Military

After two decades of protecting the religious liberty of our service members, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) now has some friends in pretty high places. How did this happen? Well, it’s simple. There are a good number of former MRFF clients who came to MRFF for help years ago as junior or field grade officers who have since risen through the ranks and are now generals and admirals. Those generals and admirals, helped by MRFF during their ascendency to the flag officer ranks, have become MRFF’s eyes and ears. What MRFF is hearing from these senior officers, such as the group of six generals and admirals who wrote a letter in support of MRFF a few weeks ago, is that the Pentagon is, unsurprisingly, in chaos. This week, MRFF turned to one of these former clients, now a senior officer, to find out if there was any truth to the talk of military officers being made to sign a written “loyalty oath” to Donald Trump.  With the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) already implementing a “loyalty test” by requiring applicants for federal government jobs to answer essay questions about their favorite Trump executive order or policy, is a “loyalty oath” for the military the next step in our nation’s descent into a MAGA dictatorship? Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the scoop from MRFF’s senior officer client was that defense secretary Petey Hegseth and his inner circle were indeed “strongly considering demanding written ‘loyalty oaths’ to the President” and that a directive implementing this required proof of fealty to the orange autocrat “appears to be imminent.”  As this senior officer wrote to MRFF’s Mikey Weinstein: “I wanted to write in today to confirm that the latest buzz at the highest levels of the Defense Department is that Secretary Hegseth and the collection of puppet sycophants who comprise his inner circle are strongly considering demanding written ‘loyalty oaths’ to the President from all active duty, reserve and national guard officers at the “‘Field Grade’, O-4 level and above. That would be Majors and above in the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force and Lieutenant Commanders and above in the U.S. Navy.” The officer continued: “The written ‘loyalty to Trump’ directive which appears to be imminent, but has not yet been implemented, combined with the duty day Christian prayer meetings in full uniform are so far over any line of legal and practical acceptance that I can certainly tell you that both the military and civilian senior leadership at the Pentagon and throughout the Department of Defense has been cast into total chaos beyond description.” Please, if you have time, read the entire e-mail from MRFF’s senior officer client below, which also touches on Hegseth’s egregiously unconstitutional and multiple-DoD-regulation-violating official monthly “Secretary’s Prayer Meetings” in the Pentagon auditorium during the duty day in uniform, the first of which, according to some sources, was also broadcast on TVs throughout the Pentagon. This senior officer also mentions in their e-mail something that we often see in e-mails from clients — their turmoil over whether or not it was cowardly of them not to stand up for themselves and instead enlist MRFF’s help. Well, MRFF’s message to this officer and all other members of the military who come to us to remain anonymous is a resounding NO — you are absolutely not cowards! We fully understand, as should everybody else, that acting on their own, without the cover and anonymity provided by MRFF, could be career suicide for officers and NCOs, especially now with a MAGA witch hunt going on to identify senior officers who don’t toe the MAGA/Christian nationalist line. So, again, I urge you to read this entire e-mail, which also includes some insight into the strategic way that this senior officer as well as other now-senior commanders have utilized MRFF at various stages of their ascent through the ranks. From: (Active Duty Senior Military Commander/MRFF Client's e-mail address withheld) Subject: Loyalty oaths for senior officers and Christian prayer services during the military workday Date: June 4, 2025 at 8:42:01 AM MDT To: Information Weinstein Hello Mikey. Please allow me to describe myself briefly so that readers understand my perspective in this note to you and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. I'm a very senior active duty military commander. I have commanded both combat and non-combat military units from small size to extremely large size with regard to military members and mission. I have extensive experience in combat operations directly confronting our nation's enemies around the world. I practice Christianity from the perspective of my Protestant denomination, but I have always kept that very personal matter private. It has never in any way entered into my leadership as a military commander since I graduated from one of the U.S. service academies well over 20 years ago. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has been an invaluable aid to me and many other senior commanders in my career with regard to highlighting publicly when first amendment church/state violation matters could not be handled “internally” in organizations I (and my colleagues) commanded. I freely admit that the personal consequences to my own career (and those of my colleagues) would have been a kill-shot to our military job security and advancement and completely insurmountable had we, instead of the MRFF, initiated the exposure of these clearly extreme Christian attempts to “capture and proselytize for Christianity” our troops against the constitution and all related laws and regulations. It was just more effective and, frankly, personally “safer” to reach out confidentially to the MRFF and have the Foundation initially expose these matters and then we could react (as opposed to “proact") as commanders, as if we were originally unaware it was going on. Some may feel that our actions reflected cowardice, and I understand that because it was the MRFF that took the heat. But ultimately this methodology of fighting with the MRFF against Christian extremism in the ranks has been extremely effective for many years. To Mikey and the MRFF’s credit they never "judged" us for confidentially asking for their help to combat Christian extremism within our own commands. They just fought and they almost always won. I wanted to write in today to confirm that the latest buzz at the highest levels of the Defense Department is that Secretary Hegseth and the collection of puppet sycophants who comprise his inner circle are strongly considering demanding written “loyalty oaths” to the President from all active duty, reserve and national guard officers at the “Field Grade”, O-4 level and above. That would be Majors and above in the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force and Lieutenant Commanders and above in the U.S. Navy. To the average American citizen this may not seem like a big deal. But of course, our country is built on our constitution and the oath that all of us swore to protect support and defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic. Serving as a U.S. military officer has absolutely nothing to do with unyielding loyalty to one individual, in this case Donald Trump. This matter received some interest in the media shortly after the inauguration of Trump, but it is coming back again, full force. If this illegal order is made policy, it will irreparably destroy the good order, morale, discipline, and unit cohesion that is the bedrock of our U.S. military's day-to-day operational functioning. Additionally, after Secretary Hegseth initiated what appears to be an intentionally highly visible weekly or monthly Christian prayer meeting in the center of the Pentagon in uniform during the duty day, this decision has had the destructive impact of a nuclear explosion in the ranks. It is too much to talk about the full ramifications in this email, but suffice it to say that the Secretary and his minions are making it a matter of “suggested, official encouragement” that subordinate commanders engage in similar weekly Christian prayer meetings as well. And, not surprisingly, Hegseth and his group are desirous of knowing which commanders are complying with this “suggestion” and which are rejecting it. The written “loyalty to Trump” directive which appears to be imminent, but has not yet been implemented, combined with the duty day Christian prayer meetings in full uniform are so far over any line of legal and practical acceptance that I can certainly tell you that both the military and civilian senior leadership at the Pentagon and throughout the Department of Defense has been cast into total chaos beyond description. Put another way and most simply, our American military is not close to being anywhere near ready to fight against our nation's enemies. Honestly, Mikey, there is already enough fighting going on in the ranks regarding who supports the loyalty oaths to Trump and the weekly Christian prayer meetings and who doesn’t. We are aware that subordinate officers in our own ranks are doing their best to identify which senior officers support this loyalty oath and the Christian prayer meetings and who do not and to accordingly report this status of compliance to Hegseth and his closest circle of lap dogs. It was my intent with this email as a senior military commander to make sure that the MRFF is fully aware of this destructive poison of Christian extremism which has been inflicted upon the command integrity of our entire Department of Defense starting at the Pentagon and filtering down throughout the entire military stationed in our own country and around the world. I want to take a quick moment to thank you, Mr. Weinstein, and the entire Military Religious Freedom Foundation for unfailingly assisting myself and countless other military members from the lowest ranking to the highest as we try to navigate through the worst crisis to ever hit the American armed forces since it's beginnings. Thank you for your energy, tenacity and availability to always be present to support military members irrespective of their rank, title or position whenever and wherever they request your help. So many of us on active duty view the MRFF as an incomparable national treasure and asset. We thank you for not criticizing us with the discrete manner in which we prefer to work with you but simply listening to us at any time, providing immediate action of support and intervention, regardless of the negative consequences to Mr. Weinstein personally and the Foundation organizationally. We know this has not been an easy road and we know most would not be able to follow this path of constant confrontation against the extremists of my own Christian religious faith in the Department of Defense. That type of courage is in rare commodity. It is so inspiring and never goes unnoticed.   (Active Duty Senior Military Commander/MRFF client's name, rank, title, command designation, installation, and all related identification withheld) MRFF is now on Bluesky! Follow us to read the latest MRFF news!

The hordes of visitors thronging the Citadel of Salah al-Din come for the medieval fortifications, historic mosques, and panoramic views over Cairo. Few tourists visitors think to enter the National Military Museum tucked away in a rose-pink building at the edge of the site. But those who do are rewarded by a head-spinning mélange of baroque architecture, military oddities, and totalitarian paintings. The former royal palace that houses the National Military Museum was added to the Citadel in the early 19th century, when the ruler of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, renovated the medieval fortress to serve as the seat of his modern government. Hailing from Kavala (then part of the Ottoman Empire and now part of Greece), Ali brought the finest craftsmen from Istanbul to build his palaces in the extravagant style known as Ottoman Baroque. In the later 19th century, the Egyptian government moved downtown and the Citadel was closed and mostly abandoned. In the 1950s, a group of military officers took over Egypt in a coup. As one of their many revolutionary reforms, they opened the Citadel to the public and installed a laudatory museum of the Egyptian military in the empty palace. Over the decades, the Egyptian government has filled the museum with an eccentric array of artifacts, including ancient Egyptian sculptures, medieval weapons, and colorful uniforms. In the 1990s, the government decided to update the museum with a series of dramatic dioramas and paintings of great battles and heroes of Egyptian history. Astute observers will notice that the Egyptians depicted in these scenes are painted in a Socialist Realist style and have unexpectedly East Asian features. This is because they were painted by North Korean artists who were working for the totalitarian government of Kim Jong Il. The art was loaned to Egypt for the occasion. Because of North Korea’s diplomatic isolation and control over the arts, this museum is of the only places in the world where such art can be freely seen.

This is Josef Menšík, the last owner and knight of Strakonicku castle in Dobrš who tried to stop a convoy of German tanks while wearing a suit of armor and seated on a horse when they tried to cross into Czechoslovakia in 1938. Born in 1870 in the Bohemian Forest, Menšík developed a fascination with history from a young age. In 1911, he purchased the crumbling Dobrš Castle and dedicated his life to restoring it. He rejected modern conveniences, living without electricity, and filled the fortress with medieval artifacts, many of which he smuggled from abroad. For decades, Menšík lived as a self-styled knight. Locals often saw him riding his horse in full armor, teaching history to anyone willing to listen. His castle became a place for schoolchildren to visit and learn about the Middle Ages while seeing his amazing collection of relics. In 1938, as German forces were about to invade Czechoslovakia, Menšík’s beliefs were tested. Following the Munich Agreement, Nazi tanks began crossing into the Sudetenland. Most citizens could do little but watch in despair as their country was occupied. Menšík refused to stay passive. When he heard that German forces were coming near Bučina, he put on his armor, got on his horse, and rode out to block the road. Armed with a sword and halberd, he positioned himself directly in the path of the advancing tanks. The German soldiers were stunned by the surreal sight. Some hesitated, unsure of how to respond, while others laughed or gestured dismissively, believing Menšík to be mad. Eventually, the tanks moved forward, forcing him aside, but his act of defiance, though it didn’t stop the occupation, inspired many. Josef Menšík lived to see the end of the war but passed away in 1945 at the age of 75. He became a local legend, remembered as a man who stood by his principles and dared to face an invader.