Airman First Class Michelle Doolittle sang “God Bless America” during the 7th Inning Stretch at Game 5 of the World Series:
Better not let Michael “Mikey” Weinstein know about it. He seems to think Airmen calling on God is a bad thing (and he had a conniption over last year’s Christmas song…). Read more
POW/MIA display tables — symbolically empty tables representing those who did not come home — have long been a fixture in military dining halls and formal ceremonies. They’ve also been a sore spot for militant secularists, who object to the traditional inclusion of a Bible on the table. Prior controversies have been discussed before, including one at Patrick Air Force Base earlier this year that resulted in the table being completely removed because it was “divisive.”
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has now gotten into the fray, complaining to the US Navy that an official Navy blog included an info graphic of the traditional table — complete with Bible:
Weinstein had a predictably adjective-filled response: Read more
A civilian Air Force employee at Kirtland AFB sent out a request for response to a small business contract opportunity — and raised the ire of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein when she did so. The closing of her email said this, as redacted and publicized by Weinstein:
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(Name of USAF AFMC AFRL/RD employee withheld)
Small Business SpecialistAFRL/RD-RV
3550 Aberdeen Ave SE
Kirtland AFB, NM 87117Commercial: (505) XXX-XXXX Read more
The 180th Fighter Wing Commander has reportedly censored an article written by his Medical Group Commander, Col Florencio Marquinez, because of a complaint by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein. (The article can be read here.)
According to the Christian legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), [a civilian] complained about Marquinez’ article, claiming that it was “odious” and “offending.” In response to the complaint, Commander Col. Craig R. Baker ordered the newsletter to be republished without Marquinez’ piece.
Weinstein claimed full credit, praising the commander. The “odious” and “offending” words were his [emphasis added]: Read more
The following appeared as an article in the 180th Fighter Wing publication The Stinger, but was removed by order of the Wing Commander, Col Craig R. Baker, because of a complaint by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein that it was “odious” and “offensive.” (See discussion here.) The sentences in which Col Marquinez mentions his faith are highlighted.
Colonel Florencio Marquinez
Medical Group Commander
First, I want to honor and thank you, present and past veterans, for your dedication and service to our wonderful, great nation. Every military branch has their own creed, serving as a guidepost for our actions. Each creed has similar themes and values reminding us of our responsibilities and duties when we put the uniform on. Of course, the most important to us, and my personal favorite is the Airman’s Creed.
I am an American Airman.
I am a warrior.
I have answered my nation’s call.
I am an American Airman.
My mission is to fly, fight and win. Read more
An interesting article at WORLD Magazine last month talked about “one of the most popular and thriving officially sanctioned clubs” at the US Military Academy at West Point — Officers’ Christian Fellowship:
At the United States Military Academy, one of the most popular and thriving officially sanctioned clubs is an openly evangelical Christian campus ministry. Officers’ Christian Fellowship, or OCF, has a database of more than 800 Cadets and an active participation of 400—nearly 10 percent of a student body of 4,400.
The OCF ministry at West Point is run by retired Army Colonel Tom Austin and his wife, Cheri, at a house just outside the gate: Read more
This isn’t actually news: Justice Antonin Scalia has long said nothing in the US Constitution requires the government to scrub all appearances of religion from the public square. He did put a new twist on it this time, though, essentially saying the government can favor religion over non-religion:
“I think the main fight is to dissuade Americans from what the secularists are trying to persuade them to be true: that the separation of church and state means that the government cannot favor religion over nonreligion,” Justice Scalia said.
There is nuance to that statement. Scalia had Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein was recently invited to Patrick Henry College to be interviewed as part of its “Newsmaker” series. The interviewer was Marvin Olasky, editor in chief of World News Group, which produces WORLD Magazine.
Olasky started the interview by presenting Weinstein with a variety of situations pulled from the media regarding expression of religion in the US military, querying Weinstein as to whether he felt there was a problem with the particular event. His answers were almost exclusively no, though he started to hedge as he figured out where the conversation was going.
Olasky asked about events in the military from four different religions over a period of just a few minutes, and Weinstein addressed each one succinctly. When Olasky broached a Christian topic, however, Weinstein Read more