Tag Archives: MRFF

Senior Air Force Officer Defends Mikey Weinstein

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently published an anonymous, 3,000-word essay from a “senior officer” describing why MRFF “clients” always remain anonymous in their complaints against Christians and religion in the US military.

While the treatise is meant to provide justification for the “clients” in Weinstein’s anonymous attacks on Christians in the military, many people would likely agree with the general, neutral premise — highlighting oneself can negatively affect a military career. For example, Tony Carr blogging at John Q. Public and many others have become outlets for members of the military unwilling to name themselves out of fear for their careers. As Weinstein’s acolyte says:

One doesn’t need to commit a punishable offense…to derail a career and if I’m a commander judging a group of subordinates, I don’t even need to bother myself with the mountains of paperwork that would come with actually initiating disciplinary action against one of my junior officers…

Instead, I just can as easily kill the career of an unchosen one with sweet kindness and honesty…If you don’t have a complete, unbroken string of golden soccer trophies for every assignment and year of service, you’re done…

Again, the implication is not Read more

Mikey Weinstein Defends Wiccan Hindu Fired at Fort Meade

Update: In a letter to the MRFF, Deborah Schoenfeld publicly confirmed she was a government contractor, which means the US military was not responsible for her hiring or firing, despite Mikey Weinstein’s implications to the contrary.  Weinstein’s public excoriation of the military — as opposed to her actual former employer — appears to have been little more than a publicity stunt, using “witch” references for shock value and attention.

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has come to the defense of Deborah Schoenfeld, a civilian dental technician at Fort Meade who claims she was fired after filing an Equal Opportunity complaint claiming religious discrimination:

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is representing a former Air Force contractor who says she was fired from a dental clinic at Fort Meade, Maryland, after complaining that her co-workers discriminated against her because she was Hindu.  She claims they then accused her of being a witch.

In his public complaint, Weinstein says  Read more

USAFA General Recalls Two Years of Leadership

The Colorado Springs Gazette wrote a short article on the US Air Force Academy’s Superintendent, LtGen Michelle Johnson, in which she looked back on the last two years of her leadership of USAFA:

In her first days on the job at the Air Force Academy, Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson found herself justifying the school’s existence amid a Pentagon budget crunch and a looming government shutdown.

Two years later, she says those first frantic weeks have formed Read more

US Navy Defends Treatment of Chaplain Wes Modder

While most of the story regarding US Navy Chaplain (LtCmdr) Wes Modder faded into the background with the news of his victory a few weeks ago, one media story included a quote from the Navy that seemed to indicate a bit of self-righteousness [emphasis added]:

A spokesperson for the Navy said the system in Modder’s case worked as it is supposed to, with an investigation following complaints lodged against Modder.

The Navy takes issues like this very seriously, said Lt. Jessica Anderson, public affairs officer and writer for the Chief of Naval Personnel in Arlington, Va.

“When there are allegations of misconduct like this, we investigate — as we did in this case,” Anderson said.

Part of Lt Anderson’s statement is actually fair: With some Read more

Hopper Writes on Inviting Mikey Weinstein to Dinner

US Air Force Major Christina “Thumper” Hopper, recently made famous as a target of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, wrote an email to Weinstein last Wednesday with a brief outline of the event her husband’s “invitation to dinner” had become. The letter was intended for publication, and Weinstein duly posted it on his website. It seems to have been written at least in part as a result of Bob Lawrence’s blog a few days earlier.

In the letter, Hopper explains why they invited Mikey Weinstein to dinner after he denigrated her online:

My husband and I invited Mikey to dinner because we strive to live in harmony with others and hold to the biblical principle that if possible, as far as it depends on us, we should live peaceably with all (Rom 12:18). So, we wanted the opportunity to Read more

MRFF Attacks 14-Year Old “God Bless” Sign

Update: In an asinine announcement, Mikey Weinstein is now “demanding” that the Marine base erect six more signs, one each to Allah, Yahweh, Odin, Vishnu, goddess, and “there is no god.”

  • It’s telling that Weinstein, who describes himself as a Jewish agnostic, demanded “Yahweh” when practicing Jews make a point of not using the names of God — meaning many Jewish personnel would find that sign offensive.
  • Further, there is the obvious point that “Allah” is simply Arabic for “God,” making that sign simply a different language of the same text.  (Why not ask for other languages?)
  • Finally, the statement “there is no god” finds no resemblance with the current sign, which makes no exclusive statement.

Of course, all that ignores the fact the military’s decision to allow the presence of one does not require them to erect others.  Weinstein’s “demand” is infantile and ignorant, but it seems to have gotten him the attention he wants.

A variety of news organizations are now reporting that Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation is demanding the removal of a sign on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, as provided by the MRFF:

The offending sign simply reads

God bless the military, their families and the civilians who work with them.

While Weinstein referred to this as the “latest breach,” it turns out it wasn’t Read more

Mikey Weinstein Quietly Apologizes to Christian Fighter Pilot

On August 11th, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein railed at US Air Force Major Christina “Thumper” Hopper, claiming she violated Air Force regulations in the course of her “1st-degree religious zealotry unbecoming of a military leader” and “vile missionary-crusader propagandizing.”

The next day, LtCol Aaron Hopper, Christina’s husband, took to Weinstein’s Facebook page… to invite him to dinner. Weinstein “Liked” the post, but nothing else was said.

Nearly a month later, on September 18th, an ally of Weinstein wrote a blog revealing that Weinstein had, indeed, visited the Hoppers in Enid, at what became an event hosted by the Hopper’s pastor, Wade Burleson (who had publicly defended Hopper against Weinstein). In a step quite out of character for Weinstein, he is said to have apologized, sort of:   Read more

Huffington Post: Most Captivating Photo of Navy Baptism at Sea

Chris McGonigal of The Huffington Post — not precisely a bastion of conservative values — posted a list of “The Most Captivating Military Photos From August 2015.” The first one out of the chute was of a baptism at sea conducted on the USS George Washington:

Lt. Cole Yoos [of the] Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), and Lt. Brian Kirschenbaum, a Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 chaplain, baptize Aviation Structural Mechanic (Safety Equipment) 2nd Class Ryan Norton, from Minto, North Dakota in the baptismal pool on the ship’s flight deck during a baptism-at-sea.

Better not let Michael “Mikey” Weinstein see that.  He thinks such displays of religious freedom like baptisms on the flight deck of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier are propaganda for terrorists. That means, of course, Read more

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