Tag Archives: MRFF

William Barr, Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence, President Trump Speak on Religious Freedom, Christian Values

Much of the national US leadership has spoken recently in support of religious freedom and the value of their Christian faith.

US Attorney General William Barr spoke a particularly salient truth when he addressed the Notre Dame Law School last Friday [emphasis added]:

Barr, a devout Catholic, told students and faculty at the university’s law school that “the problem is not that religion is being forced on others, the problem is that irreligion is being forced — secular values are being forced on people of faith.”…

“I can assure you that as long as I am attorney general, the Department of Justice will be at the forefront of this effort, ready to fight for the most cherished of all American liberties: the freedom to live according to our faith,” he concluded.

Mike Pompeo was addressing the American Association of Christian Counselors when he spoke on Christian leadership: Read more

Mikey Weinstein, Chris Rodda Attack Church Services. Again.

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein and his research assistant, Christine “Chris” Rodda have long claimed they fight for “religious freedom” in the military.  The name of their charity, after all, is the Military “Religious Freedom” Foundation.  They’ve also said in the past that they’re not opposed to Christians’ free exercise. Weinstein himself even once said he’d “give [his] last drop of blood” to support Christians’ rights to their beliefs.

Except, it seems they’re not telling the truth.

Weinstein has repeatedly Read more

Activists use Uniformed US Troops for Political Agenda

Members of the US military aren’t permitted to engage in partisan politics in uniform, nor are they supposed to permit others use them for that purpose. They are also not permitted to “use contemptuous words” against the Commander-in-Chief — in or out of uniform.*

Unless, of course, they’re LGBTQ.

For years the American Military Partner Association blatantly paraded uniformed military members around in support of its political agenda, and it did so even while engaging in outright political lobbying. Its successor, the oddly named “Modern Military Association of America” (apparently “modern” now means non-heterosexual), now Read more

Sandra Bell Joins POW/MIA Bible Lawsuit, but Standing Issue Remains

One of the MRFF’s ill-defined “clients,” former Airman Sandra Bell, has joined the lawsuit against the VA over the POW/MIA display in the foyer of the Manchester, NH, VA Medical Center. The reason, it seems, for adding Bell was to make sure one of the plaintiffs was a non-Christian (Bell says she’s an atheist) to alleviate the Judge’s qualms over a Christian being offended over a Bible.

While the MRFF publicly treats Bell as “new,” she’s been around the MRFF for a few months. She penned a self-described “op-ed” earlier in the year about the POW/MIA Bible. (She’s been a fairly prolific volunteer writer for them since.) Bell took particular issue with the fact it was a “Catholic” Bible, and essentially went on to equate Catholic Christianity and rape. (Bell has said she specifically wanted to point out it was a Catholic Bible because “the devil is in the details“.) Bell says when she enters the VA she “rushes past” the Bible, Read more

Manchester POW Bible Case Proceeds, but Standing Questioned

Yesterday, the Federal District Court in New Hampshire allowed the lawsuit against the VA Medical Center POW/MIA display to proceed, and it also permitted the Northwest POW/MIA Network, which erected the display, to intervene. (The POW/MIA Network is represented by First Liberty.) In one of the more interesting arguments, the presiding judge questioned whether the plaintiff had standing because he’s a Christian. Judge Paul Barbadoro [emphasis added]

acknowledged no shortage of case law and legal precedent regarding religious symbols on public property…

But Barrington resident James Chamberlain, the plaintiff in the challenge, is a Christian who attends a Congregational church, and therein lies the rub, according to the judge.

Barbadoro said he knows of no prior case stemming from a Christian challenging a symbol of Christianity.

“If he were an atheist, he would have standing and that would be clear,” the judge said.

There are certainly legal reasons to require “standing” in a judicial proceeding — but Read more

Mikey Weinstein Claims He Represents 65,000 Clients

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has kept a running tally since his group was founded of how many “clients” he has. The goal was obvious: He had to make it seem it wasn’t just one man’s vendetta against Christianity.

Last month, Weinstein hailed the “milestone” that he now “represents” 65,000 people.

On any level, the claim is farcical.

As has been noted here for years, Weinstein’s organization doesn’t even define what a “client” is. Only one time in recorded history — way back in 2009 — has Weinstein publicly described a client, and that was when Matthew LoFiego of the Military Officers Association of America had to “press” him on the topic (because Weinstein wasn’t forthcoming):

Callers are only asked to provide their service and rank, but from this data, MRFF claims to support 13,000 clients. I pressed Mikey to define what he considered a client, which he stated represented anyone in current service to the military that has lodged a complaint or asked for advice.

That definition doesn’t match Weinstein’s own current claims. Weinstein now says Read more

Mikey Weinstein’s MRFF Doubles in Size, Mikey Tops $2.7M

Though there’s nothing “charitable” about Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s “charity” — the awkwardly named Military Religious Freedom Foundation — it is categorized as 501(c)3, which requires that he publicly file his organization’s tax form each year. Notably, in part due to deadlines and amended returns, he manages to be almost two years behind. Weinstein has finally released the report for 2017 indicating his MRFF brought in $723,000, which is a bit higher than previous years but not his most ever.

That number represents his total donations, much of which appear to be grants and “donations” from other charities. A few years ago Weinstein was looking to hire a grants specialist, and it appears his efforts to professionalize his fundraising has been profitable, literally.

Mikey Weinstein may not do much, but he Read more

Christians against Christian Nationalism Falters, a Tired Trope

More than a month ago the Baptist Joint Committee, a left-leaning group that tends to object to religion in the public square, trumpeted a new movement of “Christians against Christian nationalism,” complete with a “petition” of sorts and a website. The site explains Christian nationalism as something that

demands Christianity be privileged by the State and implies that to be a good American, one must be Christian.

Those views are advocated in the mainstream by almost… no one. In their FAQ, they have the obvious question “Can you give some examples of christian nationalism?” to which they provide none — except to say

Christian nationalism in the hands of extremists can lead to acts of violence, such as the shootings at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and Chabad of Poway synagogue near San Diego, California…

The inclusion of those incidents with the prior description is illogical (as well as contrary to public accounts of both incidents). In any case, any person would Read more

1 … 6 7 8 9 10 … 162