Show Notes::MRFF opponents seek Trump's help, w/ Chris Rodda

Latest bit of news concerning MRFF encompasses a few recent news items of interest -- Todd Starnes (and Mike Huckabee), Robert Jeffress and the DoD, and POW/MIA tables. While the Jeffress/Starnes fiasco are important, our focus is going to be the POW/MIA tables, but to understand the "news" about the tables, one needs to be aware of the preceding garbage.

Where to find Chris

• http://www.liarsforjesus.com/index.html
• https://www.dailykos.com/user/ChrisRodda

MRFF

• https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/

Sekulow and MRFF

https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/2018/07/mrff-gets-under-sekulows-thin-fundamentalist-evangelical-skin/

Trump’s lawyer and Chief Counsel of the ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) https://aclj.org/, a politically conservative, Christian-based social activism and watchdog organization associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia; IOWs Pat Robertson. In some circles they are consider the anti- American Civil Liberties Union. Jay Sekulow, who I will mention as reference and not criticism, is a Messianic Jew, is so hot and bothered by MRFF’s fight in Okinawa.

Now MRFFs history with Sekulow is fairly encompassing. https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/2017/08/8917-trumps-lawyer-and-chief-counsel-of-the-aclj-jay-sekulow-attacks-mikeymrff-outlandish-angry-atheist-attack-claims-conference-that-includes-facebook-and-google-executives-somehow-vi/ Of interest to us tonight is a piece (actually two) you did concerning the "DMZ flag" at the Air Force’s Enlisted Heritage Hall, a museum at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.

What the “DMZ flag” is all about?

The exhibit in question consisted of a mannequin in an airman's uniform standing next to a Christian chapel flag with a sign telling the following story:

"This Christian Flag is significant because it was rescued from the ruins of an American Chapel that ultimately found itself situated in the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea. In 1960, a young A1C Luke Holcomb, was assigned to the post along the Demilitarized Zone. From his duty section he could see what remained of the chapel and was fascinated by the site [sic] of the U.S. and Christian flags leaning against the rear corner of the building. One night, he and three friends swam across the river separating them from the chapel, and at the risk of death, they liberated the flags. It was his wish that this flag be displayed in dedication of the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen who risked their lives during the Korean Conflict."

To borrow from your piece, https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/12/15/1724636/-Air-Force-Returns-Admittedly-Inaccurate-Story-to-Museum-ACLJ-Launches-Attack-to-Defend-Exhibit (AND https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/air-force-museum-puts-admittedly-inaccurate-story-back_us_5a33cac3e4b02bd1c8c605f0)

So, how does the ACLJ twist the facts about MRFF’s efforts to get the historically dubious story of the airman allegedly retrieving the Christian chapel flag from the Korean DMZ in 1960 removed? Well, for starters, by claiming that MRFF is attacking history.

Its petition-signer-getting article, titled “Defend the Chaplain Flag, the Cross, and Christians Who Serve Our Nation,” begins:

“In the latest attack by Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), the target is not only the United States military (MRFF’s venomous specialty) but is also an attack on history, in this case the history of the Korean War.”

Initial story concerning “DMZ flag” https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-most-unbelievable-story-about-korea-that-you-will_us_59f9cac7e4b0412aab840c80

Other media concerning “DMZ flag”

Group wants Maxwell AFB museum to remove Christian flag from exhibit
Exhibit Director at Maxwell exchange emails with Rodda
Defend the Chaplain Flag, the Cross, and Christians Who Serve Our Nation (ACLJ)

https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/2017/08/8917-trumps-lawyer-and-chief-counsel-of-the-aclj-jay-sekulow-attacks-mikeymrff-outlandish-angry-atheist-attack-claims-conference-that-includes-facebook-and-google-executives-somehow-vi/

Jeffress and MRFF

On June 24, 2018, "First Baptist Dallas", the Texas mega-church pastored by Robert Jeffress, had its annual “Freedom Sunday” event. During this event, Robert Jeffress was initially advertised as delivering his presentation titled “America is a Christian Nation.” During a “Salute to our U.S. Armed Forces” portion of the event, the official seals of the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces were to be very largely and prominently displayed. The display of these official seals by any non-federal entity is strictly prohibited,,,

https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/2018/06/6-21-18-mrff-letter-to-dod-sec-mattis-demands-first-baptist-dallas-cease-and-desist-utilization-of-all-dod-insignia-logos-in-promoting-sectarian-fundamentalist-christian-event/

http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/docs/Letter%20to%20Pastor%20Jeffress,%20First%20Baptist%20Dallas%202018-06-21.pdf

MRFF not only contacted Jeffress but the DoD (Defense Secretary Jim Mattis) as well, as a result,,, did Jeffress comply considering “First Baptist Church released a statement Friday: "We plan to honor our military this Sunday at our Celebrate Freedom services, as planned." “

First Baptist Dallas removed, TODAY, a video and image of the official Military Department Seals from its website promoting the event. Thus, all indications are that these same Seals will NOT be illegally used at this weekend's "Freedom Sunday" event as they had been previously and in DIRECT VIOLATION of the DoD guidance entitled "Important Information and Guidelines About the Use of Department of Defense Seals, Logos, Insignia, and Service Medals."

http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/2018/MRFF_DEMAND_JEFFRESS_MATTIS.html

What is an important take-away from this bit of news, “Department of Defense guidelines allow use of Armed Forces seals only for official military use. The MRFF says the church's use of the seals in its program makes it appear the Armed Forces endorses the event, which is this Sunday.” That first sentence should end it right there,,, but to often it does not.

In the last week, a media company removed controversial billboards which showed the title for Freedom Sunday, "America is a Christian Nation." http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2018/06/18/america-is-a-christian-nation-billboards-come-down-in-dallas-after-complaints/

Other media

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Foundation-Says-Dallas-Church-Should-Remove-Military-Seals-from-Its-Freedom-Sunday-Program--486204471.html

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2018/06/24/pentagon-forces-pastor-robert-jeffress-church-to-remove-military-seals-from-ad/

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/06/trumps-spiritual-advisor-busted-pentagon-illegally-using-military-seals-ads-church/

Starnes and MRFF

http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/2018/MRFF_Covered_By_Patheos%20and%20Raw%20Story.html

Like Sekulow, MRFF has a “storied” history with Starnes but for our purposed tonight, our interest is concerning his recent whinge RE Jeffress mentioned prior. https://www.toddstarnes.com/show/pentagon-tells-church-to-remove-military-seals-after-complain/

What makes this newsworthy, as MRFF notes, *Original Headline Read: "Pentagon Tells Church to Remove Military Seals After Atheist Group Complains". Revised Headline Reads: "Pentagon Tells Church to Remove Military Seals After Complaints" (Saturday, June 23, 2018). You see, recently MRFF had to send a cease and desist letter to Starnes to stop calling MRFF an “atheist” organization. It's really comic gold in the snark category, but obviously got the point across.

From the letter sent, https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2018-06-25-Todd-Starnes-Fox-News-Network-wcorr.pdf

There was a time when I thought perhaps you were innocently confusing the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) with a separate, unrelated, organization by the name of Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). You’ve no doubt seen their television commercials with President Reagan’s son, Ron. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is different. It is not an atheist organization. It is a secular civil rights advocacy organization of which approximately 96% of its current and retired armed forces clients are Christian as are about 80% of the Foundation staffers.

Given that this has occurred a number of times I would like to ask a favor. Would you please have someone in the Fox News legal department, preferably an attorney who knows something about the law of libel and slander, call me so that I can have a conversation with them about what in the world it is going to take to impress upon you the need to stop doing this.

Following, or about the same time (the time frames of when shit actually happened gets a bit blurry), this happened, in Todd Starnes’ new opinion piece on Foxnews.com, http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/07/19/todd-starnes-air-force-surrenders-to-demand-to-replace-bible-with-generic-book-faith-on-powmia-table.html the vocal detractor calls MRFF a “militant organization” rather than “atheist organization.” So the letter appears to have worked for the moment. But where Starnes goes into bizarro-land, he “urge[s] the Trump administration to defend the POW/MIA tables.” IOWs defy the Constitution.

Tweeting,

And stating in a subsequent OPed, “Let’s cut to the chase – President Trump needs to immediately intervene and put a stop to these ugly attacks from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.” https://www.toddstarnes.com/show/air-force-base-defends-replacing-bible-with-generic-book-of-faith/

Just to note, Starnes' over-the-top reaction also coincides with another MRFF victory in my home city of Buffalo. And just so people are aware, it is not the tables nor the symbolism of the tables MRFF and others are fighting against, it is the placement of the Bible. A point we will delve into a bit more later.

http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/2018/VA_Buffalo_Bibles_Removed_2018.html

Huckabee

You know this bloviating fucknut couldn't be too far behind in all this,,,

https://ijr.com/2018/07/1110936-mike-huckabee-air-force-bible/

“This is an issue I'd love to see the president interject himself into. I'd love to see him say, as commander in chief of the military, 'Put the Bible back on the table. Let's not be stupid about this.'”

As noted by Chris, now the FRC has chimed in,,,

___________________________________________________________________________________

So with that bit of house keeping out of the why we come to the crux of tonight's show – POW/MIA tables.

A thought I have concerning this apparent merging of narratives. It is well known that one of the Reich's tactic is to throw spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks – ie the various anti-LGBT bills we saw similar to the debacle in AZ kinda sorta ending with Pence's mess that initiated numerous corporate boycotts in IN. http://interestinghmm.blogspot.com/2015/10/lines-being-drawn-for-indianas-next.html. It is a tactic put forth by the pro-fetus organizations adopted by the anti-LGBT crowd and now appears to be trickling into the various military cases.

Now the SOCAS work MRFF has engaged in is very necessary. There are blatant violations, one would have to be a complete idiot not to see such IMO. But yet, the Reich's objects. Do you think, that these objections to the removal of the Bible (and Seals) are a new flavor of spaghetti?

The Beginning as I know it, (or I should say when I started to pay more attention). The MIA table issue “began” around 2016. As Chris notes the changing of the tradition began much much earlier,,,

2/25/16 - New Testament Bible Removed from Akron, OH VA POW/MIA Table http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/2016/Akron_VA_2-25-16.html

4/4/16 - New Testament Bible Removed from Youngstown, OH VA POW/MIA Table http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/Youngstown_VA_Victory_4_4_16.html

4/8/16 - New Testament Bible Removed from Wright Patterson AFB, OH POW/MIA Table http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/OHIO_HatTrick_4_8_16.html

4/11/16 - New Testament Bible Removed from Houston, TX VA POW/MIA Table http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/MRFF_4th_Victory_POW_MIA_4_11_16.html

4/19/16 - New Testament Bible Removed from Tobyhanna, PA VA POW/MIA Table http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/2016/TobyhannaArmyDepotPOW_MIA_4-19-16.html

9/16/16 - New Testament Bible Removed from Eglin AFB, FL Allergy Clinic Table https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/bibleRemoved_Eglin_USAFbase_9_16_16.html

10/18/16 - MRFF commends Chillicothe Veteran Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Athens Ohio, for prompt New Testament Bible removal from Medical Health Clinic http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/bibleRemoved_Athens_10_17_16V2.html

Nov 2017 - DENVER VA MEDICAL CENTER PROMPTLY REMOVES UNCONSTITUTIONAL BIBLE FROM "MISSING MAN TABLE!" https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/2017/DENVER_VA_MEDICAL_CENTER_REMOVES_BIBLE_NOVEMBER_2017.html

June 2018 - Group files IG complaint against Navy over Bible included in Okinawa POW/MIA display http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/2018/MRFF_Stars_Stripes_DodIG_June_2018.html

MRFF SENDS OFFICIAL DoD/IG COMPLAINT LETTER RE: OKINAWA NAVAL BASE; DEMANDS BIBLE REMOVAL https://www.stripes.com/news/group-files-ig-complaint-against-navy-over-bible-included-in-okinawa-pow-mia-display-1.534982

July 2018 - MRFF's Efforts Lead to Bible Replacement at F.E. Warren AFB, Special Thanks to Colonel Stacy J. Huser, Wing Commander of the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base (AFB) http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/2018/_Warren_Bible_Replaced_2018.html

July 2018 - MRFF's PERSISTENCE LEADS TO BUFFALO, NEW YORK's VA MEDICAL CENTER REMOVING UNAUTHORIZED BIBLES FROM POW/MIA TABLE! http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/2018/VA_Buffalo_Bibles_Removed_2018.html

The Okinowa and FEWarren issues seem to be the ones stuck in the Reich's craw. But as you can see, this is not a new issue concerning the tables.

What exactly is a POW/MIA table and when did it get it's start?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_man_table

The Missing Man Table is a place of honor, set up in military dining facilities of the U.S. armed forces and during occasions such as service branch birthday balls, in memory of fallen, missing, or imprisoned military service-members. The table serves as the focal point of ceremonial remembrance, originally growing out of US concern of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. From my understanding, the tables are only used at dine-in functions.

The original tradition of these tables started by the River Rats in 1967 did NOT include a Bible, and

neither does the American Legion's version, which sticks to the original tradition. We are not trying totake away a tradition, as the fundies are claiming to get their followers all outraged; we are trying to

RESTORE this tradition to the original one that honored POWs and MIAs of ALL religions or no religion.

General symbolism, although there are variations in some things that do not appear to this layman understanding to take away from the meaning.

Symbolism

This description is from Wiki for simplicity sake. Concecus sems to agree from othre readings with the only discrepancy being the inclusion of the Bible; which we will get to.

• Table: set for one, is small, symbolizing the frailty of one isolated prisoner.
• Tablecloth is white, symbolic of the purity of their intentions to respond to their country’s call to arms.
• Single red rose in the vase, signifies the blood that many have shed in sacrifice to ensure the freedom of America.
• The red ribbon (yellow ribbon for Air Force ceremonies) represents the love of our country
• Slice of lemon on the bread plate: represents the bitter fate of the missing.
• Salt sprinkled on the bread plate: symbolic of the countless fallen tears of families as they wait.
• Inverted glass: represents the fact that the missing and fallen cannot partake.
  
• Lit candle: reminiscent of the light of hope which lives in our hearts to illuminate their way home, away from their captors, to the open arms of a grateful nation.
  

• Empty chair: the missing and fallen aren't present.
  

Notice what is missing in that description?

That above description from my understanding is what the RiverRats intended when THEY began the tradition in 1967.

MRFF first filed a complaint about the display with Rear Adm. Paul Pearigen, Navy Medicine West commander, on April 5. The Navy later said it investigated the matter but found that including the Bible was “consistent with Department of the Navy and Department of Defense guidance, as well as the U.S. Constitution.”

,,,

The official Navy or Defense Department stance on Bibles being included in POW/MIA “Missing Man” table displays remains unclear. However, a report on the Navy’s website from 2014 describes the Bible as being an official part of the display. https://www.stripes.com/news/group-files-ig-complaint-against-navy-over-bible-included-in-okinawa-pow-mia-display-1.534982

In general news sources, things like some POW/MIA orgs, and the like there is nary a mention of the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association ... River Rats is just their nickname ... and the organization still exists today. Its as if the guys never existed because they didn't worship like the theonuts in power so their contribution to the remembrance of are missing is of no consequence.


'America's White Table by Margot Theis Raven. The book explains why members of the military set a single white table in mess halls as a way to honor fallen or missing soldiers.

America's White Table, Jul 9 2005 | Video | C-SPAN.org https://www.c-span.org/video/?185999-1/americas-white-table Margot begins at the 10:17 mark reading from her book.

Okinawa Table

https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/2018/06/anonymous-active-duty-u-s-armed-forces-member-and-mrff-client-shares-experience-with-bibles-on-fallen-soldier-tables/

If you remember, I mentioned Jay Sekulow, this is the bit where he comes into play

Trump’s lawyer and Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, Jay Sekulow, is so hot and bothered by MRFF’s fight in Okinawa, he had the ACLJ team put together a rambling 12-page letter of their own promoting bigoted religious favoritism — which includes plentiful,absolutely fake, and discredited historical statements and an enormous amount of inapplicable/bogus caselaw — it’s posted on their website’s front page! http://media.aclj.org/pdf/LTR-Garrison-7-2-18_Redacted.pdf

https://www.stripes.com/news/group-files-ig-complaint-against-navy-over-bible-included-in-okinawa-pow-mia-display-1.534982

http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/2018/MRFF_Demands_Navy_reconsider_decision_2018_april.htm

Show Notes:: Chris Rodda on Anti-LGBTQI Captain Sonny Hernandez

As you know we are  not a scripted show, so the dialogue will not follow this "outline". Due to the nature of the topic and the amount of material, I made notes for myself and co-hosts of what I hoped to cover and the material available for background information

Chris's original story appears here and here.

IMO::  At the heart of it, this is a SOCAS issue complicated by the inclusion of the military.  A point that will become clear as we talk.  What Hernandez advocates is Christian theocracy, or as I prefer Christian Sharia.  The mentality he promotes is no different than the more ardent forms of Islam; Daesh comes to mind.  It is a point many former and current military member have remarked to me and in comments of the various articles.  I am sure Chris is well aware of theses sentiments.  It is why MRFF is so important. (And by proxy Chris's work with Liars as this is a notion espoused by Barton.)

The controversy raises questions over the role of chaplains and where the boundaries lie between spiritual leadership and innate freedoms of religion and speech guaranteed under the Constitution that all service-members swear to “support and defend.”

In some strange ways, this issue also ties in with the current flap of DayGloMan v the NFL and the Pledge debacle in schools.

Q:: What is MRFF, who is Mikey, and what is your role?

Before we get going, as of Sunday night I have 40+ articles concerning the debacle and related issues with Hernandez.  This story has taken off like no one expected and I believe (OK I know) you and MRFF are a big reason as to why. (About fucking time the MSM didn't just blow MRFF.)  Q:: How do you feel about that notion, especially considering some of the public criticism (ie FOX news) that Mikey gets as well as MRFF?

So, this first point is one you open with in your article concerning the oath that Hernandez took but isn't there something in the Christian Bible, in Matthew about if you speak an oath you will be bound by it? Every person that enters military service in the US swears an oath to the US Constitution to protect and defend it. This so called Chaplin would have them break faith with their god. I'd ask, who is the one worshiping Satan?

Q::  So who is this Sonny Hernandez character?
Article in question (BarbWire)

• Misogynistic statements about the military having female chaplains, expressing his opinion that “women are not called to be pastors, and since a chaplain is supposed to be a pastor in uniform — it exposes their rebellion,” 
• “There is no such thing as transgenderism”

Background per MRFF

Some of the previous writings of Chaplain Hernandez, along with his “tag team” Bible-believing blogging buddy Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Dowty (a.k.a. the “Christian Fighter Pilot”), which led to MRFF’s filing of its initial DoD/IG complaint in April and other supplemental complaints, see these prior posts:

• “Christian Fighter Pilot” Jonathan Dowty Accuses First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant Of Being A Liar”
• “Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?”
• “The Glaring Double Standards Of The Air Force’s Most Homophobic, ‘Bible-Believing’ Chaplain”
• “Chaplain Who Said There’s ‘No Such Thing As Transgenderism’ Now Says Obeying Constitution Serves Satan”

Q::  Concerning his misogyny statements, Hernandez was writing as a blogger on Air Force Lt. Col. Jonathan Dowty's “Christian Fighter Pilot” blog.  Without getting too far into the rabbit hole, can you explain the import of this? 

Also mentioned, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/gay-bashing-chaplain-endo_b_13867166.html

[Dowty was the slime ball who went after Brig. Gen. Kristin Goodwin (then Select), who had been nominated to be the Air Force Academy’s next commandant of cadets, of being a liar. Dowty’s basis for this accusation? Goodwin graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1993, but the policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) wasn’t implemented until 1994. Therefore, according to Lt. Col. Dowty, Goodwin, who is a lesbian, must have lied about her sexual orientation in order to join the Air Force.]

So, our "benighted researcher", you seemed to really get under his skin in one particular article.  Q:: What makes Hernandez's "case" so important? Besides the fact he has been a thorn in MRFFs side 

http://christianfighterpilot.com/2017/06/27/us-military-continues-to-ignore-mikey-weinstein/ 
and
http://christianfighterpilot.com/2017/06/06/mrff-operates-in-the-red-takes-government-money-but-mikey-weinstein-profits/

He has flat out and very publicly instructed members of the U.S. military to disregard and disobey the Constitution.

In his article, Hernandez did nothing short of instructing service members to disobey the Constitution that they swore an oath to uphold, with statements such as these,,,

• Christian service members who openly profess and support the rights of Muslims, Buddhists, and all other anti-Christian worldviews to practice their religions — because the language in the Constitution permits — are grossly in error, and deceived.
• “There is no exegetical support, and no moral justification for any Christian service member to openly profess or support the alleged rights of anti-Christians. Christian service members must share the Gospel with unbelievers so they can be saved, not support unbelievers to worship their false gods that will lead them to hell.”

To layman eyes, the anti-LGBTQI stance and his misogyny aside, that really is not the issue here is it.  At least based on your response, "No, Chaplain Hernandez, the right to religious freedom is not just an “alleged” right, nor is this right something that the Constitution merely “permits.” It is a right that the Constitution mandates!"  Q::  Can you expand on that a bit as to exactly what you are referring to?

A third point that you note, "baffling them with bullshit".  I have read and re-read his supposed instructions to fellow Bible-believing chaplains and I can't make head or tails of it.

Therefore, if military chaplains are criticized by individuals for not accommodating all service members, and are told to resign from the military since they cannot care for all, just ask them this question: ‘Does the free exercise of religion apply to ‘all’ service members or only service members whose beliefs concur with yours?’ If the response is: ‘Military chaplains must provide for all or they are not fit to serve,’ they are now guilty of violating their own criteria of providing for all, since they are establishing a religion that requires every service member to accommodate evil even if their sincerely held convictions prohibit them from doing so. However, if they respond to the question by saying that the free exercise of religion is for ‘all,’ simply tell them: Thank you very much.

From what I can make of his statement, Hernandez is stating that HIS interpretation of HIS religiondictates that HE is allowed to and MUST discriminate against others HE deems less worthy.  Basically HIS interpretation of the Bile trumps the Constitution - which is against the oath he took when entering the service.  It's the "I'm Special" treatment that Kim Davis expected.

A point in an article from AFTimes. Don Byrd writing for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, states, that the idea of ”[d]enying the rights of non-Christians is an offense to American liberty. But it also undermines the strength of the Christian faith by suggesting it is threatened by a truly free conscience.  The success of a religion should not depend on the extent to which the rights of others are restricted.”  Basically Byrd underscores your contention that Hernandez publicly instructed members of the U.S. military to disregard and disobey the  Constitution.

MRFFs response
Initial complaint about Captain Hernandez was in April. It called for the chaplain to be investigated over a blog post titled: "How was Col Goodwin - an open homosexual - able to enter the Air Force?"  The complaint accused the chaplain of believing his "bigoted, homophobic, misogynistic" beliefs "take a higher precedence than the law and federal ethical standards".

In a response to the Friendly Atheist, you stated,  and I loved this,

Imagine if a Muslim chaplain tried to pull this shit. He’s be out of a job immediately — and cause Fox News to talk about Sharia Law for the next week. I would say imagine a Humanist chaplain doing the same… but there are none in the military. Meanwhile, Christians like Hernandez have plenty of power in the military and they want to make sure that no other religion gets any respect — even when all those soldiers share a mutual goal of protecting our country.

Which brings us to the crux of the matter, Hernandez's latest article "blatantly and indisputably advocates the subordinating of the U.S. Constitution to his personal Christian ideology and violated his Oath of Office as a commissioned officer, as well as Title 18, U.S. Code § 2387’s criminal prohibitions against counseling or urging insubordination, disloyalty, or ‘refusal of duty’ to other military members."

Complaints of military chaplains engaging in overtly sectarian behavior have doubled since Donald Trump became president, according to MRFF. The Hernandez piece was evidence of President Donald Trump emboldening the far fringes of the Christian right.

"America’s military members look to the president for direction and inspiration," he said. "Trump’s statements and actions have fully endorsed and validated this unbridled tidal wave of fundamentalist Christian persecution, which is now more inextricably intertwined into the very fabric of our Department of Defence than ever before."

Might be a good point to interject this observation, one in which you commented concerning Salon's comparison to Gordon Klingenschmitt.  Hernandez actually appeared on Klingeshmitt's "Pray in Jesus' Name" program.  I consider him a Klingenschmitt wannabe.

Salon writes,

Perhaps Hernandez is trying to horn in on the turf of Gordon Klingenschmitt, a former Navy chaplain, who currently is the most notable Christian nationalist chaplain. Klingenschmitt became a minor Religious Right celebrity after he unsuccessfully and falsely claimed that punishment he faced for engaging in political activity in uniform was somehow a religious persecution.
,,,
Klingenschmitt created a myth around himself that he was persecuted for trying to pray in the name of Jesus. After Klingenschmitt was removed from the Navy, he turned his fake story into a web and local television show. He later successfully ran for the Colorado House of Representatives, serving a single term, in the process becoming legendary within the state for his numerous erratic and offensive statements.

I have also posted quite a bit concerning the douchenozzle, ripping into his terrible understanding of the Bible.

AF response
As for the AF response , there seems to be some confusion which you address here,

And it is the statement made by Lt. Col. Gibson — that the Air Force is not conducting an investigation — that makes the Stars and Stripes article very misleading, and led many to wrongly believe that Chaplain Hernandez has been cleared. This is not the case. Although it is true that the Air Force is not conducting an investigation, that’s because it wasn’t the Air Force that was asked to conduct the investigation in the first place. The complaint, filed by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), was filed with the Department of Defense Inspector General (DoD/IG), not the Air Force, so it is the DoD/IG that is conducting the investigation — an investigation that is still open and ongoing. (The Stars and Stripes article has now been corrected to correctly state that the complaint was filed with the DoD/IG, not the Air Force.)

Q:: Why is this important?
Initially reported by S&S that they were "standing behind" Hernandez's right to express his own views.

To wit Mikey responded,

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) and its legal counsel have reviewed the terribly erroneous Stars and Stripes article authored by its reporter Dianna Cahn released earlier this Tuesday evening and would like to make the following rebuttal. The second paragraph of the article incorrectly states, “The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which advocates on behalf of a pluralistic military with sharp separation of church and state, CALLED ON THE AIR FORCE TO INVESTIGATE HERNANDEZ after the chaplain called Christian servicemembers who give credence to other faiths ‘counterfeit Christians.’ At the very outset, let me emphasize that MRFF NEVER ‘called on the Air Force to investigate Hernandez.’ Indeed, we at MRFF long ago gave up expecting ANYONE in the Air Force to enforce its own regulations and the Constitutional mandates to separate church and state and guarantee religious equality within its own ranks.

Something you also replied to via FB,

I am sitting here right now writing something about this as quickly as I can, but for now please read Mikey's statement, which he wrote immediately upon our seeing this completely misleading and inaccurate article from Stars and Stripes last night. The article's inaccuracy makes it sound like Hernandez has been cleared by quoting an Air Force spokesman saying that the Air Force is not conducting an investigation. That's true -- the Air Force is not conducting an investigation. But there’s no reason it would be. Why? Because it wasn’t the Air Force that was asked to conduct the investigation in the first place! It was the Department of Defense Inspector General (DoD/IG), not the Air Force, that MRFF's complaint against Hernandez was filed with, so it is the DoD/IG that is conducting the investigation — an investigation that is still open and ongoing.  (Stars and Stripes has now corrected its article to correctly state that the complaint was filed with the DoD/IG, not the Air Force.)

To which the S&S issued a correction, (a sloppy correction IMO),

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the agency to which the Military Religious Freedom Foundation filed its complaint. It was filed with the Department of Defense Inspector General. The story also mischaracterized a christianfighterpilot.com blog post that questioned the integrity of a newly promoted brigadier general. This story has been corrected.

But the best part is this,

You know how I posted the Stars and Stripes article about the Air Force clearing Hernandez from the other day was wrong, and wrote about it on HuffPo yesterday? Well. lookie lookie at what's on the front page of Stars and Stripes right now!

It seems the AF is investigating,

After initially denying an investigation, the Air Force said Friday that its inspector general’s office is reviewing complaints against reserve chaplain Capt. Sonny Hernandez, who proclaimed that Christian servicemembers are wrong to support the rights of other faiths to practice their religion, actions that he said will lead them to hell.

“I can confirm that the Air Force is reviewing IG complaints made against Chaplain Hernandez that were referred to the Air Force Inspector General’s office,” Air Force spokesman Col. Patrick Ryder said Friday. “At this time it would be inappropriate to comment on the nature of those complaints or speculate on potential outcomes.”

An Air Force Reserve spokesman said earlier this week that the service was not investigating Hernandez.

See also

Even FFRF has voiced there opinion,

As a military chaplain you have a duty to aid our service members in the free exercise of their religious beliefs. Accommodating the free exercise of religion is, in fact, your only job. Military chaplains exist to grant our service members access to a church or religious leader of their chosen religion while they live on base or travel overseas.

While the military chaplaincy has unnecessarily expanded and in many cases now provides redundant access to Christian chaplains in areas where private Christian churches are available, the justification for military chaplains nevertheless remains rooted — tenuous though those legal roots may be — in the constitutional principle of free religious exercise. Your call to openly disregard the Constitution is particularly hypocritical, given that the Constitution justifies your existence.

After the show Deb and I did a we bit of digging,

The Hernandez video we spoke of,,,  https://www.youtube.com/embed/xm_qN4ieCr4

Tennessee Temple University 
Is a TRACS accredited school, which IRL means nothing,

The organization was founded in 1979 to "promote the welfare, interests, and development of post-secondary institutions, whose mission is characterized by a distinctly Christian purpose."^[3] According to the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), TRACS is a "product of the ICR" and was created "Because of the prejudice against creation-science, outspoken creationist schools" that had "little or no chance of getting recognition through accreditation."^[5] TRACS requires all accredited schools to have a statement of faith that affirms "the inerrancy and historicity of the Bible" and "the divine work of non-evolutionary creation including persons in God's image".^[6]

January 22, 2016::End of the day round-up

Your Worst Day Ever: David Avocado’s Himalayan Salt Debunked

Before I dig into this lineup, it’s of utmost importance to understand one of Wolfe’s key claims about his product. To wit: even though the salt contains only trace amounts of 84 elements, it’s their very presence that makes the product beneficial to your health, and it’s their removal during commercial salt processing that makes regular table salt “toxic“. Speak to us, oh wise one:

“In order to make table salt, natural salt is heated to high temperatures and cleaned chemically, reducing all the important minerals and leaving only sodium and chloride” –David Wolfe

Never mind that the salt you buy from Wolfe is still, by and large, nothing more than sodium chloride. He’s telling us that the mere presence of these 84 trace elements is important to our health. All of them. Uh oh.

Pass the Salt (But Not That Pink Himalayan Stuff)

In the latest issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, three new studies about the role of salt in cardiovascular disease were published. Instead of providing clear answers, they raise more questions. In a cute NEJM QuickTake cartoon video they summarize the findings of the studies. If you’d rather spend three minutes watching cartoons than reading my explanation, feel free.
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None of this really sheds any light on what we should do as individuals. Should we continue asking “pass the salt?” Should we abstain from adding salt at the table? Should we read labels and monitor the total amount of salt in our diet? Should we aim for 3–5 g a day?

These studies found associations, but they couldn’t determine causes, and they did not even attempt to measure what would happen if people changed the amount of sodium and potassium in their diets. If anything, they suggest that existing guidelines for salt restriction for the general population may be too extreme.

They also suggest that “moderation in all things” and “eat your vegetables” are still good advice.
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I found a website that reports the results of a spectral analysis of Himalayan salt. I think this is where the claim comes from. Even if this analysis is accurate, it is meaningless for health and if anything is worrisome. The amount of minerals in it is too minuscule to make any difference, and we already get plenty of the same trace minerals from other foods. They claim that two double-blind studies were done, but no such studies are listed in PubMed. There is no evidence published in peer-reviewed journals that replacing white salt with pink salt makes a shred of difference or leads to any improvement in health.

VA GOP Bill Would Require Inspection of Children’s Genitals

A state-level Virginia GOP politician (Del. Mark Cole) just proposed transphobic legislation dictating men, women and children must all use public restrooms correlating with their “correct anatomical sex.” Specifically, the legislation targets public schools where in order for the legislation to work, adults would be required to inspect children’s genitals before they use the bathroom.

HB 663 – otherwise known as “Use of restroom facilities; penalty” – defines anatomical sex as “the physical condition of being male or female, which is determined by a person’s anatomy.” Relating to schools, the bill would change current law by requiring:

Local school boards shall develop and implement policies that require every school restroom, locker room, or shower room that is designated for use by a specific gender to solely be used by individuals whose anatomical sex matches such gender designation. Such policies may also provide that a student may, upon request, be granted access, to the extent reasonable, to a single stall restroom or shower, a unisex bathroom, or controlled individual use of a restroom, locker room, or shower.

What You Need to Know About David Barton’s New Edition of The Jefferson Lies (Press Release) 

Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - MRFF EXPOSES, DENOUNCES UNLAWFUL CHRISTIAN PROSELYTIZING IN U.S. ARMY::  Is Col. Hundley an active duty senior Army officer or an evangelical Christian missionary?

Apparently, Colonel Thomas Hundley can't figure out whether he's an active duty senior Army officer or an evangelical Christian missionary? Further, DoD can't seem to, likewise, decipher whether they are paying him to be one or the other. Where the hell is the adult supervision for senior, active duty officer, Constitutional compliance at DoD? Colonel Hundley has absolutely no business or authority under American law to be conflating his Army officer rank, title and position with his professed evangelical Christian faith. He's doing it with some pretty powerful helpers. Indeed, the DoD and the United States Army are unlawfully allowing him to concomitantly push or spread his religious faith to everyone over the internet and, especially, to his many subordinates. Well over 99% of DoD personnel are of lower rank than Colonel Hundley.

Five GOP Candidates To Join Pastor Who Says AIDS Is God's Punishment For Gay People

In yet another example of what the Religious Right’s recent focus on “religious liberty” is really about, five Republican presidential candidates are scheduled to speak this weekend at a “religious freedom” event hosted by a conservative pastor who has repeatedly declared that AIDS is God’s punishment for gay people’s “immoral act” and has called for a “class action lawsuit” against homosexuality.

Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina and Mike Huckabee are scheduled to join a “Free to Believe Broadcast” on Saturday, hosted by the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins and Vision America’s Rick Scarborough, two of the most outspoken anti-gay activists in the country.

Both, even while attempting to curtail the rights of LGBT people, have claimed that it is their rights that are being violated by the LGBT movement: Perkins has said that the supposed persecution of anti-gay Christians in America is inspiring ISIS, and Scarborough has declared that he is ready to burn to death in the fight against gay marriage.
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Also appearing at the event will be Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver, who has warned that gay people seek to “groom” and “entrap” children, and David and Jason Benham, brothers who became Religious Right martyrs when they lost a TV show they were set to star in after their anti-gay activism came to light.

January 4, 2016::End of the day round-up

Gay Malawian appeals for justice; now he’s in hiding

Friends stopped coming to chat at his place, some sent him messages explaining that they cannot go on chatting with a Satanic; one person went up to throwing a stone at him as he walked by.

“I withdrew, I stayed indoors. My brother heard of the rumours and he told me that as much as he hopes that I will stop being gay, the family cannot disown me but again they cannot support me in my being gay.”

Nobody has ever told his father fearing that his frail heart will topple over. The father however has also heard of the rumours and when he asked Fortune, he flatly denied all in the name of protecting the father from a heart attack.

This is Why She Left the Jehovah’s Witnesses (VIDEO)

‘Christian’ Preachers: God Has Very Good Reason Why We Need Our Private Jets

The prosperity gospel is possibly the most deceptive “gospel” in all of Christianity. It involves preachers telling their parishioners, “Give me money, and God will return it to you ten-fold,” more or less, and people buy it, making these preachers rich. Two such preachers, Kenneth Copeland and Jesse Duplantis, used the prosperity gospel along with their god to justify having enough wealth for private jets, and it’s probably as close to the opposite of Christianity as one can get.

First off, Copeland and Duplantis both say that God wants to keep them off of the airlines because of dope-filled air full of demons. Copeland explained how Oral Roberts used to fly airlines, and people would bother him by asking him to pray for them and such. They can’t deal with all of that now. They can’t get to their flocks, to the world, to help God make things right, without their wealth and their private jets. They need their jets for that – it’s what God wants.

Jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi's health deteriorating, wife says

A member of Amnesty International in Canada and a spokeswoman for the Canadian government both said they were unable to confirm the hunger strike.

"Canada remains very concerned by the situation of Mr Badawi and we will continue to call for clemency to be granted in his case," said government spokeswoman Rachna Mishra.

Mr Badawi, who created and managed an online forum, was found guilty in 2014 of breaking Saudi Arabia's technology laws and of insulting Islam. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes.

He received his first 50 lashes in January, prompting strong criticism in Western countries of the kingdom's human rights record.

"I am very worried about him," Ms Haidar said on Thursday. "His health, both physical and mental, is very poor."

She said she last spoke with her husband two weeks ago, and had been kept informed of Mr Badawi's condition by a contact in Saudi Arabia whom she declined to identify.

Cruz tells volunteers: “strap on the full armor of God”

"I want to tell everyone to get ready, strap on the full armor of God, get ready for the attacks that are coming," a hoarse-sounding Cruz told volunteers on a conference call. "Come the month of January we ain’t seen nothing yet."

Louisiana Courthouse Hosts Pro-Christian Signs from Government Agencies

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent separate letters to the Police Jury and Clerk of Court alerting them to the problem and requesting in writing how they plan to fix this in the future:
_
There are ample private and church grounds where religious displays may be freely placed. Once the government enters into the religious business, conferring endorsement and preference for one religion over others, it strikes a blow at religious liberty, forcing taxpayers of all faiths and of no religion to support a particular expression of worship. We request a response in writing about the steps you are taking to remedy this violation of the First Amendment.

How Do You Help A Food Stamp Recipient Get A Job?

“I don’t think there’s anybody else in the country who can claim the kind of success we can claim,” Weber told ThinkProgress, “and it’s because we’re approaching things holistically.” That success is striking, according to numbers that Weber’s Fresno Bridge Academy has crunched on the economic impact of the 1,000-plus SNAP recipients who have found jobs through the group. Every dollar spent on the Bridge has returned $22.28 in economic benefits, the group told the Fresno Bee. Weber said in an interview that about $17 of that comes in the form of higher earnings for the family in question, “but $5.50 goes back to the taxpayers” in the form of reduced spending on SNAP and higher income tax collections.

Following Backlash, U.S. Air Force Academy Allows Football Players to Pray on the Field

The Academy reviewed and investigated the complaint, but concluded that players are free to follow their own religious beliefs.

“The United States Air Force Academy will continue to reaffirm to cadets that all Airmen are free to practice the religion of their choice or subscribe to no religious belief at all,” the USAFA said in a statement. “The players may confidently practice their own beliefs without pressure to participate in the practices of others.”

The MRFF released a statement Thursday expressing its discontent.

“By allowing public prayer by the football players in Air Force uniform, command is officially endorsing one religion–Christianity.”

Air Force Dental Tech Fired After Being Accused of Witchcraft

An Air Force contractor who had been working at a Maryland dental clinic was accused of being a witch and subsequently fired. Deborah Schoenfeld, a Hindu, had complained of being harassed for not sharing the same religious beliefs as her Christian co-workers. She was told that practicing yoga was “satanic” and would “cost her her soul.” Yes, this happened in 2015, when it seems like practically everyone owns a pair of yoga pants and has at least attempted one downward dog in their life. Even science says yoga is beneficial to health, though these people don’t seem the type to listen to facts, anyway. 

After Schoenfeld filed a formal complaint on September 2, she was terminated from her position as a dental technician for allegedly using profanity against a co-worker, reports Air Force Times. They would not reveal the identity of the accuser. Schoenfeld then reached out to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation for support with her case. Mikey Weinstein, the group’s founder and president, wrote a letter to officials detailing the harassment done to Schoenfeld by her former co-workers,,,

According to The Freethinker,

The Air Force District of Washington has received Weinstein’s letter and is looking into the allegations raised, said spokesman Major Joel Harper.

The Air Force thoroughly reviews all instances in which airmen report concerns regarding religious freedoms or accommodations. Mutual respect is an essential part of the Air Force culture. Supporting the right of free exercise of religion relates directly to the Air Force core values and the ability to  maintain an effective team.

Chris Rodda's write-up for Daily KOS with Weinstein's letter attached.

Air Force Dental Tech Fired After Being Accused of Witchcraft

ADDENDUM::Air Force Leaders Hammer Helpless Subordinates With Evangelical 'Gospel Explosion' | Michael L. (Mikey) Weinstein, Esq.

Mikey's take on the debacle known as "Gospel Explosion" at Cannon AFB:

However, what we DO have a MAJOR problem with is the fact that the Air Force command leadership has grown accustomed to brazenly violating numerous Department of Defense and Air Force directives, regulations, and instructions in an airy, willy-nilly fashion. If the Master Sergeants at Cannon AFB want to promote participation in decidedly Christian gospel events, they need to leave this task to the USAF chaplaincy rather than unconstitutionally misappropriating that role for themselves. Not only is command staff usurping a position meant for the chaplaincy, but they are also trampling on the vital religious rights of helplessly subordinate Air Force personnel by blanketing them in "invitations" to attend events that are exclusively oriented towards people of the evangelical version of the Christian faith. Indeed, it's a cluster bomb of illegality.

Our civil rights foundation has already been contacted by 7 Air Force NCO/Officer clients at Cannon AFB - 6 of whom are of the Christian faith, the seventh of whom was raised in Christian faith traditions - regarding this outrageous travesty. The fact that they reached out to MRFF, rather than to their own USAF chain of command, indicates the pathetically sorry state of the command climate on base.
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Simply put, our MRFF clients justly fear reprisal and retribution for protesting their military superiors' illegal, unconstitutional activities. That's why they come to us for help. As I stated recently in another article written about a similar Constitutional outrage, "To the USAF, regulations and Constitutional provisions appear to mean as much as would a few flies buzzing around at a family picnic; to wit, a mere trifle easily disregarded and ignored with impunity."

Air Force Leaders Hammer Helpless Subordinates With Evangelical 'Gospel Explosion' | Michael L. (Mikey) Weinstein, Esq.

No, U.S. Air Force, There Is No Separation Between Standup Comedy and State | Chris Rodda

Despite the alarmist claims from the religious folk in Congress that the poor, persecuted Christian military chaplains are being forced to perform services contrary to their religious beliefs, the investigation found no evidence of this, saying:

"we identified no instance in which a commander forced or attempted to force a chaplain to perform a service contrary to his or her conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs."

Yes, the claims that military chaplains are being forced to promote the so-called "gay agenda" and will be forced to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies are as completely unfounded and ridiculous as the similar tales of ministers in the civilian world being forced to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies under threat of legal punishment. No military chaplain has had to do anything, or will ever have to do anything, that is contrary to their beliefs.

But, while being forced to promote beliefs contrary to their own is a made-up problem when it comes to military chaplains, it is actually a very real problem for other service members, and a good example of this also came up last week, the day before the DoD IG's report was released.

[,,,]
Distributing a flyer promoting an evangelical Christian "Gospel Explosion" through the command's email distribution system is a blatant violation of this Air Force Instruction. The "leaders at all levels" in this email distribution chain were absolutely officially endorsing and extending preferential treatment for the Christian faith by using this email distribution system to distribute this flyer. Not only did the end recipients of the flyer receive it from their immediate superiors, but any airman in the chain who was told to distribute the flyer to their distribution list was being told not only to violate regulations, but to promote a religious event that might have been contrary to their beliefs by sending the flyer on.

No, U.S. Air Force, There Is No Separation Between Standup Comedy and State | Chris Rodda

Homophobic, Anti-Semitic Chaplain Officer of the Year | MRFF

A major war is being viciously waged against the United States of America, a war that’s global in scope and poses a terrifying threat to our national security interests. The ruthless attacks, which this conflict has generated, have inflicted grievous damage to nothing less than the U.S. Constitution itself, as well as the foundational core values of the United States armed forces. While the mainstream media has been woefully asleep regarding this raging conflict, the Pentagon has verified through its own official publications that the war has already led to vast transformations within the armed forces. Religious fanatics are spearheading this pernicious worldwide campaign and, no, I’m NOT referring to Shia or Sunni Islamic jihadists…. but “jihadist” was a good guess. I’m referring, of course, to our very own fire & brimstone fundamentalist Christian crusaders, both within uniform and without, who have seemingly infiltrated every echelon of the United States armed forces. These religious extremists are bolstered by legions of civilian zealots, parachurch organizations, legislators, and persons of influence who are carrying out their own grievous massacre of bedrock civil rights under the banner of “religious freedom.”

You want the latest proof? Witness the appalling appellation and homage recently given to USAF Chaplain (Capt.) Sonny Hernandez, 445th Airlift Wing Chaplain Corps: freshly crowned as the “Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Individual Mobilization Accession Company Grade Officer of the Year” at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in Dayton, Ohio. The official statement regarding this newly benighted Company Grade Officer of the Year sounds wonderfully amazing and ecumenical. Well, don’t cue the U.S. Air Force band rendition of Kumbaya yet, folks – the plot’s about to thicken with bountiful bile and phlegm.

[,,,]
So, my friends, the next time some fanatical Jesus freak from the “Family” Research Council, the American “Family” Association or the “Liberty” Institute (or some other Orwellian-named fundamentalist Christian hate-group) comes along and tries to sell you the unadulterated crap that the U.S. military under President Obama has become a “hostile environment for Christians”, in general, and hideously hostile to those poor, oppressed, pious military chaplains (like “Officer of the Year” Chaplain Hernandez) in particular, inquire about whether they also have some magic beans or love potions to sell you. You may then inform them with the cold, hard, irrefutable facts of the uber-dominating, Dominionist Christian influence pervading our armed forces, and the war on real religious liberty that is being waged.

Homophobic, Anti-Semitic Chaplain Officer of the Year | MRFF

U.S. Senate Gives Black Eye to House Fundamentalist Christians

I have been staring at the same three articles for about an hour now trying to make sense of them.  I am failing miserably.

This first piece is in regards to John Flemming's reaction to the failure to pass his version (the Flemming Amendment) of the NDAA. "that essentially seeks to give military service members the right to engage in anti-gay discrimination under the guise of protecting religious liberty.."

Warning that liberal activists are seeking to "expand secularism, humanism, atheism to limit your First Amendment right of speech not only in the military but elsewhere," Fleming said that conservative Christians must remain vigilant and work to expand protections for their religious liberty.

"With the next NDAA, we hope to strengthen our language even more," he said, "because we'll have both a Senate and a House Republican majority. So we'd really like to expand upon the language we already have in the NDAA that protects First Amendment speech and also protects atheist chaplains"

The second article is a 2013 piece by Senior Research Director Chris Rodda of MRFF, who gives some much needed background on the NDAA fight (FY 2014) and who** is behind this drive for legislating discrimination in the military

The attached is from MRFF's Mikey Weinstein.  It is his reaction to the failure of the Flemming Amendment passing:

The U.S. Senate has courageously just stood up to the Christian-supremacist bullies in the House of Representatives. Oh yes, the Senate has just completely ripped away from their religiously bigoted, House counterparts a would-be treasured bible-thumping bonanza of immeasurable, unconstitutional proselytization.  This erstwhile prize of legislative plunder had been specifically designed by these Congressmen and Congresswomen from the House, in nefarious collaboration with their legions of fundamentalist Christian parachurch allies, to be embedded deep within the confines of the 2015 Pentagon authorization/funding act.

Fortunately, the plan by these Christian crusader Members of the House failed. Please let me briefly explain, my friends.

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In what we can only describe as an amazing early holiday present for servicemembers, Constitutional loyalists, and those who value the separation of Church and State, an obscure, but extremely detrimental amendment to the House-passed H.R. 4435 version of the bill “miraculously” disappeared from the final version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (FY2015 NDAA). If the House had its way, next year’s Federal roadmap for America's armed forces would have included the following painfully ugly provision designated as "Section 525” in the Hoped-for House version:

“…if called upon to lead a prayer outside of a religious service, a military chaplain may close the prayer according to the traditions, expressions and religious exercises of the endorsing faith group.”

[,,,]
As I have said many times in many places for many years, in the U.S. armed forces you may have mandatory formations and you may have religious formations but you CANNOT have mandatory, religious formations.

Luckily for us, the United States Senate took the side of the U.S. Constitution, its construing Federal and state case law in conjunction with DoD directives, instructions and regulations. Further, the Senate obviously and carefully considered U.S. national security as well as the compelling governmental interest in optimizing the unit cohesion, mission readiness, good order, morale, and discipline of our valued armed forces members.

U.S. Senate Gives Black Eye to House Fundamentalist Christians 
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**(American Family Association, American Values, Alliance Defending Freedom, Center for Military Readiness, Center for Security Policy, Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, Citizens for Community Values, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, Family PAC Federal, Freedom Alliance, Freedom X, Heritage Foundation, International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers (ICECE), Judicial Watch, Liberty Center for Law and Policy, Liberty Counsel, Liberty Institute, Media Research Center, Military-Veterans Advocacy, Ohio Faith and Freedom Coalition, Patriotic Veterans, Stand Up America, Thomas More Law Center, The Oak Initiative, Traditional Values Coalition