Dispatches from the Creation Wars

He filed suit against the Air Force to put a stop to it. His foundation is now investigating untold numbers of complaints from active duty officers, including prayer meetings with Nazi regalia on military bases. This issue of the Christian Embassy video was one that Weinstein's foundation raised and the Pentagon has now agreed with them that the officers who appeared in that video in uniform at the Pentagon violated regulations, just like James Klingenschmitt did when he appeared in unifrom at a protest rally on behalf of Roy Moore at the White House. Here's the story on the latest findings:

The inspector general last week recommended that Air Force and Army leaders take unspecified "corrective action" against the seven military officers who took part in the Christian Embassy video.

Air Force Maj. Gens. Peter U. Sutton and Jack J. Catton Jr., and Army Brig. Gens. Vincent K. Brooks and Robert L. Caslen Jr. were singled out for failing to seek appropriate approval to participate in the video and for violating ethical rules by appearing in uniform while praising the religious group. Retired Army Col. Ralph G. Benson, a former Pentagon chaplain, was also criticized for allowing Christian Embassy unescorted access to the building to film the video and for misrepresenting the purpose of the effort as a promotion of the Pentagon chaplain's office.

And as the article notes, this is only the latest in a long line of controversies:

The military's connection to religious expression has come under scrutiny in recent years, highlighted by complaints of religious intolerance at the Air Force Academy in 2004 and 2005, when officers were promoting evangelical Christian views. In 2003, Army Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin was faulted for criticizing Muslims while appearing in uniform before church groups, actions that the inspector general did not consider violations of ethics rules. Last year, a Navy chaplain was court-martialed for appearing in uniform at a political protest in front of the White House, though he maintained that all he did was lead a prayer.

Weinstein's group is extremely important and has already forced the Pentagon to back down on several issues, including official sponsorship of fundamentalist rallies and events. Weinstein himself sums up why such issues are important and why, contrary to the inevitable persecution claims of the religious right, they are about religious establishment rather than religious freedom:

Military and civilian personnel are undoubtedly entitled to their own religious beliefs. It is, however, clearly against military regulations and Constitutional guarantees to promote these beliefs during mandatory military meetings and events, while in uniform and on duty. My son and daughter-in-law (both of whom are United States Air Force Academy graduates) found this out when their request to appear in uniform in a documentary film about religion in the military was denied, in writing, by the Pentagon, for fear of government endorsement of their views.

We are not asking for the cessation of bible studies, prayer groups, sermonizing or religious functions before or after military duties have been completed. We are only asking that these religious events not be made mandatory or be thrust by those in the chain-of-command, in the face of subordinates who actively choose not to engage in them. Of equal importance, we are asking military members to not use their official government positions as a platform to preach about their particular biblical worldview.

As a United States Air Force Academy graduate, with a long family history of military combat service, I consider myself a true patriot and a loyal supporter of this country and her values. I have never sought to placate our enemies and did not choose to engage in this fight with that objective in mind. Rather, I took up this cause after hearing innumerable examples of specific Constitutional infractions and of blatant religious bias, from U.S. armed forces and civilian personnel stationed at the 702 U.S. military installations in 132 countries throughout the world.

I firmly believe that the encroachment of religious fundamentalism on our armed forces destroys their ability to successfully serve the American people. Servicemen and women, cadets, midshipmen and civilian personnel are crying out that constant coercive evangelizing and the pressure to adhere to a religion that is not their own, negatively impacts their ability to study, serve and stand together as a cohesive fighting unit in the war we are currently waging.

Well said.