Buzzflash Interview: Mikey Weinstein Tackles the Evangelical Coup in America's Military

[demobabe]

A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW

Whenever a virulent form of any religion has engaged the machinery of the state -– and by that, I’m talking about the armed forces, where the sticks and stones are that break our bones -- we end up with oceans and oceans of blood. And it’s happening again now.

-- Michael "Mikey" L. Weinstein, President, Military Religious Freedom Foundation

* * *

Michael "Mikey" Weinstein represents an extended family of graduates from the U.S. Air Force Academy. As his biography proudly notes: "Mikey comes from a family that has dedicated itself to the service of the United States. One indication of the family’s commitment is its multi-generational association with the nation’s military academies, in particular, the United States Air Force Academy. His father graduated from the United States Naval Academy. Mikey is a graduate of the Air Force Academy, as are his brother-in-law, eldest son and daughter-in-law. His youngest son is currently a cadet at the Air Force Academy.

"Weinstein served for ten years on active duty in the United States Air Force as a Judge Advocate, stationed at military installations in California, New Mexico, Illinois, and Washington, DC. He also served as the Air Force’s first Chief of Telecommunications and Information Systems Procurement Law."

His love of the Air Force and the military is equal to his passion for the Constitution. That is why he is now a man with a mission: to stop the growing evangelical takeover of our military, particularly at the academy level.

Weinstein founded and heads the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Its mission is to ensure the separation of church and state in our military -- and the right of academy and military members to be free from religious coercion and harassment.

Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?

But under the Bush Administration, the phrase "Onward Christian soldiers" has been taken literally by many in the Pentagon, our military training centers, and the VA system.

Weinstein recently wrote a compelling book, With God on Our Side: One Man's War Against an Evangelical Coup in America's Military, describing the growing evangelical threat to cadets, GIs and veterans who are not fundamentalists.

We talked with Weinstein recently about the dangerous trend of our armed forces becoming shock troops for Jesus, with the missionary zeal coming from the highest levels.

Read the interview here: http://buzzflash.com/articles/interviews/065

[wakeme2008]

1. ROFL :)

"the list used to include Ted Haggard, before he had some career issues. "

[wakeme2008]

2. K&R nt

[shance]

3. It is good to shine light on any extremism, and there is extremism in all groups

That includes , Christian extremism, Jewish extremism and Muslim extremism, and republican extremism and pacifist extremism.

Too much of anything is not healthy, nor is it realistic.

There are groups that promote moderation but then, they would be the antithesis of an extremist group, wouldn't they?

I also think individuals or groups who in any way seek to demonize and/or scapegoat one particular group and fail to examine the whole, are not only compartmentalists and simplistic but, are certainly extremists in their own right. That or terribly misinformed.

There are probably even Buddhist extremists where, individuals like overzealous pacifists become too removed from the real life day to day living to engage in constructive action.

It's all in the balance.

[leftchick]

4. this is just fucking scary

<snip>

BuzzFlash: How did you become aware of what’s happening there now?

Michael L. Weinstein: I really have to thank Mel Gibson. When Mel came out with his wonderful movie in February of 2004 -- I forget the name -– it was called the "Jesus Chainsaw Massacre," or "Freddie Versus Jesus" -– when that movie came out <"The Passion of the Christ">, I was not contacted by my three children who were at that time at the Academy. I was contacted by non-evangelical Christian members of the faculty. They knew that my wife and I had given a lot of blood, sweat, tears, money, and effort over the years, because we loved the Academy. They wanted to know if I was aware of just how profoundly, how comprehensively, the Academy as an entity was coming down on the cadets and staff to go see this movie.

I was stunned. For three straight days, the cadets were marched into Mitchell Hall, this huge, two-acre dining facility, and General Myers was exhorting them, pressuring them, to go see this thing.

I’m sure there are lots of people that loved the movie. I found it to be a wretched piece of crap, of garbage, and incredibly anti-Semitic, and it deviated from the gospels in so many ways, it had everything in it except for a car chase.

At that point, I thought it was just an anomaly. But as I dug deeper into it, more and more people came to me with evidence and things that were shocking.

For example, it was routine to have brown-bag lunches at the Academy, promoted by flyers that went out saying, “Do not take this flyer down; this is an officially sponsored U.S. Air Force Academy activity in conjunction with the Christian Leadership Ministries.” Case in point: January of 2005 -- and I know this sounds unbelievable, but I can’t make this stuff up -- a flyer said: "Today’s luncheon topic: Why we cannot let you have your God while we have ours. Our other luncheon topics: Dangerous to the followers of Jesus -- pluralism and secularism." And they go on and on.

[The Stranger]

5. Great interview. Why isn't this guy on that blowhard Charlie Rose's show?

Or interviewed on NPR (Neocon Public Relations)?

[demobabe]

6. kick

:kick: