Tag Archives: MRFF

Update: Mikey Weinstein Threatens Suit if USAFA Cadets Not Punished

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, a self-described religious liberty advocate, is threatening to sue the US Air Force Academy if it fails to punish cadets who exercised their religious liberty.

As previously noted in the original discussion, a large group of cadets responded to the original story of Weinstein successfully getting a Bible verse erased from a cadet whiteboard by posting verses of their own — from the Bible, Qur’an, movies, the Helix, and even the Flying Spaghetti Monster. (One said “go atheists!”)

According to an update at TheBlaze, Weinstein wants everyone who posted verses punished, for some reason, though he didn’t mention Read more

USAFA Defends Cadets against Mikey Weinstein…Sort of

Update 2: This story is now updated here.

Update: Many USAFA cadets are now openly taunting Mikey Weinstein by posting verses (and commentary) to their message boards:

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently erupted when he found out a cadet wrote a Bible verse on his message board in a USAFA hallway:

The text is Galatians 2:20:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

The labels indicate the room belongs to a 2° (junior) in Cadet Squadron 21.

Weinstein was livid that a cadet would dare write Read more

USAFA Gets Award for Mosaic Coaching under Rosebush

The US Air Force Academy quietly announced the USAFA Mosaic Character and Leadership Coaching Program had received the Best Practices Award from Florida State University’s Jon C. Dalton Institute on College Student Values last month.

Col. Joseph Sanders, director of the Academy’s Center for Character and Leadership Development program [said] “Mosaic coaching has become one of the primary methods that cadets in the squadron can strengthen their commitments to each other and the Air Force’s values, through a professional coaching intervention that is committed to respecting the worth of the individual.”

The notable thing is that Dr. Mike Rosebush — not mentioned in the article — is credited with much of the work behind the “design and execution” of the MOSAIC program. That’s the same Dr. Rosebush that a few critics tried to get fired because he previously Read more

Mike Farrell Gets Standing Ovation at USAFA

Of the dozens of speakers who addressed the National Character and Leadership Symposium at the US Air Force Academy last week, the local Colorado Springs Gazette highlighted just one: former MASH star Mike Farrell (previously discussed).

Actor and activist Mike Farrell said he gave his usual, well-honed speech.

He focused on human dignity, derided the death penalty and the Iraq war, and described American tactics against alleged terrorists as “drone murder.”

…the audience that gave him a standing ovation…  Read more

MRFF Board Member Mike Farrell to Speak at USAFA

The US Air Force Academy is hosting its annual National Character and Leadership Symposium this week with the theme “Character overcoming Conflict: Individual Stories, Global Impact.”  One of the invited speakers is Mike Farrell, most famous for his role as BJ Hunnicutt in MASH. He’s also been an advocate for other causes, including opposition to the death penalty and a board member of the Cult Awareness Network. What Farrell is less known for is his advocacy for Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF, as a member of his “advisory board.”

It is unclear if the MRFF will be part of Farrell’s address at the NCLS, though it is fair to say Farrell has been discreet about his involvement with Weinstein’s outfit.

USAFA’s NCLS is an academic forum that has hosted a wide variety of speakers over the years — including Weinstein himself. This year is no different, and Farrell is hardly Read more

Mikey Weinstein: Its Not about Eliminating God

The Stars and Stripes repeated an article from the Newport News Daily Press noting Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s recent speech at the College of William and Mary. While Weinstein’s speeches are essentially verbatim at each venue, the article headlined and detailed an interesting quote:

“It’s not about eliminating God,” [Weinstein] said. “If that were to happen, we would be in someone’s face in two seconds. It’s about making sure you follow the procedures in deploying your version of God.”

His first sentence seems to be true. He has not advocated “eliminating God” — at least not the God he approves of — from the military or anywhere else. His second Read more

Update: New Religious Liberty Policies and Anti-Semitism

The Deseret News carries its own commentary by Amy Choate-Nielsen on the recent changes to the DoD’s rules requiring religious accommodation. Interestingly, it uses two Jewish Soldiers as the central points of its article — even though the two have nothing to do with the policy changes:

For [Michael] Handman, the new NDAA law comes too late. Five years ago, the private was called derogatory names because of his faith, ordered to remove his yarmulke and rebuked for reading Jewish canon. Then, a few days after his letter home, on Sept. 24, 2008, Handman was lured into a laundry room and beaten to the point of unconsciousness, an Associated Press story says.

That story was discussed in detail here at the time. Retired US Read more

USAFA Superintendent on Religious Freedom, Weinstein Accusations

LtGen Michelle Johnson, US Air Force Academy superintendent, recently sat down with perennial critic of her academic institution (and MRFF ally), regional newspaper columnist Pam Zubeck.

Among the several questions Zubeck reports in a Q/A format are one on religion and another on an accusation by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein:

[Zubeck:] Some cadets and staff are concerned there’s an atmosphere in which cadets are expected to have their first allegiance to God, not country. How do you deal with that?

LtGen Johnson’s answer was consistent with the same Air Force guidance that has been around for years, though she cited AFI 1-1 specifically [emphasis added]:

[Johnson:] Because we’re a college, we need to have open discourse, but we have to balance that with providing a successful climate. So what we have going in, it’s really kicked in well, is this religious respect training, not just for cadets but for permanent party. That’s really important, for permanent party to know the balance there. People are free to have their beliefs but not proselytize or impose them on someone else.

And we have the training to help Read more

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