WASHINGTON (JTA) — Pat Robertson called an activist for religious freedoms in the military a “little Jewish radical” in condemning the U.S. Air Force for making “so help me God” an optional part of its oath.
Robertson in a commentary Thursday on his Christian Broadcasting Network was referring to Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. He also misidentified the foundation as “People Against Religion.”
“You got one little Jewish radical scaring the pants off you,” Robertson said. “What is wrong with the Air Force, how can they fly the bombers to defend us if they cave to one little guy?”
Weinstein, a former officer in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General, founded his foundation in 2006 to advocate against proselytizing in the military.
It was not Weinstein’s group but the American Humanist Association that had led advocacy on behalf of the airman who had sought to remove the oath in the news item cited by Robertson, Raw Story said in a report.
Weinstein in a response to Robertson on The Friendly Atheist website wrote, “Pat Robertson is to human dignity and sanity and integrity and character what dog s*** is to a fine French restaurant on the menu.”
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