Tag Archives: MRFF

Petition Calls on USAFA to Protect Religious Freedom

A petition sponsored by the Family Research Council and the Restore Military Religious Freedom coalition garnered more than 100,000 signatures before it was delivered to the US Air Force Academy last week.

The petition seems nobly intended:

The petition calls on the Air Force Academy to protect the First Amendment rights of cadets, after a recent incident in which a cadet was censored for writing a Bible verse on a white board outside of his dorm room.

and its text calls for USAFA to “protect the religious expression” of cadets:

Recently, a handwritten Bible verse on a United States Air Force Academy cadet’s dry-erase board was removed after a complaint by an anti-Christian activist group…As an American, I trust the Air Force Academy to train up the best young men and women our nation has to offer…Part of that trust hinges upon the notion that the Academy would protect the religious freedom Read more

Eglin AFB Allows Civilians to Display Duck Dynasty Stickers

As reported at FoxNews, the union representing civilian employees at Eglin Air Force Base demanded the removal of two “senior management officials” because they displayed “I Support Phil” stickers.

Alan Cooper, the executive vice president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees, said one of the officials also displayed the “I Support Phil” decals in his office last month and offered them to subordinates.

“The BUE (bargaining union employee) was clearly offended and disgusted that a senior management official would display Read more

Air Force Drafts Instruction to Strengthen Religious Liberty

In an interesting comparison on perspective, the Washington Times noted near the end of May that some were making an effort to “push [the] military for more religious liberty,” including members of Congress:

Rep. John Fleming, Louisiana Republican, criticized the military for appearing “zealous to shut down expressions of faith.”

“This is our military telling service members to raise their hands and ask permission before they dare to utter an expression of faith,” Mr. Fleming said during a speech at the Family Research Council.

Daniel Blomberg of the Becket Fund noted that Congress had twice passed laws requiring the US military to “be more accommodating to religious beliefs and practices,” laws Read more

Group Tries to Stoke Controversy over Atheist Chaplain

Update: Jason Torpy revived the issue enough to generate a Navy Times article, though it contained no new information.  In fact, a Navy official reiterated a point made below — even humanists can’t really put bounds on a definition of “humanism:”

“Humanism’s not a defined term across the country,” the official said. “There’s a group of Jewish Humanists. The Humanist Society was once the Humanist Society of Friends, a Quaker organization.”

The official, referring to Heap, continued: “I don’t know that he represents a religious organization by any accepted definition.”

Tom Carpenter, a former Marine pilot and one of the founders of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — the homosexual advocacy group that lobbied for the repeal of DADT — has attacked the Navy chaplaincy for not approving the chaplaincy application of Jason Heap, a self-described non-theistic humanist. Tragically, if not predictably, Carpenter seems to base his attack on “evidence” that does not exist [emphasis added]:

…The Navy Chief of Chaplains rejected the application of Jason Heap, a highly qualified chaplain candidate who would have been the first Humanist military chaplain. All the evidence leads invariably to the conclusion this decision was based upon a Constitutionally prohibited “religious test.”

What public evidence is there the Navy rejected the application based on a “religious test?” None whatsoever.

Carpenter implies — repeatedly — the Navy Read more

US Military Religious References Inspire Critics

While it may not always seem so, attacks on religious freedom in the military are phased and timed. Critics likely know that if they pick and lose the wrong battle, or too many battles, they will lose their access to the press and even some of their own supporters.  Some critics also know how to work the press, holding onto stories while there are major world events ongoing, and waiting for a lull (and a Tuesday).

That’s why Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently went after the “so help me God” in the cadet honor oath: it was an easy target, about which few outside of USAFA even cared. It was enough to get him back in the media without over-selling his point.

That’s also likely one reason Read more

Mikey Weinstein Claims Victory in Lawsuit

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently claimed victory in a lawsuit — which is no small thing for a man who has lost 5 of the past 5 lawsuits he’s filed over the past decade in his attacks on military religious freedom. The announcement, though, was subtle.

One of Weinstein’s favorite media advocates, local journalist Pam Zubeck, included a nearly irrelevant reference to Weinstein in an article about Fort Carson:

Mikey Weinstein leads the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which won a settlement in a lawsuit against the Air Force Academy superintendent on behalf of a former employee.

Weinstein’s ego knows no bounds, so it is significant that this Read more

Baptists Focus on Military Chaplaincy

The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Spring 2014 “Southwestern News” contained a few fascinating articles on the military chaplaincy. The cover, almost ironically, is a uniformed Navy officer holding a cross-emblazoned Bible with the graphic “in Jesus’ Name” in the center.

The subject of the cover is Commander Carey Cash who, as a Navy Lieutenant, wrote A Table in the Presence and would later serve as the chaplain for the Presidential retreat at Camp David. (His service at Camp David was criticized by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s group that attacks members of the Christian faith in the military, with Weinstein saying the President should “publicly punish” Chaplain Cash.)

Noting his service in Kuwait just prior to the Iraq war, Cash was able to capitalize on the “ministry of presence” unique to the military chaplaincy:

During those 40 days and nights, Cash conducted classes and counseled
daily with Marines as they wrestled with the claims of Christ on their lives. Just before crossing into combat, they baptized Read more

Saddleback Church Hosts Military, Camp Pendleton Memorial Service

A local campus of Rick Warren’s California Saddleback Church hosted special Memorial Day services on Sunday, including a visit from a local wounded warrior:

Machine gunner Sedrick Hay, who has been a part of 2nd Battalion 1st Marines, 2nd Battalion 5th Marines and currently, the Wounded Warrior Battalion, will share his story that includes having been deployed three times, once to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan. He is a member of Saddleback Church and will lead those attending in a moment of prayer.

The article notes this is not a one-off ministry event for Saddleback. Rather, the church has partnered with the military at Camp Pendleton to provide a variety of support services for members of the military:  Read more

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