Fox's Jesus loving, homo hating Todd Starnes never served in the military; but he loves Christian men in uniform who are being persecuted by the evil Military Religious Freedom Foundation which seeks to prevent good Christian military members from "living their faith." Translated into real world terms, the MRFF wants the military to enforce the rules against the proselytizing that has prompted many complaints from those who feel that the in-your-face evangelizing and course content create a hostile work environment. Starnes and his Christian pals aren't happy about this perceived affront; so Starnes has lately launched a series of "brimstone tinged apocalyptic reactions" to "Constitutional principals." Wednesday, Fox & Friends advanced the brimstone during an interview with a representative of the hate group, Family Research Council. And on Thursday's "Hannity," Starnes reinforced the "war on Christians" meme and in so doing showed why Weinstein refers to him as a "fundamentalist barking dog."
Hannity, who never served, proclaimed that "the Christianity of service member is coming under attack in the military under the Obama administration." (Actually, complaints from the MRFF happened during the Bush years too!) He claimed that service member who were "caught spreading his or her own faith" could be court martialed. He introduced Todd Starnes, noting that Starnes "had done an investigation and confirmed it." (So that proves it!)
Starnes, whose 2012 lie about the MRFF prompted a legal letter to Fox News, claimed that "under the Obama administration, we've seen a Christian cleansing of the US military." He cited "dozens and dozens of examples of "Christianity under attack," including Mikey Weinstein's recent meeting with the Pentagon during which Weinstein urged enforcement of "regulations which he believes would result in the court martial of anyone proselytization or sharing their faith." Starnes said that the Pentagon "walked back" an earlier statement, made to Starnes, about how proselytization was against policy and that they now believe in "sharing your faith." He followed that up with a statement he received from the Air Force which says that proselytization goes over the line. While admitting that this is conflicting information, one thing is clear: "That under this administration we have seen the Christian faith come under significant attack."
In tossing to the Protestant minister, Jacques DeGraff (who doesn't get nearly the face tine that Fox priest Jonathan Morris does) Hannity described how, when he was in Iraq, he attended a powerful church service attended by the military. (He was only in Iraq, as a special guest of former Sec. Def., Donald Rumsfeld for 26 hours.) After praising those who serve, DeGraff stated that proselytization should not be allowed in the military. Hannity lied when he claimed that the MRFF "says you can't even speak of your faith." When DeGraff denied that, Starnes claimed that the military is lying when they say that they're not trying to silence statements of faith. Starnes related an anecdote, told to him by right wing retired chaplain and raging homophobe Ron Crews, about how an Air Force officer was forced to take his bible off his desk. (Crews, who opposed the end of DADT, also makes the baseless claim that openly serving gays are hurting the military.)
Starnes quoted an admiral who believes that "faith is under attack." Hannity responded that it's "scary" that people "can't speak freely." Hannity ignored the reality of military codes against proselytization when he advised those who don't want to proselytized, to just say "I don't want to hear it." DeGraff asserted that a bible, on a desk, is inappropriate because it is an endorsement of religion. Hannity responded "so what." Starnes concluded with a story about how the aforementioned admiral sent a bible to a soldier who committed suicide even though he knew he was in violation of policy. Hannity concluded with the hope that "somebody takes this to court."
Politifact has fact checked Starnes' good Christian fulminations and found them to be full of pious baloney:
"Conservative religious groups argue this means "sharing the gospel" would become a crime. But no policy we saw suggests that the Pentagon would court-martial soldiers "who hold Christian faith." Quite the opposite — much of the language from the Defense Department reinforces the right of military members to practice their religion, as long as it’s in a way that respects others’ belief systems. Chaplains already follow such rules."
Looks like fundamentalist barking dog, Todd Starnes, don't hunt
NHP
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You mean, Sean, like all the gay men and lesbians who couldn’t “speak freely” about THEIR weekend liberty activities and their very lives, instead couching their comments in vagueries and generalities and switching pronouns as necessary. All because if they dared “speak freely,” they’d be dishonorably discharged at best and court-martialed at worst.
Yes, the poor victimized Christians. Their military lives are just so bad because they’re not “free” to harangue and harass their fellow service members with unwanted religious proselytizing.
Oh. Sean, would you care to remind us (as well as your viewers) of your illustrious military career? Oh, that’s right. You never served a day.
And how many days are we going on now with his chickening out on the waterboarding for charity?
High End Hannocchio is known for his hot head, foul mouth and thin skin. Don’t let his innocence on television and radio fool you. He has a dark side that would scare a pitbull.
Given what he’s done in the past and present, he is no saint. Radio industry insiders know he’s a phony, and continue to call him out on local and national radio.
Whoever hired Starnes at Fox “News” Radio must have been desperate. A college student majoring in radio and television production can do a better job gathering news than Starnes.
If Hannocchio and Starnes want to talk about wars, they can begin with the GOP Civil War consuming the RNC.