subject: Words Have Consequences - Even When Posed As A Prayer [print this page] Last week my friend Mikey Weinstein filed a law suit in Dallas, Texas naming both he and his wife as plaintiffs in a land mark case against religious extremism. I am honored to have been asked by Mikey to do what I can to help in his efforts to shed light on the practice of imprecatory prayer and the dangers that lie within them. I have tremendous respect for what he is doing...and total disdain for the 'c'hristians who are praying for harm to come to him and his family, in all manner of violence.
For those of you not familiar with Mikey, allow me to introduce him to you. He is the champion of religious freedom in the military. He came from a lineage of Air Force and military officers, graduated the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado; went on to law school; worked as legal counsel in the Reagan White House; private attorney for Ross Perot in business and now offers legal services to military personnel who are battling a loss of religious freedoms in the military.
His organization is the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and the work they are doing is extraordinarily important. There are many of us behind the scenes that will carry this fight along with Mikey in our efforts to stop dominionism in America, and specifically in the military where they control our weapons. Here are a few excerpts from the Dallas News...
Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said he wants Gordon Klingenschmitt, a former U.S. Navy chaplain, to "stop asking Jesus to plunder my fields ... seize my assets, kill me and my family then wipe away our descendants for 10 generations."
The suit also asks the court to stop the defendants Gordon Klingenschmitt and Jim Ammerman, the founder of the Dallas-based Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches from "encouraging, soliciting, directing, abetting or attempting to induce others to engage in similar conduct."
Weinstein, 54, said his family has received death threats, had a swastika emblazoned on their home in New Mexico, animal carcasses left on their doorstep and feces thrown at the house.
Weinstein, who is Jewish, said the harassment started several years ago when he began protesting Christian proselytizing at his alma mater, the Air Force Academy. Weinstein started his foundation shortly after that to battle the influence of extremist evangelical Christians in the armed forces.
"I morphed from being a lawyer and a businessman to this thing called a civil rights activist," he says. He is an unlikely activist, Weinstein said: a Jewish Republican from a long line of military members.
"I never prayed for any ones death," he said. "I never prayed for anyone's violence. All I did was quote the Scriptures." His prayers are available on his Web site and for radio broadcast.
Ammerman, an 84-year-old retired Army chaplain, declined an interview, but said in a prepared statement he "believes the allegations are unfounded."
Weinstein said he also hopes to cripple the Chaplaincy financially and to have the organization stripped of its status with the Department of Defense.
He [Klingenscmitt] "would never pray evil upon my enemies," he said, "but the justice of God is not evil."
Does he want Mikey Weinstein to die? "I pray the Psalm that his days are few," he replied.
Both of these guys are "weird and weirder"! Here are a few examples of the beliefs Ammerman holds that are public, and will give you an idea of just how mentally unstable these people are...
"Ammerman has made his positions quite clear in publicly available speeches and articles. He believes that the United States government is planning to turn over sovereignty to the United Nations. He believes that they are secretly hidden throughout the United States, especially in inaccessible parks of the National Parks, foreign troops ready to take over. He further believes there are anywhere from 400,000 to 1,300,000 foreign troops here, including a contingent of Russian tanks in the Great Smokey National Park, all of which are under United Nations control. He believes that Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico has been given to the Russians; and that Fort Bliss in El Paso has been given to the Germans.
He believes all of this is under control of eight ruling families of the world, including Rothchilds, Warburgs and Rockefellers, who own the United States Federal Reserve and who dictate who is elected in this country.
He believes that our highest government officials are traitors and has called for the hanging of President Obama, Vice-President Biden, Secretary of State Clinton and Senator Dodd of Connecticut.
He knows to stop [the call to violence] just short of that. Rather by spouting all of this hatred and intolerance, he whips his crowd into a frenzy and then nods and smiles while members of the audience make the actual threats of violence."
This is just a snippet of their beliefs that give you a glimpse into the minds (or lack thereof) of the these two named defendants. Jim Ammerman and Klingenschmitt. I have written about them in the past and the subject of imprecatory prayer. But before I go further, I have to ask you...does any of this sound somewhat familiar?
Like how Palin whips the fringe into a froth and watches them go? Or Bachman on her high horse about the census that results in a hate crime in Kentucky where an innocent census taker was found hung with the word "FED" across his chest?
This isn't simply free speech. These are delusional people inciting violence in the name of God...all the way to the President of the United States! And this isn't about the words...it is about the actions. Mikey and his family have been baraged with numerous threats and acts against them and their property...and we need to rise up in a unified voice and say STOP!
Why is it that any wingnut can put a scarf around their neck, call themselves "Dr.", hold an open bible in their hands and we all suddenly freak out and act like they are a divine incarnation of God standing before us. I call bull****! We let them hide behind that protection.
This entire week will be dedicated to this topic and the one of REAL privatized armed forces - not "the United Nations are coming after us" version that these dangerous zealots believe in.
