Air Force Officer Threatened with Lawsuit for Christmas Toy Drive Email

Michael F. Haverluck reports for OneNewsNow, Oct. 25, 2015, that USAF Lt. Col. Donald C. Tasker was targeted by secular Jew atheist Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), because Tasker reportedly had his administrative assistant, Valencia Branch, send out an email to his squadron urging them to donate to Operation Christmas Child — a Christian toy drive organized by Samaritan’s Purse, an offshoot of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Weinstein claimed that Tasker’s email is “an absolutely unambiguous endorsement” of Operation Christmas Child and is, therefore, an unconstitutional endorsement of religion because the donation gift boxes to be filled with Christmas toys also carry a Gospel message to children around the world.

Weinstein’s MRFF threatened to sue Tasker if he did not take immediate action to rectify the matter.

According to TheBlaze, Tasker issued a follow-up email to his squadron, in which he denounced his previous toy-drive email. Tasker wrote:

“Recently an email … was forwarded to the entire 436 Force Support Squadron. The invitation included in that email also contained language supporting the Christian faith and encouraged participation in this event as an act of Christian faith. I want to be absolutely clear that the email in question was not sent at my direction and is not endorsed in any way by me or any level of command.”

Tasker also explained what is permitted and what is prohibited in emails issued by the U.S. government:

“[Government emails] cannot violate the Joint Ethics Regulation, which prohibits the endorsement of non-federal entity or event [or religion] by a DoD employee in their official capacity.”

Weinstein called Tasker’s follow-up email a “total victory” for MRFF. He told Military.com: “Our clients are delighted that this is a total victory. But it’s not a victory for anything other than the U.S. Constitution and the Air Force doing the right thing.” Weinstein claims that 14 unnamed personnel at the Dover Air Force base where Tasker is stationed had complained to him about the toy-drive email.

Still dissatisfied, Weinstein is demanding an investigation and the punishment of those involved.

Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty Executive Director Ron Crews maintains that Tasker’s original toy-drive email had violated no policies. Crews said in a statement:

“We should be commending members of the Air Force, not condemning them for wanting to serve orphans. The e-mail announcing a volunteer opportunity in no way violates any Air Force policy or regulations, especially since the program involved is a federally approved charity.”

If Crew is correct, then Lt. Col. Lasker should have stood his ground instead of crumble and, in so doing, effectively abandoning his administrative assistant Valencia Branch to the wolves.

H/t MomOfIV