The Pentagon’s pugnacious critic on religion gets his day in Congress

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/11/18/the-pentagons-pugnacious-critic-on-religion-gets-his-day-in-congress/


Mike Weinstein is the founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and a frequent critic of the military’s policies on religion. (Photo courtesy Mikey Weinstein)

By Dan Lamothe November 18 at 5:38 PM Follow @danlamothe

As the United States sent tens of thousands of troops to Afghanistan in 2010, a controversy erupted: the rifles they were carrying had coded scopes engraved with biblical references. In the war against the Taliban, already religiously charged, it was akin to tossing a match on gasoline in the ongoing fight over where religion should fit into military life.

The incident followed a script for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the activist organization that exposed the issue. Service members registered their complaint about the so-called “Jesus rifles.” Mikey Weinstein, its founder, distributed the information widely through the media, expressing outrage. And then the government responded, with some officials defending the practice while others — including Gen. David Petraeus, then the top commander in Afghanistan — called it problematic.

The scope’s maker, Trijicon, eventually promised that it would stop using biblical references, and the military said it would work to alter rifles already in service. They were inscribed with phrases like “PSA91:5,” short for Psalms 91:5: “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day.”

It was one of several victories by Weinstein over the military about how religion will be handled in the ranks. His pugnacious style, vigorous public relations efforts and aggressive fund-raising have earned praise from some — but also made him a target for those who say he is capitalizing on political correctness to get rich and exaggerating problems.

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1. I'd like to see the 5th Commandment engraved on those rifles. (nt)

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2. That would present quite a conundrum.

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3. No doubt. (nt)