Air Force Removes Nativity Scene

Published On: December 10, 2013|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|1 Comment|

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Your organization is misnamed… It should be “Military Freedom From Religion Foundation”. Your moto should be: “Sending people to hell, one base at a time”…

I think you should re-read the constitution and the first amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

You didn’t even finish reading the first sentence! You only made it to the comma! Finish the sentence: “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.

It’s freedom OF religion. NOT freedom FROM religion!

(Joel 3:9-17) “¶ Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: {10} Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. {11} Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. {12} Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. {13} Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. {14} Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORDis near in the valley of decision. {15} The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. {16} The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORDwill be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. {17} So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.”

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/12/09/air-force-removes-nativity-scene

Air Force Removes Nativity Scene

The Baby Jesus has been kicked off Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, according to an organization who relishes any opportunity to eradicate Christianity from the U.S. military.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation praised officials at Shaw Air Force Base for removing a Nativity scene located near Memorial Lake on Friday. The traditional Nativity included plastic statues of Mary, Joseph, the Baby Jesus and an assortment of animals.

Apparently, an undisclosed number of Airmen were so emotionally troubled by the sight of a manger scene that they immediately notified the MRFF.

I can only imagine the psychological damage they must have suffered as a result of glancing at the plastic statues.

I can only imagine the psychological damage they must have suffered as a result of glancing at the plastic statues. I hope no one needed hospitalization, God forbid.

The MRFF’s Paul Loebe wrote in a statement that since the display was not erected near a chapel, it was illegal.

“It was very sectarian in nature and a direct violation of the U.S. Constitution as well as a blatant violation of Air Force Instruction 1-1, Section 2.11,” he said.

So the Newborn King is a violation of Air Force regulations? Who knew?

Loebe swiftly alerted MRFF President Mikey Weinstein who then called his BFFs at the Pentagon. That led to an immediate investigation and more than two hours later, the Nativity had been removed.

“To the Air Force’s credit, it agreed with MRFF’s arguments to remove the Nativity scene swiftly and apparently found this scene to be as much a violation of all the pertinent regulations and the United States Constitution as MRFF did,” he stated.

He praised the Air Force for “acting so swiftly to reverse this egregious violation.”

So why did the Air Force unceremoniously boot the Son of God and why are they so terrified of Mikey Weinstein?

The public affairs office at Shaw AFB did not return three telephone calls and an email seeking comment. They must have been preoccupied hauling away the donkey and the sheep.

Hiram Sasser, the director of litigation for Liberty Institute, told me the military’s actions were unconstitutional.

“This was private speech,” he said. “The military can say no displays on a base but it cannot allow a display and then ban it simply because of its religious viewpoint.”

Sasser said the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that viewpoint discrimination even in a non-public forum such as a military base in unconstitutional.

“It appears that Mikey Weinstein has a special hotline to call his friends in leadership at the Pentagon to alert them to engage in unnecessary and, in this case, unlawful censorship of private religious speech,” he said.

Fox News commentator Sarah Palin, the author of the new book, “Good Tidings and Great Joy,” said what happened at Shaw Air Force base is not surprising.

“We see stories like this every day and yet leftwing pundits still claim that the so-called ‘War on Christmas’ is a figment of the imagination,” Palin told me. “The War on Christmas is just the top of the spear in a larger battle to marginalize expressions of faith and make true religious freedom a thing of the past.”

Palin’s book is a call to arms for Americans to “stand strong on America’s faith-filled foundation.”

“Never let these scrooges strip away the true meaning of Christmas,” she told me.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation bragged that it only took the Air Force two hours and 15 minutes to remove Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Sasser doubted the military would respond with such speed to correct what he called “unconstitutional religious viewpoint discrimination.”

He said he was surprised the Pentagon responded so swiftly to Weinstein’s demands – “as if he were under attack in a foreign country in need of rescue from a deadly mob.”

“Apparently if you are ever in trouble and need a quick response from the Pentagon, tell them a plastic Baby Jesus is at the gates.”

Maybe that’s what they should’ve done in Benghazi.

(name withheld)


Dear (name withheld),

I have been asked to respond to you.

I am sorry that you have been misled by Fox News. It did not tell you the whole story. Fox is noted for omitting, distorting and outright lying about the news.

You do know that Fox won a court case years ago that allows them to lie? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/07/31/364678/-Fox-News-wins-in-court#

Let me clear up a few things for you.

We are not an atheist organization nor are we anti-Christian. Mikey is Jewish and 75% of the Board, Advisory Board, volunteers and supporters of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) are Christians. In fact, 96% of our almost 36,000 soldier clients (1 can represent 50) are Christians. So, we fight for the rights of Christians more than any other religion.

Freedom from religion is the flip side of freedom of religion. The freedom from religion means that no person is forced to join a church. The right to be religious would be meaningless if there were a right not to be religious. Religious liberty must protect both the right to be religious or not.

Freedom from religion does not mean that one will never see a church and holiday decorations. But when it comes to military bases the rules change.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) does NOT act on its own but at the request of the soldiers’ and their complaints of the blatant disregard and trampling of the Constitution and the Military Code of Justice; blurring the lines between the separation of church and state. Every complaint is vetted by Mikey who was a JAG lawyer at the Air Force Academy for 10 years; worked in the West Wing under Ronald Reagan; and held positions in private practice.

If you have a problem with what we do (we are an agent working on behalf of our soldiers who can’t), I suggest you contact the Military Times and tell them and the soldiers exactly how you feel.

The Air Force has strict rules on religion.

BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE
Air Force Instruction 1-1
7 August 2012

2.11. Government Neutrality Regarding Religion. Leaders at all levels must balance constitutional protections for an individual’s free exercise of religion or other personal beliefs and the constitutional prohibition against governmental establishment of religion. For example, they must avoid the actual or apparent use of their position to promote their personal religious beliefs to their subordinates or to extend preferential treatment for any religion. Commanders or supervisors who engage in such behavior may cause members to doubt their impartiality and objectivity. The potential result is a degradation of the unit’s morale, good order, and discipline. Airmen, especially commanders and supervisors, must ensure that in exercising their right of religious free expression, they do not degrade morale, good order, and discipline in the Air Force or degrade the trust and confidence that the public has in the United States Air Force.

Our military is a government entity and must remain secular. All religious holidays, feasts and obligations are to be in the hands of the Chaplains on Chapel grounds. This is legal and we encourage it. The Christians can put up a tree, a Nativity scene and any other decorations they want on their grounds – not any place on base they want.

The Nativity “was not within the vicinity of any chapel and was not part of a scene designed to accommodate all religious preferences, or no preferences, aboard the base.”

A volunteer group put up the scene by a lake without permission and not in the area specifically allotted for religious holidays. That’s why it was taken down. Not because we hate Christians.

Here’s the real story:

Fri Dec 06, 2013 at 03:21 PM PST
MRFF Congratulates Air Force on Removing Unconstitutional Sectarian Holiday Scene

by paulloebeFollow for Rock Beyond Belief

At 11:48 EST this morning I was alerted by MRFF clients of a nativity scene that had been placed aboard Shaw Air Force Base, next to Memorial Lake.

This in and of itself is not a problem. However, it was not within the vicinity of any chapel and was not part of a scene designed to accommodate all religious preferences, or no preferences, aboard the base. It was very sectarian in nature and a direct violation of the US Constitution as well as a blatant violation of Air Force Instruction 1-1 Section 2.11. As the new Special Projects Manager at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation I informed Mikey Weinstein, President and Founder.
When MRFF acts the Pentagon listens


Mikey reached out immediately to senior Air Force leadership at Headquarters Air Force at the Pentagon at 3:33 pm EST to inform them of this violation, request that they remove the nativity scene to a place that is Constitutionally compliant, and let them know that it had been officially reported by 41 of MRFF’s active duty clients stationed at Shaw AF Base, both officers and enlisted, most of whom are either Protestant or Roman Catholics.

The Pentagon thanked Mikey for the information and promised to investigate the complaint as soon as was practicable. Once enough time had elapsed for the Pentagon to reach out to the local base Mikey then contacted the Command Post at Shaw AF Base, located in Sumter SC. The Command Post referred him to highest officer of the base, Colonel Clay Hall – Commander, 20th Fighter Wing – who was unavailable. Col Hall’s office assistant asked who he was and what it was concerning. Mikey stated that posting this nativity scene was a direct violation of Department of Defense Directives, Instructions, and Regulations, the United States Constitution, and Air Force Instruction 1-1, specifically, section 2.11
The assistant put him on hold. A minute or two later she came back saying that the Chaplain indicated a volunteer group put up the scene and that as they were speaking it was being taken down!!!

To the Air Force’s credit it agreed with MRFF’s arguments to remove the nativity scene swiftly and apparently found this scene to be as much a violation of all the pertinent regulations and the United States Constitution as MRFF did. Within 2 hours and 15 minutes of initially being contacted by MRFF, the nativity scene had been promptly removed. MRFF wants to congratulate the Air Force on acting so swiftly to reverse this egregious violation and hopes that in the future they will ensure that no such violations continue to occur.”

Go to our website, click on “About” and then click on “Foundation Voices.” Scroll down and you will see distinguished military personnel that we rely on for guidance because of their expertise in the Constitution and military law.

The scripture you posted is “preaching to the choir.”

From the Fox News story:

“The Baby Jesus has been kicked off Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, according to an organization who relishes any opportunity to eradicate Christianity from the U.S. military.”

This is a blatant lie! The Baby Jesus has NOT been kicked off the base. It’s near the Chapel where it belongs and we are not out to eradicate Christianity from the military. If that were the case we Christians would have left MRFF a long time ago

Deceiving stories like this one from Fox does rile up the Christians and gets the vitriolic reaction they wanted. I’m so sorry you were drawn into this deceit.

Pastor Joan
MRFF Advisory Board Member

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One Comment

  1. Gracious December 11, 2013 at 12:27 pm

    To Paul Loebe:
    YOUR INSOLENCE is incredible, as is that of those who removed a nativity scene. For what if it can be known that God Almighty is behind the historic fact which inspires a nativity scene? You are out-of-line and against God; for what if the Supreme Being has sent his Son as Mary a Virgin’s son, possibly around the year 2 B. C. when that stupendously bright star–the confluence of light from Saturn, Jupiter and Venus–appeared? And what if that can be known by those in whom is the spirit of deity? All such maybe consider you the spiteful idiot.

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