PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Contact Bekki Miller | (337) 356-8696 bekki.miller@militaryreligiousfreedom.org
VICTORY WITHIN 23 HOURS:MRFF's "NO BOYKIN" DEMANDS RESULT IN NO BOYKIN ATFORT RILEY PRAYER BREAKFAST
MRFF's vigorous demands succeeded in having Islamophobic and fundamentalist Evangelical Christian fanatic Lt. General Jerry Boykin (Ret.) removed as the honored guest speaker at the Fort Riley Prayer Breakfast, as part of the 1st Infantry Division's "Victory Week".
MRFF achieved this victory within 23 hours on behalf of our 131 Army Officers, NCOs, and civilian clients at Fort Riley, inclusive of: Jews, Muslims, Protestants, Catholics, Native Americans, Agnostics, Atheists, Humanists, Secularists, and the LGBT community.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation launched a protest on May 31 accusing the retired three-star general of being a “homophobic, Islamophobic, fundamentalist Christian extremist.”
“He sows hatred and heinous divisiveness with his sickening screed of fundamentalist Christian supremacy, primacy, exclusivity and triumphalism,” Weinstein (Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation) wrote in a complaint to Fort Riley.
Mr. Weinstein might want to consider cutting back on caffeine – and adjectives.
He went on to label the decorated military hero as a “World Class bigot” and threatened to sue unless Boykin was ejected.
Gen. Boykin told me the cancellation is “just another reminder of the incredible discrimination against Christians in our armed forces.”
“This should tell you how difficult it is for Christians, and especially chaplains, to live their faith in our military,” he told me.
To be clear, this is written by Bekki Miller, MRFF Administrative Assistant/Scheduler. This is not hyperbolized repetition of non-contextual verbiage. The use of Mr. Weinstein's caffeinated quotes serves to illustrate that the MRFF is not serving the the benefit of society, but, rather, the interests of a small, but vocal, minority ("131 Army Officers, NCOs, and civilian clients at Fort Richey" to be exact).
The People for the American Way (PFAW) published a Right Wing Watch:In Focus report entitled, "The Mythical Martyrdom of Jerry Boykin." The report concludes as follows:
The Truth
No one has challenged retired Gen. Boykin’s freedom of religion or freedom of speech. He is like all Americans free to speak, preach, and proselytize. He is free to continue to travel around the country promoting religious bigotry and calling for legalized discrimination against some Americans based on their religious beliefs. He is free to make his case in the media, as he has continued to do since withdrawing from the West Point prayer breakfast. And he is even free to claim that criticizing his outrageous statements is the equivalent of an attack on his personal freedom.
But General Boykin has no “right” to be free from criticism. And he has no “right” to have his irresponsible positions promoted by public officials. Indeed, Americans who value free speech and religious liberty have good reasons to challenge Boykin’s assertions, and to hold accountable public officials who give his extremism credibility it does not deserve.
Now, let's review. Lt. Gen. Boykin is entitled to freedom of religion and speech so long as it doesn't offend others, and meets with the secular progressive (no apology for identifying a specific ideology) paradigm. Notice the adjectives "outrageous," and "irresponsible." And, his religious views are considered extreme and fanatical. Freedom of religion is not genuinely free if one must remain within the constraints of those that disagree with its tenets.
There is room for disagreement with Mr. Boykin's positions and assertions, even within the Christian community. His statements regarding Muslim's, and their ability to both live and worship in the United States, may be disagreeable. However, given the context in which they are made, there is reason to postulate that those who practice the Muslim faith are, at minimum, worthy of scrutiny, just as a Christian zealot looking to bomb an abortion clinic would be so. But to be labeled as a "homophobic, Islamophopic, fundamentalist Christian extremist," leaves no room for dialogue or even the ability to makes one's viewpoints known in the public arena.
Lt. Gen. Boykin was invited to speak to a religious forum. The context of the prayer breakfast provided those who were invited to attend, the opportunity to accept or decline the invitation (even if it was a publicly advertised event.) No one was being forced to attend, and no announcement declaring that Lt. Gen. Boykin's comments were to be interpreted as the official position of the USMA at West Point. His invitation to speak was based on his distinguished career as Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, and 13 years in the Delta Force. In addition, he has emerged as a religious leader and ordained minister. It violates common sense to disallow his invitation by virtue of the fact that (a) someone might disagree with or be offended by his comments, or (b) that a singular vitriolic voice, representing a very small segment of West Point, could instill sufficient fear in our military's leaders to cause them to stand down in the face of his invectives.
So much for the land of the free and the home of the brave.
