Defense bill targets religious freedom group run by Jewish veteran
It’s an attempt ‘to assassinate a well-respected large civil rights organization,’ said the group’s founder
The Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense. Photo by Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images
By Stewart Ain July 13, 2023
A nonprofit founded by a Jewish veteran to stop the U.S. military from promoting or favoring any particular religion is the target of an amendment in the annual defense authorization bill.
The amendment, which could be voted on as soon as Friday by the House, would bar the Department of Defense and its staff from communicating with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which was founded by its president, Mikey Weinstein.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, inserted the amendment seven years after the MRFF forced the removal of a Christian Bible from a POW-MIA table at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Weinstein said that Turner after that incident became intent on passing legislation to thwart his group. Staff at Turner’s Washington office said he was not available for comment.
The Senate version of the defense authorization bill does not include any language about the MRFF. But if Turner’s amendment, which was adopted by the House Armed Services Committee, remains in the final bill that becomes law, it will prohibit a military commander from making a decision in response to an email from the nonprofit, or to answer emails or phone calls from it.
“This amendment is blatantly unconstitutional,” said Weinstein, a lawyer and former Air Force officer. “It takes away from members of the military the right of free speech.”
Turner, he added, is trying “to assassinate a well-respected large civil rights organization.” Weinstein said more than 900 people — almost all volunteers — run the MRFF.
The MRFF has drawn the ire of conservative Christian groups for its efforts to bolster the division between church and state. Among Weinstein’s wins: He has convinced the Navy to remove Bibles and other religious materials from its guest lodges and pushed the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy to take down a massive picture of Jesus protecting a lifeboat of sailors.
Turner’s amendment singles out Weinstein. It states that the military may not “communicate with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, its leadership, or its founder.”
It also stipulates that it’s forbidden to “take any action or make any decision as a result of any claim, objection, or protest made by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation without the authority of the Secretary of Defense.”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
