Tag Archives: MRFF

Weinstein Demands Chaplain’s Head for Buddhist Proselytizing?

In a rare break from his focus on Christianity, Military Religious Freedom Foundation “president” Michael Weinstein has called for US Air Force Academy Chaplain (Col) Robert Bruno to be court-martialed for his attempts to convert cadets…to Buddhism:

US Air Force Chaplain Colonel Bruno…should face immediate criminal charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for these disgusting, prima facie examples of dereliction of duty by flagrant violations of the solemn oaths they took…

Actually, strike that, Weinstein didn’t display that intellectual integrity.  Instead, he continued his focus on Christianity:

[Chaplain Bruno is a] heinous Poster Child[] of unconstitutional, fundamentalist Christian supremacy Read more

MRFF Petition Garners Signatures for White House

Dustin Chalker, an Army Sergeant and MRFF “client,” publicly announced that he started a petition on the whitehouse.gov “We the People” website calling for an “End [to] the Military’s Discrimination against Non-Religious Service Members.”

The petition wording reflects some of the sentiment behind Chalker’s failed lawsuit against the Army — a lawsuit that was tossed out because Chalker failed to use the internal grievance systems the Army has in place.  The petition contains similarly vague claims of illegal conduct, which are (still) unsupported to date by any public facts:  Read more

Weinstein Predicts Holocaust, Goes After Presidential Candidates

Michael Weinstein recently highlighted an article by ally Bruce Wilson entitled “Rick Perry Event Pastor Predicts Coming “Prison Camps” For Jews.”  Weinstein prefaced it with (emphasis original)

This is the level of religious fundamentalism that threatens our country’s future, and I will NEVER stop fighting it!

The tone was somewhat unusual, given the topic had nothing to do with the military, which is Weinstein’s self-proclaimed forte.  In fact, there’s no public connection to the MRFF at all, save the personal association between the author and Weinstein’s group.  Weinstein’s critical sensationalism on the topic was a display of rank hypocrisy as well, for Weinstein has similarly predicted a dire future for Jews at the hands of American Christians:

In Plan A, evangelical Christians with a smile on their face will ask you to please, please, please accept their biblical worldview of Jesus. The problem with that is, inevitably, Plan A morphs into Plan B. They stop asking so nicely, and then you have the Holocaust, the pogroms, the Inquisition…  Read more

USAFA Follows Rules. Michael Weinstein Complains. News at 11.

As predictable as the sun rising in the East, the US Air Force Academy sent out an announcement that had a topic related to religion, and Michael Weinstein complained.

In fact, he’s “livid.”

The situation:  Apparently, Air Force Academy Chaplain (Col) Robert Bruno distributed a mass email about an upcoming ‘marriage and family seminar.’  The email was approved by the Vice Superintendent, and represented the “regularly” advertised chaplaincy programs occurring daily at USAFA.  Michael Weinstein said:

It could not possibly be clearer that the academy deserves its terrible reputation for fundamentalist Christian bias.

To be clear, even the publicized article notes the USAFA email explicitly followed (and even referenced) the Air Force Chief of Staff’s Read more

Update: Atheist Soldier Refuses to Bow Head at Graduation

The CNN.com blog that covered the atheist Soldier refusing to lower his head during a training graduation prayer updated their post with input from Fort Jackson:

Fort Jackson officials said Friday that an atheist soldier was asked to lower their head during a prayer portion of a graduation ceremony rehearsal, but then decided it was ok for the soldier to stand at Attention. [sic]

As originally thought, the desire for a Read more

Atheist Soldier Refuses to Bow Head at Graduation

According to a CNN blog, an atheist US Army Private First Class graduating from Advanced Individual Training at Fort Jackson, SC, was expected to “bow his head and clasp his hands” during the prayer portion of his unit’s graduation. 

After almost being pulled from a graduation ceremony for refusal to lower the head during a benediction, a soldier is now allowed to attend but must instead stand at attention.

The rehearsal occurred yesterday, the graduation itself is today.  Notably, the CNN article was written only on the basis of information from the Soldier and Michael Weinstein; Read more

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