So
this was the first Fourth of July for the United
States military since the orange, mentally ill,
toddler, subhuman became the commander in chief
of the United States military and a womanizing,
alcoholic, fundamentalist Christian nationalist
became its secretary of defense.
With
the holiday now behind us, I wanted to report an
unprecedented number of reach outs from
our Military
Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF)
clients all over the military regarding
egregious violations of the separation of Jesus
and state at a plethora of official and
semi-official military formations designed to
honor our nation’s birthday.
Drilling
down to the specifics is beyond the scope and
intention of this brief op-ed, but suffice it to
say that the disease of Christian nationalism is
well represented throughout the sinew, muscles,
bones, and cartilage of the body of our United
States military.
Sailors,
soldiers, Marines, airmen, guardians, and
civilians in our Department of Defense, and
certainly VA employees and employees of the 18
national security agencies, the Coast Guard, and
the Maritime Service remained terrified beyond
description to stand up to this scourge of
hateful religious extremism. These are not
cowards. Many have faced multiple combat
deployments, unlike Captain
Bone Spurs.
They just want to keep their heads down for
the remaining
1,290 days of
the MAGA regime and come out the other side with
their careers unscathed. Those who contacted us
this year did not so much want us to intervene
as they wanted to have an ear to talk to about
it.
So,
you are not seeing a string of MRFF Fourth of
July victories as in years past, like last year
when we stopped one Christian nationalist
commander’s Fourth of July “Chapel
Attendance Competition” or a few years ago when we
stopped several Army band appearances at
Christian nationalist church events, one with
a stated purpose to “celebrate
our freedom as Americans and our freedom
in Christ” and another described by one
Army band MRFF client as “some sort of ‘Celebration
of the Founding of America as a Christian
Nation’ which is just unacceptable to
most of us in the Band,” but
that does not mean that the military’s Christian
nationalist hordes weren’t out in force, very
anti-patriotically violating the Constitution
left and right. Far from it.
One
photo we can share, however, sent to us by a
MRFF supporter, is what appears to be a large
military vehicle that was in a Fourth of July
parade in the Houston area. It was festooned
with Fourth of July accoutrement and, as you can
see, something on the very front of the vehicle
that is the epitome of the phrase I often use —
a “tarantula on a wedding cake.“ Although we
have determined that this vehicle is not
military, it certainly sent a message to the
parade watchers that aligns with the
unconstitutional, anti-democratic, hideous
dictates of Christian nationalism.
Sinclair
Lewis was
so prescient when he stated, “When fascism comes
to America, it will be wrapped in the flag
carrying a cross”!
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BC
Guest Commentator Dr. Michael
L.
"Mikey"
Weinstein, PhD is
founder and
president
of the seven-time Nobel Peace
Prize-nominated
Military
Religious
Freedom
Foundation (MRFF).
Mikey was
named
one of the 100 Most Influential
People
in U.S. Defense by Defense News.
Mikey
represents over 71,000
active/retired/reserve
servicemembers,
is
a USAFA Honor graduate himself, and
formerly
worked in and for the West
Wing
as legal counsel in the White
House.
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