Military religious freedom group tells Obama 'Jesus is commander-in-chief' with new billboard

A religious freedom advocacy group has unveiled a billboard in Colorado that asks, "Why is Jesus commander in chief here?"

"We want people to be judged on their value, talent, patriotism and their character, not whether they accept Jesus Christ as their personal lord and savior," said Military Religious Freedom Foundation founder Mikey Weinstein, as quoted by KRDO. "When it comes to separating church and state, the Air Force Academy shows overt favoritism to one version of Christianity."

Weinstein said that the billboard is a way of sending a message to the AFA, located in El Paso County, north of Colorado Springs. The group expects to have more than 150,000 views per week, but they hope that the sign would be seen by President Barack Obama, who will be attending the AFA graduation on June 2.

"We are watching everything the AFA does and it's made no significance progress," Weinstein said. "It pains me to say it because I'm a graduate." 

On May 31 and June 1, just before the graduation, a plane will be towing a banner in the sky with the same message. According to Air Force Times, there will also be more 1,300 15-second ads on cable TV in Colorado Springs from May 27 to June 2. The billboard, meanwhile, will stay up until June 5.

"The United States Air Force Academy's adhering to the constitutionally guaranteed right of separation of church and state in the U.S. military is a train wreck," Weinstein said in a statement.

Meanwhile, another issue that has caught MRFF's attention is a presentation during an Adjutant General Corps ball held in Seoul, Korea on May 13. According to Army Times, an 8th Army soldier informed Weinstein that in the said fallen comrade table ceremony, a Bible was presented as a part of the table's assembly, and a uniformed soldier spoke of the book's importance. There was also a script explaining that "the Bible, placed on the table, represents the strength gained through faith to find peace and sustain those lost and missing."

"I was completely taken aback by this," the soldier wrote his email Weinstein. "In front of every guest in attendance, the host and organizer of the AG Ball just declared that every POW and MIA person was a Christian."

Weinstein then emailed 8th Army commander Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal on May 19, asking for immediate action. The May 20 reply from the unit's inspector general said it was not an "offical unit function" nor was it command-sponsored. At any rate, 8th Army spokesman Col. David Patterson told the army-centered publication that while no official complaint has been filed regarding the issue, the unit "takes any allegation of this nature seriously and will review the facts of this situation."

The MRFF is a group that is fighting for separation of church and state. It is dedicated to ensuring that members of the United States Armed Forces have religious freedom but that no religion is advanced or favored within it.