BRAD BLOG Exclusive: Group Receives 'Tsunami of Vile Hate' After Exposé on Military 'Jesus Rifles'

[BradBlog]

Exclusive: Group Receives 'Tsunami of Vile Hate' After ABC Exposé on U.S. Military 'Jesus Rifles'
Anti-Semitic email, threats sent to Mikey Weinstein, founder of Military Religious Freedom Foundation
Rifle sight contractor Trijicon reportedly describes group as 'not Christian'; MRFF responds with threat of possible legal action...

And what they will never tell you on Fox "News", and probably not even on CNN or MSNBC, etc. is contained in the following three emails sent to Mikey Weinstein of the Nobel Prize-nominated Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), following an ABC News exposé last week on the bible versus that are encoded on the rifle scopes made by Trijicon, Inc., and used by our military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The first disturbing email below is from a U.S. soldier who happens to be a Caucasian Muslim, horrified by the dangers of having such verse referenced on military equipment used in the Middle East, particularly in the event of capture. The soldier shares an appalling alleged account of his superior officer's description of the weapon as the "the Fire Arm of Jesus Christ". All the better, said the officer according to the soldier, than what they might have received since "Uncle Sam had seen fit not to give us a "pussy 'Jewzzi' (combination of the word 'Jew' and Israeli made weapon 'Uzi')"."

That account is then followed by two very short, anti-Semitic threats sent to Weinstein in regard to the same matter, following ABC's report. Moreover, a senior company executive is said to have described MRFF as "not Christian" to ABC, according to a letter, threatening legal action sent to the company by the non-profit organization which counters that it's allied with thousands of Christian troops and organizations.

All three of the email missives are horrifying, though none of them are likely to see the time of day in the bulk of the cowardly corporate media, where the real cause and effect of the Rightwing's modern day politicized religious agenda is rarely broached in any way, shape or form...

FULL STORY: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7663

[cali]

1. thanks for your excellent work on this story.

I wouldn't post the vile anti-semitic threats you published, but the letter from the Muslim soldier is great.

from that letter:

Nothing in my first 2 deployments prepared me for what happened with the Trijicon ACOG gun sights during my 3rd deployment to Afghanistan. I will never forget the day it occurred. It was morning and there was a mandatory formation of several companies. A very senior NCO was yelling at us which is not that unusual. He asked a private what it was that he (the private) was holding in his hand and the private said it was his "weapon" several times to which the senior NCO replied "and what ELSE is it"?

FInally, the senior NCO said that the private's rifle was also something else; that because of the biblical quote on the ACOG gunsight it had been "spiritually transformed into the Fire Arm of Jesus Christ" and that we would be expected to kill every "haji" we could find with it. He said that if we were to run out of ammo, then the rifle would become the "spiritually transformed club of Jesus Christ" and that we should "bust open the head of every haji we find with it.'"He said that Uncle Sam had seen fit not to give us a "pussy 'Jewzzi' (combination of the word 'Jew' and Israeli made weapon 'Uzi') but the "fire arm of Jesus Christ" and made specific mention of the biblical quotes on our gun sights.

He said that the enemy no doubt had quotes from the Koran on their guns but that "our Lord is bigger than theirs because theirs is a fraud and an idol". As a Muslim and an American soldier I was fit to be tied but I kept it in. There were many Afghans, both civilian and military, on base within earshot of what was being yelled at us and I can only wonder in shock what they must have thought.

This senior NCO was apparently also the head person of a conservative, crazy Christian group called the "Christian Military Fellowship" and made a big deal about the importance of joining to everyone. He told us all that we MUST read a book called "Under Orders" in order to make it through this combat deployment and said he had many copies for everyone. Some of my friends went and got their copies. I refused.

Finally, this senior NCO ended his yelling by warning us that if we did not "get right with Jesus" then our rifles would not provide spiritual strength despite the bible quotes on our ACOG gunsights and that we would be considered "spiritual cripples" to our fellow units and soldiers. He didn't say it in so many words, but the message was clear; if anything bad happened in a combat situation, it would be the fault of anyone who had not accepted Jesus Chris in the "right way".

[alstephenson]

4. K & R

[Swede]

5. These idiots don't realise the danger they put soldiers in if captured.

It's the same mindset that thinks torture is okay,and any POWs be damned.

[Shallah Kali]

22. Their magical guns will give them super powers to protect them don'tcha know

:eyes:

http://www.imfdb.org/index.php?title=%22Constantines%27_%22_Holy_Shotgun

[Crowman1979]

26. I hope that's wasn't from a USMC unit.

Because if that senior NCO were in my unit, everyone would be saying how full of shit he is after heading to TJ for buying a (insert sex act here) from a hooker the week before the deployment. :D

[pleah]

2. K&R

[Vinnie From Indy]

3. LOL! Gee, thanks! Your breathless headline is quite amusing actually!

I look forward to your headlines Brad! They always make me chuckle!


"This just in at the BradBlog...The Sun is REALLY hot!!!!"

Fundies and right-wing extremists write hate-filled, badly spelled, racist emails? Who knew?

I guess in this instance that it wasn't simply a case of garden variety hate but a strain of VILE hate that caused all the pearl clutching over at the BradBlog.

[Loki]

6. Interesting

"vile hatred" makes you chuckle. We've known about the infiltration of the military by white supremacists and religious wack jobs and you chuckle. You ready to handle a US "Christian" Military with tactical nukes? Pretty soon they won't care which way they are pointing the gun.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. 'tsunami of vile hate' is a quote from Mickey Weinstein

speaking for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. I agree that hate speech and threats should be called out always. I wonder why you find it to be a subject worthy of mockery and petty wise cracks?

[Vinnie From Indy]

9. It's not the hate speech I am mocking.

It is the silly presentation of the hate speech by BradBlog that amuses me. Further, I would venture a guess that since the dawn of the Internet and the easily transmitted e-mail that there is not a political website in existence that does NOT get hateful emails. It is the nature of the beast just as the nature of the sun is that it is very hot. There is hardly anything newsworthy or shocking in either observation. The way Brad presented this story one imagines editors fainting with the "vapors" after being exposed to the fact that people write hateful, racist etc. emails.

[glitch]

30. I didn't imagine that.

Maybe it's you.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jotsy]

8. We knew that this was the reason when the info first surfaced, and why it made us so sick.

How did that NCO know what to look for if the DOD 'had no idea'.

Did you see those 'journalists' on CSPAN this morning, chief political correspondents who never once mentioned those that govern as there to do the people's business. The chickee from the Washington Times actually suggested that she knew nothing of the OCC or their role in how the wall street wizards used the front of a financial free fall while filtering what actual wealth there was from the froth.

[TygrBright]

10. When the FECK did it become SOP for our military to shoot itself in the foot?

Anyone-- ANYONE-- with ANY military experience, ESPECIALLY NCOs, who should be the absolute authority on What Makes A Unit Function, should realize that starting crusades to shame, exclude, or (heavens!) "convert" some soldiers, airmen, marines or sailors will quickly undermine unit cohesion and morale.

What are they THINKING?

Since when, in the US Military, did pursuing a sectarian religious agenda become more important than the professional standards that ensure unit functionality and maintain professionalism?

When? HUH?? WHEN, DAMMIT?

Troops are going to DIE, needlessly, because of this bullshit. Missions are going to fail.

If somebody further up the food chain isn't sitting up and taking notice here, I'd recommend anyone thinking of enlisting, think again. And anyone thinking of re-upping, think again.

amazedly,
Bright

[malaise]

13. When George Bush started screaming about his crusade

and the lunatic fundies were allowed to infiltrate the military and Pentagon.

[MadMaddie]

16. That's right when * made this a Christian religous crusade

and the Muslim world and the rest of the world knows exactly what happened when the last great crusade happened....millions upon millions of non-Christians were murdered in the name of the Christian lord.

If it is not painfully obvious these Christian crusaders are equal to or even more dangerous than Al Queda. Make no mistake they have no problems killing Americans if it helps them accomplish their goals. You only have to look at Timothy McVeigh and Terri Nichols for your answer of what they are willing to do....but no one calls it terrorism.

[fascisthunter]

24. supposedly using the military to promote religion is more important than soldiers' lives

it's absoultely disgusting... Christian should be pissed off at this. To place something they believe is sacred onto a weapon is just sick and twisted.

[glitch]

31. I would say 2001 but there were plenty of missing toes in the 80s under Reagan/Bush too. nt

[The Wizard]

11. conscription

will fix this. Everybody gets drafted at 18 years of age, no exceptions.

[BrklynLiberal]

14. If there are going to be wars...there should be conscription...no exceptions.

I would even prefer that the old men who are the LEADERS of the countries get involved in the hand-to-hand combat..instead of sending the young people out to fight the battles that the old men start.

[The Wizard]

28. War is our biggest export (NT).

[Joanne98]

12. They have a fifth column in the military.

[Hekate]

20. Yes they do. nt

[glitch]

32. Not just in the military -- there's a fifth column all over the Federal gov.

Or all under. And in quite a few states too.

[BrklynLiberal]

15. Scary stuff.. separation of church and state is vital, Separation of church and mimlitary is as

essential...
Religious fanatics with weapons...Isn't that what we are supposed to be fighting against??

[bertman]

17. As always, thank you, Brad and company, for keeping us informed. Rec. nt

[Hekate]

19. Mikey Weinstein is an Air Force Academy graduate who was proud to have his son go until...

... When he went to visit his son during his first year at the Academy, he was shocked at how angry the young man was; his son told him that he was within a hair of decking the next guy who called him a Christ Killer. Things had changed profoundly since the elder Weinstein had graduated in 1977. On investigation, it turned out that it was being run by RW fundamentalist evangelicals, top to bottom, with those not agreeing being forced out. GW Bush's policies had made this permissable.

Google "Mikey Weinstein + Air Force Academy" for a great deal more about what impelled this Republican lawyer to file a federal lawsuit against the Air Force Academy, found the MIlitary Religious Freedom Foundation, write “With God On Our Side: One Man’s War Against an Evangelical Coup in America’s Military” and generally take on America's theocrats.

The theocrats, of course, have many nasty names for him, and the emails are no surprise. I'm quite sure that "vile" is the right word for them.

http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/weinstein2.html

Hekate

[jonnyblitz]

25. I read his outstanding book a few years back. He's great and a

fighter who does NOT back down.

[Shallah Kali]

21. Jesus killed Mohammed: The crusade for a Christian military By Jeff Sharlet

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/05/0082488

[Obamanaut]

23. If the actual words in the verse listed (2cor etc) are not inscribed

on the sight in question as it is mounted on the weapon, the image is misleading.

There are a multitude of religions for which 2cor4:6 would be meaningless, merely part of the serial number - they know little of the christian bible. There are a multitude of religions for which verse numbers from the koran, by themselves or as part of a sight seral number, would likewise be meaningless.

This is such a non-issue, brought to the headlines by 'sensation mongers', a group or groups seeking headlines any way they can find them in order to advance their own agenda, harping about bible verses (not "versus" as stated in the OP).

Many, many people have been slaughtered in the name of religion. Suspected witches in Salem, pagans by the early Roman christians, christians by muslims in the time of Ottoman, muslims by chrstians in the crusades. And look how we have progressed. People getting blown to bits daily in various places for various reasons by various countries - and we worry about inscriptions on telescopic sights as being hurtful.

[Crowman1979]

27. Added to that, Corinthians was written by St. Paul the Apostle, not JESUS!

[ck4829]

29. K&R