Air Force Academy Backs Away from Christmas Charity

[Wolseley]

The Air Force Academy apologized Thursday night after it was accused of religious intolerance for promoting Operation Christmas Child – a program designed to send holiday gifts to impoverished children around the world.

Operation Christmas Child said they expect to send more than 8 million shoe box gifts to underprivileged children in 100 countries. Around 60,000 churches and 60,000 community groups in the United States are participating.

MikeyWeinstein, of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said an evangelical Christian message is also included in the boxes.

The attack on Operation Christmas Child has generated outrage across the country.

Weinstein refuted that allegation.

“We are not trying to take shoe boxes of toys and candy away from kids,” Weinstein told Fox News. “But this is clearly an egregious Constitutional mistake.”

Air Force Academy Backs Away from Christmas Charity | FOX News & Commentary: Todd Starnes

Weinstein, by the way, is an old hand at this; he founded the "Military Religious Freedom Foundation" in 2006 to "directly battle the evangelical, fundamentalist religious right"; he has sued the Air Force in 2005 for alleged Christian proseletyzing activities permitted at the Air Force Academy (the suit was thrown out because he couldn't ptoduce any solid evidence); he sued Defense Secretary Robert Gates in 2007 for allegedly allowing "pervasive and pernicious pattern and practice of unconstitutional religious rape of freedoms of our U.S. military"; he blamed a hostile environment dominated by "fundamentalist Christians" for the Ft. Hood shootings; and is about to be named the 2011 "Person of the Year" by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Personally, I think the guy is crank on the level of Madalyn Murray O'Hair. So you get a Christian tract in a holiday gift box. If you don't want it, throw the tract away and enjoy the gift. But apparently Weinstein and his ilk would rather prefer that you don't get the gift at all. I understand his passion to his convictions; what I don't understand is why he's willing to make little kids suffer because of it. It reminds me of the Pharisees who upheld every little jot and tittle of the Mosaic law while they had completely forgotten the charitable and moral spirit the law was designed to encourage in the first place.

 

[Drekkan85]

The US government has no business giving money for a gift including a Christian Tract. Consider what your reaction would ahve been if you'd read that Obama had sponsored a similar charity, just instead of a Christian message it included one encouraging converting to Islam.

Same.... thing...

 

[DaisyDay]

Personally, I think the guy is crank on the level of Madalyn Murray O'Hair. So you get a Christian tract in a holiday gift box. If you don't want it, throw the tract away and enjoy the gift. But apparently Weinstein and his ilk would rather prefer that you don't get the gift at all. I understand his passion to his convictions; what I don't understand is why he's willing to make little kids suffer because of it.

This is clearly not the case as you quoted the guy, "We are not trying to take shoe boxes of toys and candy away from kids" In other stories, he said he would have been fine with a secular toy giveaway.

The problem was that this call to participate in this evangelical endeavor went through the cadet leaders and commanders rather than through the chaplains which gives it an element of coercion.

 

[AtheistVet]

It's not like the Air Force Academy has had a problem with religious tolerance dating back to 2004 or anything.

 

[Aeneas]

This is obviously unconstitutional. The Air Force Academy doesn't get to do Christian proselytizing.

Personally, I think the guy is crank on the level of Madalyn Murray O'Hair. So you get a Christian tract in a holiday gift box. If you don't want it, throw the tract away and enjoy the gift. But apparently Weinstein and his ilk would rather prefer that you don't get the gift at all. I understand his passion to his convictions; what I don't understand is why he's willing to make little kids suffer because of it. It reminds me of the Pharisees who upheld every little jot and tittle of the Mosaic law while they had completely forgotten the charitable and moral spirit the law was designed to encourage in the first place.

The government has to follow the Constitution, how shocking.


Is this the same Air Force Academy that had its Wiccan worship site vandalized a few years back and then people tried to pretend it wasn't big deal by calling it a joke?

 

[blarg the 2nd]

how about just tweaking the name maybe moving the date a bit

 

[ACougar]

Why do these "charitable" organizations need the government to help them prostelize? If they want to help folks, and they want government help then the fact that thier showing love for thier fellow man should be witness enough. If the whole purpose behind giving gifts is to prostelize, then they should keep government resources out of it.

I am glad that the MRFF is out there, struggling to keep my government neutral with regard to religion.

So you get a Christian tract in a holiday gift box. If you don't want it, throw the tract away and enjoy the gift. But apparently Weinstein and his ilk would rather prefer that you don't get the gift at all.

 

[Exiledoomsayer]

I like how its an "Attack on operation christmas child" when you say mention they are breaking the law in an aspect of the operation that should not be there and contributes nothing to the charity.

Would it have been an attack aswell if the complaint had been about that the children were being offered to get sodomized when they get their gift?

Good to know there are people out there who are keeping a watchfull eye out for this kind of idiocy.(Even if they get alot of flak for standing up for what is right.)

 

[99percentatheism]

Weinstein, by the way, is an old hand at this; he founded the "Military Religious Freedom Foundation" in 2006 to "directly battle the evangelical, fundamentalist religious right"; he has sued the Air Force in 2005 for alleged Christian proseletyzing activities permitted at the Air Force Academy (the suit was thrown out because he couldn't ptoduce any solid evidence); he sued Defense Secretary Robert Gates in 2007 for allegedly allowing "pervasive and pernicious pattern and practice of unconstitutional religious rape of freedoms of our U.S. military"; he blamed a hostile environment dominated by "fundamentalist Christians" for the Ft. Hood shootings; and is about to be named the 2011 "Person of the Year" by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Personally, I think the guy is crank on the level of Madalyn Murray O'Hair. So you get a Christian tract in a holiday gift box. If you don't want it, throw the tract away and enjoy the gift. But apparently Weinstein and his ilk would rather prefer that you don't get the gift at all. I understand his passion to his convictions; what I don't understand is why he's willing to make little kids suffer because of it. It reminds me of the Pharisees who upheld every little jot and tittle of the Mosaic law while they had completely forgotten the charitable and moral spirit the law was designed to encourage in the first place.

This is persecution American style.

Always with the same facade of seperation of church and state. The mythological position found no where in the constitution.

 

[AtheistVet]

This is persecution American style.

Always with the same facade of seperation of church and state. The mythological position found no where in the constitution.

It's persecution because it's not the military's place to evangelize? The first amendment is mythological?

 

[Self Improvement]

This is persecution American style.

Always with the same facade of seperation of church and state. The mythological position found no where in the constitution.

 

[Aeneas]

This is persecution American style.

Always with the same facade of seperation of church and state. The mythological position found no where in the constitution.

lol...

 

[Self Improvement]

lol...

Sadly so true, my friend.

 

[SOAD]

Weinstein has now become a hero to me. This is not a job for our Air Force cadets or teachers, leave it up to private organizations and churches.

 

[PHenry42]

Ok, can we agree that Weinstein's actions do not in any way, shape or form prevent the kiddies from getting their gifts?

If the evangelicals behind the movement are petty enough to refuse to send the gifts altogether if they don't get to stuff them with missionary material, then maybe they should be held to fault, rather than the guy who insists that the Constitution matters and should be adhered to. If the missionary material is a deal-breaker, that does have some unflattering implications about the agenda of those behind the campaign.