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Posts tagged ‘Military Religious Freedom Foundation’

Anti-Christian Bigot Demands that Air Force Major Hide His Bible because Seeing it Scares Soldiers


waving flagBy Gary DeMar August 18, 2016

URL of the original posting site: http://constitution.com/anti-christian-bigot-mikey-weinstein-demands-air-force-major-hide-bible-seeing-scares-soldiers/
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Michael “Mikey” Weinstein of The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is demanding that Air Force Maj. Steve Lewis “be ‘aggressively punished’ for having an open Bible on his desk at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo.” Weinstein is a bully masquerading as a civil rights champion. He has described evangelical Christian groups that don’t support his leftist social agenda as “monsters” and “hate groups,” “fundamentalist Christian creatures” and “bandits.”

Ken Klukowski writes:

“[Weinstein] says Christians — including chaplains — sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in the military are guilty of ‘treason,’ and of committing an act of ‘spiritual rape’ as serious a crime as ‘sexual assault.’ He also asserted that Christians sharing their faith in the military are ‘enemies of the Constitution.’”Hate Merchants

The First Amendment is clear, Congress can’t make any law “respecting an establishment of religion” or “prohibiting the free exercise” of religion. A soldier having an open Bible on his desk does not violate any part of the First Amendment.

It seems that some “33 unnamed Air Force personnel” complained about the open Bible. “We have 33 very scared Air Force families,” Weinstein told Todd Starnes of Fox News.

“Scared families” of Air Force personnel! What kind of soldiers is our country training that they are afraid of an open Bible? Starnes  demonstrates how petty and ridiculous anti-Christian bigots are:

“Just a brief aside: If those Air Force personnel are terrified of a Bible – how in the world will they be able to muster the courage to fight the enemy?

“Apparently one of Weinstein’s gentle snowflakes managed to conquer his fear long enough to sneak up on the open Bible and take several photographs – which were then submitted as evidence.

*****

“For the record, there is no evidence that any of Weinstein’s clients spontaneously combusted or converted after glancing at the Holy Bible.”

With the above information, our enemies will only have to start flinging Bibles at our soldiers to get them to cower in fear and run home to mommy sucking their thumbs to find a safe space in the basement.

By the way, Maj. Steve Lewis’ Bible is open to Philippians 4:8 which is highlighted in yellow:

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

The only writing on the page is the word “Peace.” I know, this is some scary stuff.

I wonder what Weinstein would say about comments made by Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his tenure as president and Commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Was FDR committing “spiritual rape” when he said the following in an address he gave on October 6, 1935?:

“We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic. Its teaching, as has been wisely suggested, is ploughed into the very heart of the race. Where we have been truest and most consistent in obeying its precepts we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity; where it has been to us as the words of a book that is sealed, we have faltered in our way, lost our range finders and found our progress checked.”1

Roosevelt declared the following on March 9, 1937:

“I hope that you have re-read the Constitution of the United States in these past few weeks. Like the Bible, it ought to be read again and again.”

While running for his third time, in a Brooklyn speech, Roosevelt said the following on November 1, 1940:

“[Communism and Nazism] hate democracy and Christianity as two phases of the same civilization. They oppose democracy because it is Christian. They oppose Christianity because it preaches democracy. Their objective is to prevent democracy from becoming strong.”

In his September 1, 1942, Labor Day Address, FDR said:

“PRESERVATION OF THESE rights is vitally important now, not only to us who enjoy them, but to the whole future of Christian civilization.”

On May 27, 1941, FDR stated in one of his radio addresses:

“The Nazis are as ruthless as the Communists in the denial of God.”

The first Bible I read as a child was my father’s New Testament that had been given to him as a soldier during World War II. It included the following prologue by President Franklin D. Roosevelt:

“As Commander-in-Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States.

“Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration.

“It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul.”

Surely Pres. Roosevelt’s comments would have made Mikey Weinstein’s head explode.

Not only is Mikey Weinstein a deluded anti-Christian bigot, he is also ignorant of the meaning of the First Amendment and the history of the United States. He’s also turning our soldiers into fighting marshmallows who seem to be more afraid of words in a book that bullets on the battlefield.

  1. “Statement on the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Printing of the English Bible.” ↩

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gary DeMar

Gary DeMar

Gary DeMar was raised in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University (1973) and Reformed Theological Seminary (1979). He has served as researcher and writer at the Christian Worldview ministry American Vision since 1980 and President since 1984. Today he serves as Senior Fellow at American Vision where he lectures, researches, and writes on various worldview issues. Gary is the author of 30 books on a variety of topics – from “America’s Christian History” and “God and Government” to “Thinking Straight in a Crooked World” to “Last Days Madness.” Gary has been interviewed by Time magazine, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, the BBC, and Sean Hannity. He has done numerous radio and television interviews, including the “Bible Answer Man,” hosted by Hank Hanegraaff and “Today’s Issues” with Tim Wildmon and Marvin Sanders. Newspaper interviews with Gary have appeared in the Washington Times, Toledo (Ohio) Blade, the Sacramento Bee, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Marietta Daily Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Chicago Tribune.

or a liar Never-Hillary-Egl-sm fight Picture1 true battle In God We Trust freedom combo 2

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Air Force: Christians’ Religious Speech Not Legally Protected Right


Bret BART

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/03/16/Air-Force-Christians-Religious-Speech-Not-Legally-Protected-Right

by 16 Mar 2014

Christians in the U.S. military are being told they must forfeit their First Amendment rights. Bible verses are being erased from cadets’ personal dorm-room white boards, and military lawyers claim that legal protections for religion only pertain to matters such as clothing and growing beards but do not extend to any religious expression such as talking about one’s faith or posting a Bible verse.

Last year Breitbart News broke the story of a campaign by anti-Christian extremists to suppress traditional Christian expression within the U.S. military. There were conflicting stories regarding the possible court martial of service members who share the gospel of Jesus Christ and confirmed reports of military chaplains being officially censored, as well as Bibles temporarily banned from the Walter Reed military hospital.

After these stories went viral on the Internet, Republicans in Congress launched an investigation, then introduced legislation to specify that religious expression is a protected right for men and women serving in uniform. Although President Obama originally threatened to veto the legislation, those protections were signed into law in December 2013.

Now these new protections are being put to their first test. Military officers at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs are saying that the Obama-Hagel Pentagon does not regard these new protections as encompassing religious speech or writing. As such, cadets are not allowed to post Bible verses on their personal white boards in their dorm rooms.Cadet,

This latest incident occurred when a cadet (whose identity we are not disclosing) posted Galatians 2:20 on his personal whiteboard, posted outside his living quarters in a residential dormitory. That verse reads, “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.”

According to media reports, several people at the academy contacted Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the radical anti-Christian group that had been in communication with the Defense Department under President Obama regarding adopting new policies for religious expression in the military. Weinstein claimed that he called the Air Force Academy to complain about the Bible verse and further claims that two hours and nine minutes later, the verse was gone.

Sources quote Weinstein as saying that having this verse on the outside of the dorm room “clearly elevated one religious faith over all others at an already virulently hyper-fundamentalist Christian institution.” He is quoted as adding, “It massively poured fundamentalist Christian gasoline on an already raging out-of-control conflagration of fundamentalist Christian tyranny…”

Contrary to existing reports, Academy personnel did not erase the Bible verse or order the cadet to remove it.

Breitbart News spoke with Mike Berry, an attorney who is director of military affairs with Liberty Institute. Berry traveled to the Academy last week and met with cadets of different religions. These cadets say these personal messages are traditionally allowed on cadets’ whiteboards. A message might ask to meet for a basketball game or root for a favorite sports team. They claim it is a meaningful exercise in which many cadets include spiritual or inspirational quotes, whether Bible verses, a verse from the Quran, or from football legend Vince Lombardi.

Berry exclusively tells Breitbart News:

We met with Col. Paul Barzler, the Air Force Academy Staff Judge Advocate, to find out what really happened and to ask about the Academy’s policy on religious exercise. It turns out that, contrary to Mikey Weinstein’s claims, the cadet may have voluntarily removed the Bible verse from his white board. But I was stunned to find out that, had the cadet not removed the verse, Academy officials would have ordered him to do so. I asked why, and Col. Barzler explained that, because the cadet held a leadership position, it could create the perception that he was forcing his religious beliefs on subordinates. I pointed out that under the Constitution, federal law, and military regulations, cadets have the right to religious exercise. I was shocked when he responded that Air Force policy, from the Pentagon, is that the term “religious exercise” does not include written or verbal speech. [emphasis added]

Berry then reminded the colonel regarding the specific legal protections service members have, from the Constitution itself, to Acts of Congress, to military regulations. He says of the colonel’s response:

He went on to state that the Air Force interprets [Department of Defense] Instruction 1300.07 to only apply to religious grooming and apparel matters, but not writing a [Bible] verse on a white board or even verbally sharing a verse. This means that, under Air Force policy, cadets and airmen are not free to express their religious beliefs through words or writing. This policy appears to come from a March 2013 Air Force JAG memo that interpreted federal law in that way.

Last week, on Mar. 14, 2014, the Air Force Academy issued a press release regarding this situation. It says, “While we swear an oath to Support and Defend the Constitution of the United States, Airmen are also bound by [military policy].” It references Air Force Instruction 1-1, which was adopted several years ago once President Obama took office and is frequently used to suppress religious speech, especially by Christians. The press release then adds that “sometimes we must put the good of the entire unit before the good of any single individual.”

This press release only makes the situation more alarming to a legal analyst. An Air Force policy instruction carries some force of law, but it is trumped by a Defense Department regulation. Those regulations, in turn, are subordinate to federal statutes adopted by Congress, which for over three months now has expressly provided that religious expression is a protected right. All of those must follow the Constitution as the Supreme Law of the Land, where the First Amendment makes both free speech and free exercise of religion fundamental rights for all Americans.

As Berry summarized, “This is a stunning development because it is now clear that the Air Force is interpreting federal law and military regulations in an unlawful way. And it is absolutely shameful because the brave men and women of the U.S. Air Force who make huge sacrifices for our religious freedom are having theirs stripped away.” Hinting at legal action that could be forthcoming, Berry concluded, “This is not only morally wrong, it’s illegal.”

Ken Klukowski is senior legal analyst for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @kenklukowski.

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Threat to Religious Liberty in the Military


by

 

The good folks at the Family Research Council (FRC) have, over the years, done a lot of important work in fighting to keep Christian values and ethics in our media, as well as working to educate Christians all over the country to the dangers we face if we become culturally irrelevant. Recently, FRC has noticed a growing and disconcerting trend in our military and they’ve just released the findings for us to peruse.

In a report titled “A Clear and Present Danger: The Threat to Religious Liberty in the Military,” the FRC enumerates the increasing frequency of incidents of the military’s mounting intolerance of Christianity.

Some examples from FRC’s report:

  • Christian Embassy targeted by anti-Christian group – December 2006: Weinstein asked for—and received—a Department of Defense Inspector General investigation of seven officers who appeared in a video for Christian Embassy ministry. The Inspector General concluded in August 2007 that the video was inappropriate, but Weinstein was not satisfied. After seeing the IG’s report, Weinstein told Beliefnet that even though the Air Force suggested corrective actions Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) “wanted to see courts martial.” In its press release MRFF also stated, “MRFF intends to file expeditiously a comprehensive Federal lawsuit that will rapaciously pursue legal remedies to the multitude of horrific Constitutional violations this DoD/IG report reveals.”
  • Air Force pulls ethics course from curriculum at air base – July 27, 2011: For 20 years, an ethics training course for nuclear missile officers was conducted by a chaplain at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. It included texts from the Bible and materials related to just war theory by Saint Augustine. This course was pulled for “thorough review” by the Air Force primarily due to its use of Christian reading materials.
  • Walter Reed Medical Center bans Bibles and religious material – September 14, 2011: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the leading medical institution for the U.S. armed forces, issued an official patient and visitor policy banning Bibles. It stated, “No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.” The policy was revoked after a political firestorm erupted in the House of Representatives.

FRC documents many more egregious examples, like the removal of a cross from a chapel, an officer was forced to remove a Bible from his desk, pro-life groups were linked to terrorism, and more.

christian-persecutionOne takeaway from a thorough reading of the FRC report is that the frequency of these events is increasing, and already 2013 seems to be a banner year for those who would attack any notion of Christianity in the military. The most terrifying aspect of this is, what happens when our Christian ethic is removed completely from the training our fighting men and women receive?

Already the frequency of suicide among service members is way up, and the moral compass of our soldiers is questioned around the globe. Now more than ever we need to be instilling the moral ethics of just war and faithful Christian teaching to our soldiers.

The work the FRC is doing to uncover what the secularists are trying (and succeeding) to do to our military is very important. All of our Congressmen need to see and read this report; it’s the best way to convince them to support our fighting men and women in turning the tide against the anti-God left.

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