating church and state!” because, according to him, the Commanding Officer of the Air Force Recruiting Service promised to remove a chaplain recruiting video Weinstein found “inappropriate.” According to Weinstein, MajGen Garrett Harencak

responded within a few hours that all Chaplain [sic] videos are being removed pursuant to an overhaul of ‘AirForce.com’ and that he would see to it that the removal of this particular video is accelerated.

A month later, not only is the video still up at AirForce.com — but, in unusually blunt words, the Air Force is actually defending it [emphasis added]:

Air Force Headquarters at the Pentagon told Military.com it does not see a problem with [the video]…

“Chaplains being available to airmen for spiritual support, and sharing these experiences in their official capacity, does not violate the establishment clause or Air Force regulations.”

There are three important issues here:  Read more

Attempted Terrorist Attack in Kansas Goes Little Noticed

In April 2015, John Booker attempted to detonate what he believed was a 1,000 pound bomb outside the fence of Fort Riley, Kansas. It turns out the fake bomb had been coordinated with the FBI:

Booker acknowledged in court that he told one of the FBI informants that he wanted to kill Americans and engage in violent jihad on behalf of the Islamic State group. His plea agreement said he made a video in April 2015 telling Americans “today we will bring the Islamic State straight to your doorstep.”

In court, Redmond once referred to Booker as Muhammad. Booker had an alias, Muhammad Abdullah Hassan.

It turns out Booker actually enlisted in the US Army in 2014, but his enlistment was Read more

Mikey Weinstein Fears a God-Friendly US Military

In a somewhat meandering article entitled “Watchdog: Conservative President May Mean More God-Friendly Military,” Bryant Jordan of Military.com quoted Michael “Mikey” Weinstein as concerned that a Republican victory in November could lead to a US government “more friendly to Christianity:”

Weinstein said the contest to succeed President Barack Obama is giving fuel to his critics. “With Obama being gone, [some commanders] expect an administration to be more friendly to Christianity…”

To paraphrase Seinfeld… as if there’s something wrong with that? Why would a religious freedom advocate take issue with, in his intimation, progress in religious freedom?

It turns out Weinstein thinks subversion is already underway:  Read more

Mikey Weinstein Demands Punishment for Special Forces Chaplains

Update: The Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — a homosexual advocacy group largely friendly to Mikey Weinstein’s mission — asked for input on this story on their Facebook page.  Between the normal invective and banter were two significant comments:

From Chaplain Gil Richardson, who said:

Chaplains desiring to go through SFQC or Ranger School submit a request for exception to policy to conduct training with weapons thru a Chaplain Channels in order to attend the training. If approved for either course, the Chaplain endures the same hardships and challenges. If he graduates and is awarded the tab (in the case of SF Chaplains assigned to SF units, he also is awarded the Green Beret), then they do have much more credibility in the special units…

Back in the early and mid 90s, the [Ranger Training Brigade] Chaplain had to be “tabbed” (graduate of the school). A tabbed Chaplain understood firsthand the stresses of the course and had simply more credibility with students and cadre alike…

Once the training in either course is over, the exception to policy ends. Please do not confuse or equate training in an elite, challenging course with normal practice (no weapon when serving as a Chaplain).

From Chaplain Brian Hargis, who said:

This is an old post that continues to get republished. The last guy (Pete) graduated early 2014. In Jan 2015, SWCS put a stop to all Chaplains and PAs from attending SFAS and the Q Course. It was a waste of $500,000 to train men that would never use the skills.

These comments from two knowledgeable chaplains provide significant background to undermine Mikey Weinstein’s ludicrous calls for punishment of the chaplains.

Earlier in February, the US Army posted an article entitled “Special Forces Tab, Green Beret, SFQC — A vehicle for Chaplains,” in which it discussed three chaplains who have completed Army Special Forces training. Michael “Mikey” Weinstein — a self-declared advocate for military religious freedom — took issue in a formal complaint (PDF) to the Army [underlining original]:  Read more

USAFA Supe Highlights Character, Religion in Recruitment Message

In a widely distributed op-ed style piece, US Air Force Academy Superintendent LtGen Michelle Johnson answered the question “Why you should consider attending a service academy,” though by “service academy” she meant USAFA. The Supe highlighted leadership, followership, sports — and also the culture of character:

At the Academy, character is paramount – while they’re evaluating our Academy we’re evaluating them to determine if they have the honor and fortitude it takes to succeed at the Academy and serve in our Air Force…

Our four-year curriculum and emphasis on character development is interwoven in all aspects of cadet life to create an atmosphere of trust and accountability amongst cadets and staff…

Our emphasis on impeccable character is why it becomes “news” when an extremely small minority of our cadets does not meet our high standards. We hold ourselves to a higher standard.

(Despite using similar language about character, LtGen Johnson’s column did not include a disclaimer as BGen McGregor’s did.)

Character is, of course, extremely important, but simply saying “impeccable Read more

Character: Not the Views of the US Air Force

Reserve BrigGen Udo “Karl” McGregor is the US Air Force Vice Commander to the little-known Joint Enabling Capabilities Command. He has a storied career, from a helicopter mechanic as an Airman in the 1970s to the C-5 and joint billets today, logging more than 11,000 flight hours along the way.

On February 2nd, the official Air Force website published Gen McGregor’s commentary entitled simply “Character.” This was the very first line, emphasized in the original italics:

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Air Force, Defense Department or the U.S. Government.

For its part, the short article almost seemed to Read more

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