A few weeks ago, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein praised a new Department of Veterans Affairs memorandum (PDF) regarding religious exercise and expression, saying the [emphasis added]
MRFF [was] validated by [the] Department of Veterans Affairs Memorandum! The VA finally gets it: POW/MIA Bible displays can’t favor one religion.
Yesterday, retired US Army General William “Jerry” Boykin commended the same Veterans Read more
A US military base recently honored prisoners of war and those still missing in action with a POW/MIA remembrance ceremony — which included the traditional table draped in white linen:
Note that the table still has a Bible — even though Michael “Mikey” Weinstein claims Read more
In early July Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF lodged a complaint with US Marine Corps’ Camp Hansen (one of seven Marine Corps camps on Okinawa), alleging that the presence of a Bible on a POW/MIA remembrance table constituted a “blatant violation of the Constitution.” This complaint followed the MRFF-inspired removal of Bibles from similar displays at four VA facilities and Wright-Patterson AFB (a removal which prompted Chaplain Sonny Hernandez to “replace” it by distributing Bibles to local Airmen).
The Marines, however, were not so forthcoming.
In an undated letter (PDF) just released by the MRFF, Camp Commander Brian Howlett told the MRFF the display would stay just like it is, thank you very much: Read more
Chris Rodda seems to have returned from her apparent exile from the MRFF by posting a blog at the Huffington Post — about a really old story. In a move unusual for the normally verbose Rodda, the article was relatively concise. In typical Chris Rodda fashion, however, it relied heavily on playing loose with the truth.
Referring to a months-old controversy, Rodda’s article was entitled “Apparently, the American Legion Hates Jesus” and described the American Legion’s use of a POW/MIA remembrance table that does not include a Bible:
According to the fundamentalist Christian outrage brigade, not having a Bible on a POW/MIA table can only be the work of the most diabolical of anti-Christian organizations. Obviously, only an atheist group, or, according to Fox News’s Todd Starnes, “a special kind of low-life,” would remove God’s Word from the display!
So, I guess this means that the American Legion, with its Bible-free POW/MIA table item list, must be an anti-Christian, atheist organization, right?
As with Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, the truth is insufficiently sensational, so Rodda has to Read more
Despite a complaint by the perpetually-offended anti-Christian Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, the US Army has said there was nothing wrong with a Bible being displayed on a POW/MIA table during an Army ball, because it was a private event:
“The individuals that participated in the ball have the right to express themselves as U.S. citizens under the First Amendment,” Lt. Col. Catina Barnes-Ricks, an 8th Army spokesman, said Monday in an email.
The statement went on to say they reminded Soldiers not to endorse religion: Read more
by Sonny Hernandez
On Friday, April 8, 2016, officials at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) removed a Bible from a display table that venerated prisoners of war and Armed Forces service members missing in action. Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, who spearheads a disreputable, anti-God advocacy group called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), was the culprit behind the unprincipled legal demands that caused officials at WPAFB to capitulate.
WPAFB officials didn’t need to Read more
Update: The US Army later vaguely said it was “looking into” the complaint, though no complaint had been filed.
A US Army Soldier was “completely flabbergasted” that the POW/MIA ceremony at the Adjutant General’s Corps Regimental Association ball in South Korea included a Bible:
During the toast portion of the event, soldiers stationed throughout the crowd brought forward items used to construct the missing man table…
As the soldiers came forward, they briefly spoke about their item’s significance, the anonymous soldier said. The last of the items brought forward was a Bible.
The soldier who brought it forward talked about “strength through faith, and reminding us that we were founded as one nation under God,” the attendee said.
According to the article, the anonymous Soldier said Read more
The American Bible Society is celebrating its 200th anniversary, noting that among its earliest leaders were members of the Founding Fathers and that it has a nearly two-century history of providing Bibles to the US military:
The first president of the American Bible Society, Elias Boudinot, was also the first president of the Continental Congress, and its second president was John Jay, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Its distribution of millions of Scriptures to American forces dates to the Mexican War of the 1840s, when Mexican civilians were also provided with Bibles. At one point two decades later, during the Civil War, ABS representatives were able to reach both sides simultaneously.
The ABS has provided Bibles in “military themes” and colors for Read more