[R-G] "We're Dealing with a Christian Taliban"

[Anthony Fenton]

Q&A:  "We're Dealing with a Christian Taliban"
Interview with Mikey Weinstein
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39182
Credit:Margery Epstein

Mikey Weinstein

WASHINGTON, Sep 7 (IPS) - Last month, the Pentagon pulled the plug on  
a plan to dispatch so-called "freedom packages" to U.S. troops in  
Iraq that included Bibles, proselytising materials in English and  
Arabic, and an apocalyptic computer game in which "soldiers for  
Christ" battle satanic "Global Community Peacekeepers".

The scheme was derailed in part because of the efforts of Mikey  
Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom  
Foundation, which seeks to protect the wall separating church and  
state in the United States armed forces.

Weinstein, in his own words, is no "bleeding-heart liberal". He is a  
1977 honour graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, and  
spent 10 years in the Air Force as a "JAG" or military attorney  
serving as both a federal prosecutor and criminal defence attorney.

A registered Republican, he also spent over three years in the Ronald  
Reagan administration as legal counsel in the White House, where he  
helped investigate the Iran-Contra scandal.

St. Martins Press in New York recently released Weinstein's new book,  
"With God On Our Side," an expose on the systemic problem of  
religious intolerance throughout the United States armed forces.

Eli Clifton recently spoke with Weinstein about Operation Straight  
Up, which designed the "freedom packages", and the Pentagon's growing  
coziness with fundamentalist evangelical religious groups.

IPS: What is it about the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs that  
has made it a breeding ground for Christian Dominionists?

MW: Well, first we thought it was that there was this nexus of what I  
refer to as the "Protestant Vatican" -- in fact many people refer to  
it as that. Colorado Springs has over 100 of this nation's largest  
evangelical fundamentalist Christian organisations centred right  
there for some reason. Just like a moth to a flame these  
organisations have been attracted there. That was our initial theory  
before we found out that this imperious contagion of constitutional  
triumphalism, this fanatical Dominionist Christianity had swept like  
a tsunami all the way through all 737 US military installations that  
the Pentagon admits that we have -- but it's really closer to a  
thousand -- in 132 countries around the world. Seventy of those are  
in Europe and 11 of those house nuclear weapons.

Let me make this clear. I'm doing this Q&A with you guys today as a  
man at war with the gun smoke in my face. We are not at war with  
Christianity or evangelical Christianity. We have many evangelical or  
non-evangelical Christians who massively support what our  
organisation, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, is doing. We  
are at war with a small subset of evangelical Christianity [known as]  
"Dominionist Christianity" and it represents about 12.6 percent of  
the American public or about 38 million people.

And at every one of those 737 US military installations that are  
scattered in 132 countries around the world -- as we garrison the  
globe -- we have one or more of those organisations. They're called  
the "Officers Christian Fellowship" for the officers and "The  
Christian Military Fellowship" for the enlisted folks and these  
organisations have a tripartite, or three level goal, which they view  
as much more important than the oath that they all swear to protect  
and preserve, support and defend the constitution of the United States.

The first goal -- and they're unabashed about it, it's right on their  
website -- is they want to see a "spiritually transformed U.S.  
military..."

Second, "...with ambassadors for Christ in uniform..." which,  
parenthetically, hasn't worked out too well for the world for the  
past 2,000 years.

And then thirdly, "...empowered by the Holy Spirit."

IPS: Could you talk a bit about Operation Straight Up and the  
Christian Ministry? How do they gain access to soldiers in Iraq or  
film promotional videos in the halls of the Pentagon?

MW: Well we hope to have the full answers to these questions shortly  
as we are nearing the filing of our massive lawsuit against the  
Pentagon for these very reasons.

The Christian Embassy was a little known, under the radar, extreme  
right-wing fundamentalist organisation that was operating in  
Washington DC and ministering, if you will, only to the glitterati  
and cognoscenti -- that is to say the senior people at the State  
Department, members of Congress, and political appointees,  
specifically in the Pentagon.

If you go MilitaryReligiousFreedom.org you'll see their slick, 11- 
minute video. It opens up with the Christian Embassy stating that  
there are 25,000 men and women in the corridors and rings of the  
Pentagon and through the use of daily prayer breakfast and bible  
studies and outreach events the Christian Embassy is "mustering all  
of them into an intentional relationship with Jesus Christ." It's  
really astonishing to see. To see senior members of the U.S. military  
and political appointees prostituting themselves with regard to the  
oath they took to the constitution and supporting the biblical  
worldview of just this one particular group.

IPS: What steps has the Defence Department taken to limit  
proselytising within the ranks? Where has the DoD fallen short?

MW: They are encouraging this. They aren't stopping it. The report  
that the DoD IG (Inspector General) came out with was ludicrous. It  
immediately exempted itself from something called DoD directive  
1300.17 which is entitled "Accommodation of Religious Practices  
within the Military Services". They say that anyone who appeared in  
that video was not really trying to proselytise or express their  
religious views. They say that the directive is just dictating when  
you may or may not wear your uniform.

This is a complete lie. If you look at that video again you'll see  
that if the people at the Pentagon had been doing a video like that  
for the Ford Mustang there'd be no doubt in your mind that these  
people were pushing Ford Mustangs as the best cars around. So the IG  
report is terrible. It doesn't provide any remedial action.

Let me make it clear. We are dealing with a Christian Taliban. They  
hate when I say that but that's too bad. If you look at Chris Hedges  
Book "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America"  
you'll see that the Christian Right is a fascistic organisation. And  
remember, I'm not a bleeding heart liberal -- not that there's  
anything wrong with that. I know the Christian Right would love it if  
I were a tree-hugging, Chardonnay-sipping, Northern California  
Democrat. I'm not. I come from a conservative military family. My  
youngest son just graduated three months ago from the Air Force  
Academy. He's the sixth member of my family to go there including  
myself. We have three consecutive generations of military academy  
graduates and over 128 years of combined active duty military service  
in my immediate family. I spent three and half years in the West Wing  
of the Reagan White House as one of his lawyers. I've been Ross  
Perot's general counsel. I didn't want to have to get into this  
fight. But when I say the Christian Taliban I frickin mean the  
Christian Taliban.

IPS: What consequences do whistleblowers within the armed forces face?

MW: They're terrified. Look, in many aspects the military controls  
their lives. We are closing in on having our 6,000th active member of  
the U.S. military contact us not as claimants but as tormentees. And  
the amazing thing is that it stays remarkably constant that roughly  
96 percent of these tormentees coming to us are Christian themselves.

Roughly three-fourths of that group are going to be traditional  
Protestant -- that is to say Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists and  
Episcopalians. We even get Assemblies of God, Church of Christ,  
Baptists and sometimes Southern Baptists. The other one-fourth of  
that 96 percent are generally Roman Catholic. And that leaves four  
percent who are Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, Shinto,  
Jain, Wickan and atheists and agnostics.

Basically what we're facing are Fundamentalist, Dominionist  
Christians that are preying --- P-R-A-Y and P-R-E-Y -- on non- 
Fundamentalist Christians including in many respects other  
evangelical Christians that are just not fundamentalist Christians,  
telling them that, "you may think you were Christian enough for us  
but you're not. And as a result, you will burn eternally in the fires  
of Hell along with the Jews."

And that's why I've got to be here to take the calls around the clock  
from our troops. Many times they will not give me their name,  
sometimes they will. Often times they will give me the contact  
information for their supervisors or their commanders and what unit  
they're in. Then my job is I go call these people and make it clear  
that this is happening and suggest they make it stop or make them the  
next star on CNN.

(END/2007)