Saturday Afternoon, February 5, 2022 |
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MRFF VEHEMENTLY OBJECTS TO
CHRISTIAN NATIONALIST AND
ALL-AROUND NUTCASE BEN CARSON
SPEAKING AT AIR FORCE ACADEMY
Former Trump administration HUD Secretary Ben Carson has said that gun control may have caused the Holocaust, that the president can ignore the Supreme Court, that prisons prove that being gay is a choice, that anti-LGBTQ bakers might poison gay wedding cakes, and that Joseph built the pyramids of Egypt for grain storage. He’s called President Obama a “psychopath” who might be guilty of treason, said that the U.S. is "very much like Nazi Germany,”
that God gave him the answers to his college chemistry final in a dream, and that America would be Cuba if it weren’t for Fox News. He’s promoted taking oleander extract for COVID and called the separation of church and state “schizophrenia, a form of craziness.”
And now …
He’s going to be imparting his mentally unbalanced
views to Air Force Academy cadets as a speaker
at the Academy's prestigious 29th Annual
National Character and Leadership Symposium!!!
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COLORADO SPRINGS INDY
COVERS MRFF
Ben Carson headlines AFA's
character and leadership symposium
By: Pam Zubeck
Friday, February 4, 2022
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(Article summary and emphasis by MRFF)
The CS Indy covers the Air Force Academy's decision to invite Ben Carson, who even Trump labeled as having a "pathological disease," to speak at its 29th Annual National Character and Leadership Symposium, being held on Feb. 24 and 25.
The Indy reached out to MRFF founder and president Mikey Weinstein, writing: "AFA graduate Mikey Weinstein, one of the Academy's harshest critics, including for its sketchy history of inviting certain people to speak at the symposium, like this case and this one, had much to say."
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NOTE: If you encounter what looks like a paywall,
refresh the page to read article.
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MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein's
statement on the Air Force Academy's inviting
Ben Carson to speak at the Symposium
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"So once again the U.S. Air Force Academy is honoring a flaming fundamentalist Christian nationalist, this time Ben Carson, with an invitation to its ‘National Christian Leadership Conference'. Carson will fit in just fine with the long list of past Christian extremists who have been feted as speakers at this now well discredited Academy event. Carson has an established record of (1) espousing ridiculous treatments to combat COVID, (2) essentially spitting on the Constitution by publicly denigrating its separation of church and state mandates, and (3) effusively and nauseatingly serving as a lickspittle, glad-hander for the author of the January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill insurrection (Trump) and ‘thanking God for Donald Trump’ in public prayers to boot. I could go on with innumerable other shameful examples of Carson’s iniquities but I have a better suggestion. Why doesn’t the Air Force Academy just drop all pretenses and simply invite Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani to speak?!"
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Past Air Force Academy National Character and Leadership Symposium speakers objected to by MRFF |
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A handful of highlights of MRFF's other battles against religious oppression and Christian nationalism at the U.S. Air Force Academy |
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“I am appalled”
Mr. Weinstein, I just read a recent article on the Navy Seals and their ongoing battle for religious exemption. I was appalled to hear your stance on the mandate of COVID-19 vaccines and I quote your own words ” Members of the military are required to get numerous other vaccines and the COVID vaccine should be absolutely no different” How, dare you compare other vaccines to this one. You went on to say ” The very first thing we ask them is if they objected to the other numerous vaccines they were required by their chains of command to get. If their answer is ‘no’ we’re not buying that sudden ‘religious objection’ to this COVID vaccine has anything to do with a ‘sincerely held belief’ and will most assuredly NOT take them on as a client” If this article misquoted you in anyway then you need to find it and rebuttal it. However, if this is your stance on the matter then you need to change your name of your organization, especially ‘religious freedoms’. Mr. Weinstein according to the above quote, your firm would not take me on as a client. Yes I have taken other mandated vaccines, but that doesn’t mean I really knew what I was getting. Your bio states you served in the Air Force. I served for 10 years Active Duty Air Force. I then got out under the drawdown of forces in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I then went to the Army Guard and currently serve with the Army Reserves. I have been on 3 deployments and 1 mobilization taking many of the ‘mandatory shots’. Did you ever have to take Anthrax? If so how many of the series did you take? If you took less than five good, you should be okay. If you never took any then you don’t understand. You see there are 7 shots in the series and then boosters. Sound familiar. I have talked to several veterans and out of those I have spoken with, the ones who have taken 5 or more shots have experienced short term memory loss. Oh, but the VA has yet to do a study on this, so from a lawyer’s stand point of view you would say the short term memory loss cannot be attributed to the Anthrax vaccine because it has not been ‘proven’ to have any connection. Now, back to the COVID vaccine. As I stated I have taken previous mandated vaccines and for the most part the majority of them have went through the proper process with the correct time frame to conduct proper studies before being introduced to the public. However, there are many people both in the military and outside the military that are raising flags on this vaccine. Not just conspiracy theorist but well seasoned professionals. Tell me, when you went through basic. Did you question every shot you were given? No, you did like all of us. You were young and was eager to serve your country and if the truth were to be known you believed all of the threats your drill instructor gave you. Take a closer look at what you are saying. How can you call yourself a fighter for Religious Freedoms and deny those who are Christians that want to make a stand on a vaccine that has been proven to have serious side effects? How can you judge anyone based on the fact they have taken mandatory shots in the past? Are you a Christian or just a lawyer using ‘Religious Freedoms’ as your platform? Sir, if you are a Christian then you should really chew on this scripture.2 Corinthian 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. I am a Christian and just because I have taken previous mandated vaccines does not mean I do not have convictions on this one. I am not baseing my religious exemption on aborted fetus stem cells, like I am sure some are. No, I am convicted by my beliefs that this vaccine will be harmful to my body and if I simply take it because it is mandated then I will have sacrificed not only my beliefs, but I would being putting a riff in my relationship with God. People of different faiths have different beliefs. I don’t understand how you can lump everyone in the same category just because they have taken mandatory vaccines in the past? As stated in 2 Corinthians, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature”. I don’t know about you, but as for me because I am a new creature in Christ, He has made me new and convicts me everyday on things I should and shouldn’t do. I regret taking Anthrax and many other mandated vaccines I should have questioned in my youth. However, I will not go along blindly anymore nor will I be led like a lamb to the slaughter. You also stated ” service members not taking the vaccine should not simply receive an administrative separation, but should be court-martialed and receive a less than Honorable discharge”. Are you including everyone in this statement or just the ones who flat out refuse? Once again if you are counting those of us who are seeking religious exemption please remove “religious freedoms” from you organization. One last thing. Because I am a Christian and because my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ commands me to do so. I will be praying for you. I am sure you do have those that are requesting your service who are very flippant in requesting ‘religious exemption’ and do not have any true religious convictions, but don’t throw all of us under the same bus because we have taken mandatory vaccines before. Our relationship with Christ is supposed to be a real intimate, personal and passionate one. It is also an individual one. He convicts and guides each of us whom He calls His own in different ways.May God Guide you in your journey with Him.Sincerely and with much prayer
(name withheld)
To see responses from MRFF Board Member John Compere,
MRFF supporter Fr. Steve Dundas, and a stellar in-depth response from a retired 25 year Army Reserve JAG,
Blue Star Mother, civilian civil rights lawyer,
and longtime MRFF supporter:
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