Tag Archives: national day of prayer

Air Force Heathens Join National Day of Prayer

Hill Air Force Base in Utah held its National Day of Prayer on May 6th with the theme of

Lord, pour out your love, life and liberty, from 2 Corinthians 3:17.

The group heard “interfaith prayers” from a Catholic priest, a Protestant chaplain, a Jewish Airman, a local Mormon, and…a heathen. SrA Mark Udy is a beard-wearing “priest” serving the “heathen, Asatru, and Norse pagan community” at Hill AFB.

Interestingly, Udy spent most of his allotted time explaining to the group who and what he was, which is probably understandable given that it’s unlikely there were many people in the audience from his “faith groups” or those who recognized them. He did, however, cite a few recognizable names: Odin and Thor.

In a pluralistic government institution, it’s bound to happen. In some ways, what Read more

Former NFL Falcons Talk to Soldiers about Faith, One Way

MajGen Gary Brito, commanding general of the Army post at Fort Benning, recently hosted former NFL players Buddy Curry and Bobby Butler for the well-attended National Day of Prayer event:

[MajGen] Brito…introduced the speakers, citing them as “leaders of character and faith.”…

In the locker room, [Bobby Butler] was surrounded by quarterbacks Steve Bartkowski, Mike Moroski and June Jones, all of whom were strongly religious and proselytized the rookie Butler. Eventually Butler relented to the three and became more spiritual.

“I thank God for my time in Atlanta,” said Butler.

On the team, Butler soon became the preacher: Read more

Mikey Weinstein Launches Annual Prayer Breakfast Fundraising

In what has become a predictable annual event, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has again begun lodging his regular complaints about prayer breakfasts/luncheons being hosted on military bases or for military audiences around the country.

In January, Weinstein demanded Fort Jackson drop its invitation to Kenneth Copeland, because Mikey Weinstein disapproved of Copeland’s theology.

This month, Weinstein is demanding Whiteman AFB remove the commander’s “endorsement” from the wing’s annual prayer breakfast event announcement.

In the former example, the Army rightfully ignored Weinstein, and the event occurred as planned, despite Weinstein’s desperate pleas.

In the latter example, Weinstein is Read more

ACLJ Defends Military Prayer from “Anti-Christian Zealots”

After Michael “Mikey” Weinstein wrote a letter calling the Marine Corps University’s National Day of Prayer event unconstitutional, the American Center for Law and Justice quietly sent a letter to BGen Helen Pratt defending her handling of the event.

The ACLJ letter (PDF) was “quiet” because, while it was sent at the end of April, the ACLJ didn’t publicize it until just prior to the prayer event.

When Weinstein saw it, he was apparently red-faced.

After a well-worded rebuttal of Weinstein’s errant legal analysis, the last few pages of the ACLJ letter “introduce” BGen Pratt to Mikey Weinstein — using his own ‘colorful’ words. And this was apparently a subject of great embarrassment for Weinstein, whose MRFF quickly fired off another letter defending Weinstein, a letter that could best be summarized as a two-year old saying “nuh-uh.”

As an example, given the singular opportunity to rebut Read more

Mikey Weinstein Thinks US Marines are Stupid, Cowards

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein once declared that US Marines were “national security threats,” and now he apparently thinks they’re both stupid and cowards.

On Wednesday, Weinstein published an email from an alleged US Marine at the Marine Corps University at Quantico, Virginia, who apparently had a case of the vapors over the National Day of Prayer [emphasis added]:

This morning the Commanding General’s Staff Secretary sent an email to the entire [MCU] with an invitation to a…MCU Prayer Breakfast…I feel threatened and my promotion potential on the line if I do not attend this religious event…When the Commanding General sends out an invitation to a religious event I feel compelled to attend…

The Marine can’t seem to get his story straight, saying that both a secretary and Read more

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

President Obama Nominates New Air Force Chief of Chaplains

Update: The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, repeated at Military.com and the Stars and Stripes, tells a bit of Col Costin’s story, including his “unique” invocations…

“I hope not to change at all,” Costin said. “I hope I just stay who I am.”

In an official DoD release, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced that President Obama had nominated US Air Force Col Dondi E. Costin to be the next Air Force Chief of Chaplains. As with some other headquarters staff jobs, the move merits a two-step promotion to Major General.

Chaplain Costin would be replacing Chaplain (MajGen) Howard Stendahl, who has served in the position since 2012.

Chaplain Costin is currently the Command Chaplain for PACAF. He is a frequent speaker at National Day of Prayer events, a participant in religious respect events Read more

Air Force Rebuffs Mikey Weinstein Demand for General Olson’s Court-Martial

The Air Force Times reports that the US Air Force has “rebuffed” the demand by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein to court-martial Major General Craig Olson, who spoke at the National Day of Prayer earlier this month:

The Air Force has decided that Olson did not break Air Force Instruction 1-1 by speaking at the “congressionally-supported event,” said service spokesman Lt. Col. Pete Hughes.

“His remarks were his own personal opinions and do not represent the views of the United States Air Force,” Hughes said in an email Thursday to Air Force Times.

The article quotes both Weinstein and his assistant Chris Rodda as Read more

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