Washington, D.C. – On this Sunday’s “State of Belief,” The Interfaith Alliance Foundation’s show on Air America Radio, Reverend Welton Gaddy examines the controversy over a promotional video for an evangelical Christian group filmed inside the Pentagon.  Welton is joined by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, president the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and author of With God on Our Side.  The foundation has called on the Department of Defense to investigate whether military regulations about religious proselytizing were violated.

The evangelical organization, Christian Embassy, produced a ten minute video that features uniformed military officers praising the efforts of the Christian Embassy to spread their faith within the military.  Much of the video was filmed inside the Pentagon, and the officers, including three colonels and four generals, appear in uniform.  Nothing indicated that the views expressed by these officers on the video were their own and not the views of the DoD.

“When you have senior members of the United States military doing what they did… it absolutely violates the Constitution as well as several DoD regulations,” says Weinstein. 

Last week, disgraced former Majority Leader Tom DeLay launched his political blog, and the first posting condemned the Military Religious Freedom Foundation for its opposition to the Christian Embassy video.  Weinstein responds angrily to the criticism “Tom Delay is a disgrace to America, a disgrace to the Constitution, and he is a big coward.  I would love to do three rounds with him in an HBO special,” he says. 

Weinstein, a former White House lawyer in the Reagan administration, believes the implications of this incident go far beyond the First Amendment.  “This video is the number one best recruiting tactic for al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah,” he says.  “It strengthens our enemies because it adds a religious dimension to our military operations.”

Also on the show: Dr. William Shulman, president of The Association of Holocaust Organizations, discussing the Holocaust denial conference in Iran; Jay Bakker, son of evangelist Jim Bakker and star of the new documentary series “One Punk under God;” and Sally Turner, religion reporter for The Independent in London, discussing the popularity of the Church of the Jedi Order in the U.K.

Interfaith Alliance is a network of people of diverse faiths and beliefs from across the country working together to build a resilient democracy and fulfill America’s promise of religious freedom and civil rights not just for some, but for all. We mobilize powerful coalitions to challenge Christian nationalism and religious extremism, while fostering a better understanding of the healthy boundaries between religion and government. We advocate at all levels of government for an equitable and just America where the freedoms of belief and religious practice are protected, and where all persons are treated with dignity and have the opportunity to thrive. For more information visit interfaithalliance.org.