With God on Our Side: One Man's War Against an Evangelical Coup in America's Military

by Michael L. Weinstein, Davin Seay

One of the most elite educational institutions in the world, the Air Force Academy has, from its inception, attracted the best and the brightest, producing leaders not only in the military but throughout American society.
In recent years, however, the Academy has also been producing a cadre of zealous evangelical Christians intent on creating a fundamentalist power base at the highest levels of our country.
With God on Our Side is shocking exposé of life inside the United States Air Force Academy and the systematic program of indoctrination sanctioned, coordinated, and carried out by fundamentalist Christians within the U.S. military.
It is also the story of Michael L. Weinstein, a proud Academy graduate and the father of two graduates and a current cadet, who single-handedly brought to light the evangelicals' utter disregard of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state that is so essential to the nation's military mission. Weinstein's war would pit him and his small band of fellow graduates, cadets, and concerned citizens against a program of Christian fundamentalist indoctrination that could transform our fighting men and women into "right-thinking" warriors more befitting a theocracy. In the process, he would come face to face with religious bigotry and at its most extreme and fight an unrelenting battle to save his beloved Academy, the ideals it stood for, and the very future of the country.
An important book at a critical time in our nation's history, With God on Our Side is the story of one man's courageous struggle to thwart a creeping evangelism permeating America's military and to prevent a taxpayer-funded theocracy in which only the true believers have power.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 2006

Reviews

[Brian]

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God. — The US Armed Forces Oath of Enlistment

Maybe it's just me, but I cannot help but think that anyone who takes this oath and takes it seriously should recognize that they are surrendering most of their civilian rights (up to and including the rights to life and liberty) in the name of service to the country. There are certain of those rights that persist, including the right to believe in whatever permutation of God and Gospel or lack thereof suits. That right, specifically, has stood up in high court decisions, and is one side of the Establishment Clause coin.

The other, however, is that no branch or officer of the government should express or condone the expression of an official preference of any one denomination over any other. Hand in hand with that is the tenet that, under the First Amendment, the State cannot require anyone to choose between the exercise of First Amendment rights and participation in an otherwise available function.

That soldiers will, perforce, have religious views and beliefs does not concern me overmuch - most people do in this country, and I have no trouble believing that it provides some small measure of solace to those who are put into positions where they must exercise their ultimate duties - to kill or be killed. Even were we so inclined, individually or as a nation, it would be inhumane and all but impossible to suppress. Nor, frankly, should we make the attempt if we consider ourselves worthy of the freedoms whose principles we as a nation are dedicated to, and that our soldiers are sworn to protect.

But those freedoms are not unlimited. In civilian circles, many of them tend to become self-regulating. By way of example: Anyone is free to spout the most ridiculous, nonsensical gibberish, secular or religious, when and wherever they see fit within the commons, so long as they are not impeding the public good. Everyone else is just as free to that person, or to counter with their own speech, gibberish or otherwise.

In the context of a military organization, setting aside for the moment all considerations that said military is part of the government, the loss of the right to walk away or ignore someone, particularly if they are in the chain of command is intrinsic and pervasive. Let's be honest with ourselves: The difference between boot camp and brainwashing is necessarily slim. Compare, if you will, the practices of various cults over the past few decades with the indoctrination processes in the military. They are frighteningly similar, varying mostly in the content of the message and in the social acceptability of the values inherent in that content. In order to create the esprit de corps, loyalty, and willingness to lay down one's own life in defense of the country, and to do so in a predictable and (hopefully) timely fashion, there are no better options. Historically, when tied to the values of honor, duty and the willingness and ability to sacrifice for the good of the nation, that same process has yielded an exceptional body of soldiers.

The corruption of those values, turning them to an agenda other than being the best soldier possible, cannot, in my opinion, be tolerated.

That is what this is about: That government employees (and anyone in the military is such) must be held to a higher standard, that they cannot use (or abuse) their positions of power to preferentially benefit any religion over any other, or over no religion.

Among the more common criticisms of Weinstein and/or his activities I have encountered are:

He hates Christians If so, he has a remarkably strange way of showing it. The eventual lawsuit filed included as plaintiffs a number of Christians who apparently weren't Christian enough for some of the nominal defendants.

He's intolerant of my type of Christianity, then If your type includes taking illegal advantage of a position of authority to push your beliefs as an agenda into someone else's life, "Guilty as charged" (p.168)

I am intolerant of religions that push a political agenda under the guise of sanctity and in direct contravention of the U.S. Constitution. Evangelicals are among the nicest people I know. But they should be ashamed of what they've allowed to happen in the name of their faith

The military has regulations to deal with this sort of thing, why didn't he let them deal with it? He did, to no effect. If the accusations made prove to be true, the situation originated at very high levels in the command structure, and was being actively supported by that same structure.

He wants to remove religion from the military Read the lawsuit. The injunctive relief sought is:

[that] no member of the USAF, including a chaplain, is permitted to evangelize, proselytize, or in any related way attempt to involuntarily convert, pressure, exhort or persuade a member of the USAF to accept their own religious beliefs while on duty

and

The USAF is not permitted to establish or advance any one religion over another religion or one religion over no religion

You want to talk to a chaplain? No problem, they are there to support you, regardless of any difference in their beliefs and yours. You want to evangelize on your own time, to people who've expressed interest? Allowed. You want to witness to a fellow soldier personally (not related to whatever rank-relationship you may have with them? Allowed (though there might be appropriate cautions here). You want to pray? Allowed (if doing so constitutes a dereliction of duty, that's your risk to take).

[Nathan]

Before picking up this book, I was vaguely aware of the ongoing Constitutional battle being waged against the Establishment Clause by this country's evangelicals in the armed forces. This account by Mikey Weinstein and Davin Seay gives a detailed accounting of this struggle at the United States Air Force Academy and, indeed, nationwide.

After a brief introduction to Weinstein and his family's background of service to the United States, we are given a narrative of the events leading up to Weinstein's court battle on behalf of servicemen and servicewomen. Curtis Weinstein, Mike's younger son and the second to attend at the USAFA, pulls his father aside at an alumni affair to relay his dilemma over how to handle the jeers and slurs of his classmates due to their disdain for his Jewish heritage. Having had enough, the Weinsteins fight back.

What follows is an accounting of the atmosphere of evangelical fundamentalism that has developed at the USAFA, resulting from multiple contributing factors. First, there's the geographical location of the Academy, centered in Colorado Springs, a fundamentalist hotbed and Evangelical Mecca of sorts. The environment in which cadets are torn down and rebuilt provides an excellent opportunity for any manner of re-education. This grueling process creates an atmosphere in which the line between personal ideological expressions and professional mandates by superior officers can become blurred. When my commanding officer exhorts me to "win classmates for Jesus," is this an order or a personal expression? What impact will this have on my career?

Sadly, many evangelical constituents see this battle against forceful conversion as a violation of their own First Amendment rights, since such a mandate is an integral part of their dogma. But religious tolerance is not what they're seeking. What's needed is an understanding that "free exercise" of one's own religious faith cannot endanger or hinder the "free exercise" of another's. But the evangelical credo doesn't leave room for tolerance. Particularly chilling was Brigadier General Cecil Richardson's declaration in an interview that "we reserve the right to evangelize the unchurched."

As Weinstein illuminates, they are "very clear on this point: the gospel must be preached to all the world. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess. That's a mission of conquest, and America - where the right to worship freely is a bedrock principle, perhaps the most significant civic innovation of our founding fathers - has a responsibility to oppose that mission and vigorously deprive it of material and logistical support."

[Lori]

Pretty shocking book...a few times I stopped myself and said "wait, this is fiction, right?" But it's not--it's true! It's the story of one man's willingness to stand up for the Constitution and point out the many flaws within the military, specifically the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Author Mikey Weinstein was a graduate, as are two of his sons...and instead of just brushing their disturbing experiences under the rug, they chose to shed light on the problem and expose the Academy for what it really is--a dangerous, powerful group of zealous evangelical Christians intent on creating a fundamentalist power base at the highest levels of our country. And how funny, today the media is so focused on the Islamic extremists and militants in the Muslim world...well how about right here in our own government and military with the extremist evangelical Christian leaders in command? It's truly mind-numbing how much power they have and what lengths they'll go to teach/rather preach the "Gospel" or "save" and convert every young cadet entering the Academy. I'm sorry, but this is the United States and the last time I checked, we had the freedom to choose our own religion! Religious coercion is wrong--faith can never be imposed on someone else. It should be a voluntary response of an individual to God...and the freedom to doubt must be respected as a part of the freedom to believe. This one took me a little longer to read than most just because there is so much military & legal lingo in there...but still well worth the read. It's hard to believe these kinds of things are still happening right here in our own "free" democratic country today in 2008, but they are!

[Donald Shank]

I entered the Army during the first week the all-volunteer force was created. The nation had just endured a long and unpopular war in Vietnam, and opposition to the draft had a large role in creating dissent. People are less likely to say "bring it on" when it's their ass (or their sons or daughters) on the line. I joined because I thought I owed a debt of service. Like voting or jury duty, it seemed like one of the responsibilities of citizenship.
The problem with a volunteer force is that it lets people evade that responsiblity. The slack is taken up by those who are ideologically sympathetic to violent conflict resolution and the expansion of American power, and this leads to a military that is too partisan, that does not reflect the nation as a whole. This is a danger to freedom. We nedd an American military, not a Republican one.
Mikey Weinstein does a great job of showing what happens when right wing evangelicals make a deliberate attempt to control the U.S. Air Force Academy, the cadets who will eventually have their hands at the controls of our bombers and missle forces, who will be excellently positioned to stage a coup or give Revelations a jump start by nuking Mecca.
"With God On Our Side" will make you think about war, freedom, seperation of church and state, and whether the draft might be necessary to our system of checks and balances.

[Ayse Arf]

I don't know if I really like the military, in general, but I like it even less when it's super evangelical.

**cont'd

I wrote the above before I'd read the book. It still holds. Also a little heavy-handed and Reader's Digest-y in it's descriptive choices. Interesting to watch them try to explain the difference between military indoctrination and Christian indoctrination...like, the military version is okay because it's about mother, home, country, and achievement, but the Christian version is not okay because those assholes are just squeezing into that period of suggestive vulnerability the cadets go through at the behest and engineering of the Air Force, and taking advantage of the Academy's hard work at breaking down the cadets' individuality and ability/desire to question authority. That said, them evangelicals in Colorado Springs are still creepy and evil, and I don't believe that highly-trained death machines should be conceive of themselves as "soldiers in Christ's army." *shudder*

[Heather]

Despite living in Colorado Springs, under the watch of the USAFA, I had not realized how voilatile things had become up there until reading this book. I have been long aware of the religion make-up of this city and even read some of the articles referenced in the text, but knowing what started it and how deep it goes is disheartening.

As an Air Force brat myself, this makes me said. There as a time when I, too, aspired to attend the Academy. As my goals in life changed, so did that desire. Now, though, I am left to wonder what would have happened if I had gone. Could this have been me? What would I have done in the same or similar situation?

And when a book can make you ask that, I call that a victory.

[Mike]

Very insightful book about a very disturbing movement in the United States military. Mainly about the Air
Force Academy's sanctioning of fundamentalists indoctrination on a large scale. This is the real thing and just listen to some of our military leaders and you'll hear the "God is on our side" BS.
A very well written book and I'll loan it to you Anne.

[Cheryl]

Thank you Michael Weinstein. FYI: for those who might think he's overreacting. I saw over a hundred authors speak in Seattle over the course of 2007-2009, and Mr. Weinstein was the only speaker with a police escort. His (Our) enemies are real and dangerous.

[Dennis]

Must Read - 3
Kept Attention - 5
Well-written - 3
Meaningful - 5
Accessible - 5

[Kristina]

Read this for work....

[Mark Fallon]

An expose of the religiuos right's infiltration of the USAF Academy and one man's struggle to maintain the constitutional freedom of religion.

[Craig Bolton]

With God on Our Side: One Man's War Against an Evangelical Coup in America's Military by Michael L. Weinstein (2006)

[TJ]

Engaging and infuriating. Good read and informative about the evangelical agenda.