The Military Religious Freedom Foundation was formed to address issues relating to proselytism (which is forbidden) in the U.S. military. Over the last few years, you may have read about the founder, Mikey Weinstein, in his battle over aggressive evangelism in the Air Force Academy. He is an alumnus of the Academy, himself – and was absolutely appalled by the anti-Semitic treatment his son was receiving there from evangelical Christians. That offensive treatment was not limited to Jews only – it was affecting everyone who was not an adherent of that particular, aggressive brand of evangelical Christianity.

It’s not just the Air Force Academy that has been affected by the increase in aggressive evangelism in the military. The Josh Rushing film clip I included in Whither the Culture Wars? details more, far more. You can see that clip here.

As does this June 24, 2009 letter from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to Secretary Gates:

Hon. Dr. Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000

Secretary Gates,

It has recently come to the attention of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) that an ecclesiastical endorsing agency authorized by the DoD to approve chaplains for military service has continually been in flagrant violation of a number of DoD regulations, the U.S. Code, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and the United States Constitution for
well over a decade.

1. The Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches (CFGC), headed by retired Army Col. E.H. Jim Ammerman, which, according to its website, currently has over 270 chaplains and chaplain candidates in all branches of the military, habitually denigrates all religions and religious denominations except Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity. This denigration, which includes virulently anti-semitic and Islamophobic statements, as well as the deprecation of Catholicism and mainstream Protestantism, occurs in the CFGC's chaplain newsletters, as well as in the speeches, media appearances, and videos of both Mr. Ammerman and a currently serving CFGC chaplain, Army Maj. James F. Linzey. (See attached enclosures for numerous specific examples of these disparaging statements.)
   
   
2. Both Mr. Ammerman and Maj. Linzey have made numerous statements against the government of the United States and certain government officials and departments, promoted civilian militia movements, and disseminated many conspiracy theories in an attempt to foment disloyalty to the government of the the United States among both civilians and military personnel. This type of activity has previously led to an investigation of Ammerman and CFGC, called for by Air Force Lt. Gen. Normand Lezy in 1997. (See enclosed memorandum.)

DoD Directive Number 1325.6, "Guidelines for Handling Dissident and Protest Activities Among Members of the Armed Forces," cited in Lt. Gen. Lezy's 1997 memorandum, states that "Military personnel must reject participation in organizations that espouse supremacist causes." The Prophecy Club, an organization for which both Mr. Ammerman and Maj. Linzey have made videos, unquestionably espouses a supremacist cause. In addition, various statements made by both Mr. Ammerman and Maj. Linzey in their Prophecy Club videos, as well as in other forums, such as radio appearances and speeches, incontrovertibly violate one or more of the following statutory provisions found in Enclosure E1.2 of DoD Directive
Number 1325.6.

E1.2. STATUTORY PROVISIONS

E1.2.1. Applicable to All Persons
E1.2.1.2. Section 2385 -- Advocating overthrow of the Government.
E1.2.1.3. Section 2387 -- Counseling insubordination , disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty.
E1.2.2. Applicable to Members of the Armed Forces
E1.2.2.5. Section 888 (Article 88, UCMJ) -- Contemptuous words by commissioned officers against certain officials.
E1.2.2.9. Section 934 (Article 134, UCMJ) -- Uttering disloyal statement, criminal libel,
communicating a threat, and soliciting another to commit an offense.

3. According to the definition of a 3. According to the definition of a "Religious Organization" found in DoD Directive Number 1304.19, "Guidance for the Appointment of Chaplains for the Military Departments," CFGC is not eligible to be authorized as an ecclesiastical endorser. CFGC is not an "entity that is organized and functions primarily to perform religious ministries to a non-military lay constituency." CFGC, which is operated out of a house located in a residential neighborhood of Dallas, Texas zoned for single family homes, did not have a "non-military lay constituency"
   
   
4. In a clear and blatant violation of CENTCOM's General Order 1-A, which absolutely prohibits the proselytizing of any religion, faith or practice in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, a network of forty CFGC chaplains has engaged in the organized distribution in Iraq of Arabic language Bibles and other Arabic language fundamentalist Christian evangelizing materials to the Iraqi people. The violation of this explicitly prohibited activity by these forty CFGC chaplains was initiated, encouraged, and aided by Mr. Ammerman. (See enclosed Newsweek article and other enclosures.)

Given CFGC's and Mr. Ammerman's multiple, habitual, and ongoing violations of military regulations, the U.S. Code, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and Mr. Ammerman's encouragement, aiding, and abetting of the chaplains he oversees in their violations of these regulations and the United States Constitution that they swore an oath to uphold, MRFF demands the immediate revocation of CFGC's ecclesiastical endorsing authority. Furthermore, MRFF demands an aggressive investigation to identify and swiftly punish all CFGC chaplains and any other enabling DoD military or civilian personnel involved in any of the aforementioned violations of military regulations and/or the U.S. Code.

Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq.
Founder & President
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org

Enclosure

CC:
President Barack Obama
Pete Geren – Secretary of the Army
Ray Mabus – Secretary of the Navy
Michael B. Donley – Secretary of the Air Force
Admiral Michael Mullen - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James E. Cartwright - Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General George W. Casey, Jr. - Chief of Staff of the United States Army
Admiral Gary Roughead - Chief of Naval Operations
General Norton A. Schwartz - Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
General James T. Conway - Commandant of the Marine Corps
Carl Levin - Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services
Ike Skelton - Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services
Executive Director of the Armed Forces Chaplains Board
Gail H. McGinn - Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
Pedro L. Irigonegaray, Esq. - Law Offices of Irigonegaray & Associates
Robert V. Eye, Esq. - Law Offices of Kauffman & Eye

Please click the above link to see the attachments. They are extensive and detailed.

This letter just went last week – and there has yet to be a response. I, and everyone who feels strongly about separation of Church and State -- that which guarantees Americans the freedom to worship (or not) in the way we desire, will be most anxious to see that response when it comes. This matter is as serious as can be – and not something that the greater American public is very aware of yet.

But it needs to be.

Let there be a full investigation and reform the military chaplain system back to its intended function, of delivering spiritual comfort in a way that respects the faith (or lack thereof) of all.