Tuesday Evening, November 1, 2022 |
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MRFF DEMANDS INVESTIGATION
OF U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY'S
DELIBERATE PROSELYTIZING OF "JOHN 3:16"
ON SOCCER FIELD SCOREBOARD BANNER
Excerpt from Mikey Weinstein's demand letter* below:
"...MRFF hereby demands that Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, copied above along with Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, conduct an immediate, transparent, visible, and aggressive public investigation into the USAFA men’s soccer team's Christian proselytizing scoreboard banner incident, as well as the other repugnant incidents of Christian exceptionalism cited in this email, from this past Sunday in their NCAA game against Seattle University.
MRFF further demands that all who may be found to be either directly or indirectly culpable and responsible for this latest fundamentalist Christian supremacy disgrace by USAFA, to include YOU, Lt. General Clark, be substantively, meaningfully, and expeditiously punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ)."
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MRFF Matters - 11/1/22 - MRFF Demands Investigation Of USAFA's Soccer Field
Preaching of "John 3:16"
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*Also read Mikey Weinstein's demand letter below the CS Indy article to USAFA's Superintendent Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark,
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, and
Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown
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COLORADO SPRINGS INDEPENDENT (CS INDY)
COVERS MRFF
Religious freedom group alleges another incident of Christian exceptionalism at Academy
By: Pam Zubeck
November 1st, 2022
(Article summarized by MRFF)
The Colorado Springs Independent covers MRFF's latest exposure of alleged illicit Christian religious supremacy at the United States Air Force Academy with their "blatantly deliberate Christian public messaging" proselytizing John 3:16 on the USAFA Soccer Field Banner.
"Twice already this Fall semester, the MRFF has publicly released (on behalf of our MRFF/USAFA faculty, cadet, and staff clients) shamefully egregious examples of pro-fundamentalist Christian and related pro-religious bias at the Air Force Academy for which you are completely responsible," MRFF founder and CEO Mikey Weinstein says in a Nov. 1 letter to Clark, copied to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.
Please click the "X" in the top-left corner or refresh the page in order to dismiss the pop-up.
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*Demand Letter Sent by MRFF Founder and President
Mikey Weinstein to USAFA Superintendent
Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark, Air Force Secretary
Frank Kendall, and Air Force Chief of Staff
General Charles Q. Brown
Tuesday, November 1, 2022
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Subject: MRFF Demand Letter for Investigation of U.S. Air Force Academy's Illicit Christian Religious Supremacy
Date: November 1, 2022 at 11:39:49 AM MDT
To: Lt. General Richard Clark (email address withheld)
CC: Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall (email address withheld),
Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown (email address withheld),
Re: Deliberate Proselytizing of "John 3:16" by USAF Academy Soccer Team with Stadium Scoreboard Banner 48 Hours Ago
To: Lieutenant General Richard M. Clark
Seriously, General Clark, it looks like you’ve just done it again.
Do you REALLY have no shame, sir?
It certainly appears that you and your senior leadership subordinates at the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) have engaged in yet ANOTHER act of willful and wanton unconstitutional fundamentalist Christian proselytizing, this time with a widely seen banner on the scoreboard at the USAFA soccer stadium just two days ago during the NCAA contest between the Academy’s men’s soccer team and Seattle University.
I am sending this e-mail to you on behalf of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) and on behalf of our nearly 400 MRFF clients at USAFA—but also as a concerned citizen, USAFA graduate, father of three USAFA graduates, and as a former member of the U.S. armed forces and of the White House Staff of President Ronald Reagan.
Twice already this Fall semester, the MRFF has publicly released (on behalf of our MRFF/USAFA faculty, cadet, and staff clients) shamefully egregious examples of pro-fundamentalist Christian and related pro-religious bias at the Air Force Academy for which you are completely responsible.
First, it was “Spiritual Fitness Month" in August of this year that deliberately ignored the non-Abrahamic faiths (i.e., faiths other than Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) and as well as non-faith traditions; Atheists, Agnostics, Secularists, Humanists, and others at the Academy who are neither represented nor aided by USAFA chaplains. This particular disgrace was further exacerbated when considering the fact that substantive input had been sought from these very same marginalized minority groups in past years.
Now, thirdly, trying to deftly slip "under the radar,” we have the blatantly deliberate Christian public messaging of the USAFA men’s soccer team who, on their “Senior Day” vs. Seattle University (this last Sunday, October 30, 2022), decided that the senior player’s uniform number “3” doesn’t come between 2 and 4, but rather, should be placed out of order on the USAFA team banner prominently displayed on the stadium’s scoreboard (and the ONLY number out of order) and placed just before “16,” an obvious reference to the Bible’s seminal, proselytizing, New Testament passage "John 3:16.”
It’s not only those in attendance at this game who saw this intentional “John 3:16” reference as the game was videotaped and is available for all to see online to include, of course, that blatantly proselytizing scoreboard banner.
You were actually THERE, Lt. General Clark, and saw the Christian supremacist banner, just as you and/or your subordinate USAFA senior leadership were in meetings that discussed (and approved) the Commandant’s Challenge scheduling on Yom Kippur and Spiritual Fitness Month’s saturation-bombing of continuously proselytizing videos in Fairchild Hall (USAFA’s main academic building).
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USAFA Superintendent Lt. Gen. Clark (circled)
greeting players on the USAFA soccer field.
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The USAFA men’s soccer team seniors weren’t lined up and introduced in the uniform number order depicted on the banner. All of the numbers but one were sequential.
Merely a “coincidence” or “mistake"? MRFF knows for a FACT that it was not, and that’s why this latest, shameful, unconstitutional, Christian proselytizing stunt was timely communicated to us by those in attendance and from others within your own staff.
All of these latest repulsive matters clearly show a pervasive and pernicious pattern and practice of fundamentalist Christian nationalism and proselytization at USAFA under your command and stewardship, an illegal and oppressive hellscape for which you are completely responsible.
Of course, you and your staff will now effusively squeal in protest that these incidents were all merely unfortunate oversights or mistakes—innocent misfeasance as opposed to malfeasance that you now (given the enormity of the negative publicity generated by MRFF) regret.
We at MRFF, however, along with our MRFF clients who have courageously reported all of these illicit violations, know quite well that the exact opposite is true.
The simplest explanation for these “mistakes” is that you endorsed all of them. You’re the boss. You were present for each one. So, you’re either shockingly prone to more mistakes than someone in your senior military leadership position should ever make, or you’re woefully ignorant of how your institution actually operates.
And these are just the unconstitutional Christian religious bias issues—we will not even address the USAFA football team’s unprecedented, ignominious NCAA probation.
It's just one “mistake" after another, General—each one utterly wretched but (apparently) deniable by you—hammering home the indisputable message to our USAFA faculty, cadets, and staff that one, and ONLY one, specific religious perspective at USAFA is far more equal than the others—fundamentalist Christianity.
The overwhelming evidence of fundamentalist Christian nationalist bias mounts with each “mistake” that you make. MRFF looks forward to reading your response to the three U.S. senators’ letter with respect to the Yom Kippur “scheduling mistake” and would also like to know these senators' reaction to this latest assault (at the varsity soccer game) on constitutionally guaranteed freedom from religious bias.
Finally, I’m addressing this directly to you because your so-called appointed contact for all MRFF issues, your Vice Superintendent Col. Benjamin Jonsson, has not responded to ANY of MRFF’s designated USAFA Representative's (Marty France, Brigadier General, USAF-Retired) e-mails requesting a face-to-face meeting (three of them, in point of fact) in the past three weeks.
MRFF presumes his deafening “silence" is directed by you, of course.
In closing, MRFF hereby demands that Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, copied above along with Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, conduct an immediate, transparent, visible, and aggressive public investigation into the USAFA men’s soccer team's Christian proselytizing scoreboard banner incident, as well as the other repugnant incidents of Christian exceptionalism cited in this email, from this past Sunday in their NCAA game against Seattle University.
MRFF further demands that all who may be found to be either directly or indirectly culpable and responsible for this latest fundamentalist Christian supremacy disgrace by USAFA, to include YOU, Lt. General Clark, be substantively, meaningfully, and expeditiously punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).
Sincerely,
Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq.
Founder and President
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
505-250-7727
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Only a Handful of USAFA's Shameful
Displays of Religious Bigotry
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"Thank you for the interview"
From: Matthew (email address withheld)
Subject: Thank you for the interview
Date: November 1, 2022 at 2:27:34 PM MDT
Dear Mr. Weinstein and MRFF,
Thank you for allowing me to interview you about the Supreme Court and religious freedoms within the context of the military. Being able to interview different organizations and individuals like yourself is extremely helpful in hearing from competing points of view. This process has been highly insightful for my studies at seminary. Being able to have conversations with differing points of view is the best way to develop our own belief structures best.
Thank you, Matt
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