Unsung Citizen of the Month: An Air Force Lt. Col. is fighting a battle against religious right harassment and recruitment in the military

Honorable mention to Mikey Weinstein who is fighting a daily battle against the overt and often subtle tactics of religious groups on military bases to recruit acolytes.

"Zealots are trying to turn the military into a religious army." (The Nation) And Weinstein is fighting back.

There is a fine line between free exercise and the establishment clauses in the constitution. There must be a balance between the two. But does the military- by allowing religious groups the tacit right to recruit on bases- overstep freedom of religion and allow a number of evangelical groups the right to establish their brand of religion on a government property. Doesn't this put the US Government in the position of promoting one religion over another.

To allow one group to proselytize means that the military brass must give a forum to all religions to set up 'bases' on US military bases.

But are military bases the proper venue for religious recruitment?

Should we also open up Federal Office Buildings (of which there are thousands, if you include Post Offices) to various religious groups to have offices in which to disseminate their brand of spirituality?

Here are just a few notable quotes from the Nation's informative article on this issue. ( I urge my reader to click on this link to the Nation article and get involved in a discussion. ) Meanwhile here's some food for thought.

"The Christianizing of the armed forces, Weinstein believes, has implications for national security as well as for civil rights. In addition to ingrained anti-semitism, his work reveals a simmering Islamophobia in the ranks that, when flushed to the surface by media exposure, has been leveraged by jihadi groups overseas for propaganda purposes."

"The number of Muslim service members seeking Weinstein's help {he is a Lawyer who has worked as a Washington based corporate lawyer and counselor to the Reagan White House} has grown geometrically since the the 9/11 terrorist atttacks, and the cruel odyssey of Zachari Klawonn is a particularly ripe narrative for the jihadi mill."

"His battalion commander told Zachary Arenz that 'all Jews make bad soldiers' and that Judaism is 'incompatible with military service.' "

"The Navigators, an evangelical group at military academies, refers to its members as 'Government-Paid Missionaries for Christ.'

His watchdog group, Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) was founded in 2005 and has a client base of over 20,000 "mostly Catholic and Protestant--as well as Jewish, Muslim, Wiccan, atheist, and gay and lesbian--members of the military."