Tag Archives: victoria gettman

A Thousand Air Force Trainees Attend Humanist Chapel…Sort of

Over the past couple of years a group of self-described atheists and humanists has been hosting an alternative Sunday service for trainees at Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX. The effort was largely led by Victoria Gettman, a former US Army Sergeant on whose behalf Michael “Mikey” Weinstein once promised (and, predictably, failed to deliver) an “aggressive” federal lawsuit.

Gettman and her cadre have been lauding the attendance numbers at their non-theistic weekly gathering — including the fact it has now reached 1,000, the maximum capacity of the venue granted by the Air Force, meaning they have to turn trainees away.  But Gettman’s explanation has an interesting caveat [emphasis added]: Read more

Military Atheist Chapel Bolstered by Christians

A recent commentary noted the apparent rise of atheism within the US military and highlighted the atheist “church” that occurs at Air Force Basic Training at Lackland AFB — where, at the time, atheists were claiming nearly 1,000 weekly attendees.

The group has been putting up weekly photos of a few of their attendees (though none of the events themselves):

maafgettman(Here’s something interesting: When a group of Army trainees took a similar-themed photo after their Christian service, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein called them a “national security threat” and used the image as a fundraising prop in his fight against Christians. Think Weinstein will consider these atheists a national security threat, too?)

According to the Read more

Mikey Weinstein to Sue over Medal of Honor? (Video)

Last year Michael “Mikey” Weinstein threatened to sue the US Army because it exposed a group of Soldiers to a chaplain’s prayer, which the chaplain closed with

through Your holy name…

In response, Weinstein demanded the chaplain be disciplined and the Soldiers be given an apology.  Weinstein threatened an “aggressive” Federal lawsuit (as opposed to a benign lawsuit, apparently) if the Army refused his demands.

To be clear, Weinstein was willing to sue because a chaplain said “through Your holy name” during a prayer to a group of Soldiers in an auditorium.

Based on events just this week, will Weinstein threaten to sue again?

On Monday, US Army Chief of Chaplains (MajGen) Donald Rutherford prayed in uniform and on national television — and, shockingly, closed with…”in Your holy name.”  Just Read more

Weinstein Threatens US Military with Another Lawsuit

In October of last year, an atheist Army Soldier, SSgt Victoria Gettman, lodged complaints after a mandatory suicide prevention briefing ended with a military chaplain taking the stage and offering a candlelit prayer.

The incident seems fairly benign, and merited little attention at the time.  Now, though, it seems Michael Weinstein is weighing in with (yet another empty) promise to file a lawsuit:

Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, doesn’t consider Gettman’s case closed, and he and his litigation team intend to pursue an “aggressive” federal lawsuit if the Army fails to rectify Gettman’s complaints.

The article contains an important quote from Gettman [emphasis added]:  Read more