The organization was founded by United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) graduate and former USAF Judge Advocate General's Corps officer Michael Weinstein in 2005 for the purpose of opposing the spread of alleged religious intimidation by Christians in positions of power within the US military.
As of 2024, the MRFF reports that it represents over 88,000 active duty U.S. Marines, sailors, soldiers, airmen, cadets, midshipmen, national guard members, reservists, and veterans, about 95% of whom self-identify as practicing Christians.
[citation needed] In 2006 the MRFF criticized a promotional video by Christian Embassy (an offshoot of the evangelical Campus Crusade for Christ) which was filmed in the Pentagon and featured uniformed generals.
[14][15] In February 2009, Colonel Kimberly Toney, commander of the USAF's 501st Combat Support Wing sent an email with a link to a religious-themed web video about the life story of Nick Vujicic.
Weinstein said the incident represented a textbook case of improper religious influence and added, "There's a pervasive pattern of constitutional abuse when you have a wing commander who sends out a direct, proselytizing e-mail with a link to a Web site that slanders the president of the United States.
"[17] Weinstein's denunciation of the AFA position as "bigoted, racist, [and] vile" was featured prominently by Hatewatch, the official blog of the Southern Poverty Law Center civil rights organization.
[23] MRFF litigation sparked by a prayer luncheon hosted by the US Air Force Academy's chaplain service (which featured retired Marine Corps Lt. and fundamentalist Christian Clebe McClary as keynote speaker) was reviewed by a federal judge in February 2011.
U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello ruled the plaintiffs (which included the MRFF and USAFA professor David Mullin) lacked sufficient legal standing to challenge the event.
The PowerPoint also contained a slide excerpting the words of former Nazi Party member, SS Sturmbannführer, Wernher von Braun, who is quoted as stating: "We wanted to see the world spared another conflict such as Germany had just been through and we felt that only by surrendering such a weapon [the ballistic missile] to people who are guided by the Bible could such an assurance to the world best be secured," in reference to his 1945 surrender to American occupation forces and subsequent recruitment by the United States Office of Strategic Services via Operation Paperclip.
[28] On October 8, 2013, Lieutenant Colonel Chaplain Stephen W. Austin directly contacted Weinstein regarding the initial development and implementation of a spiritual dimension component for a U.S. Army soldier resilience platform.
[citation needed] On September 17, 2014, the Air Force News Service (AFNS) reported that an opinion from the Department of Defense General Counsel would allow an individual to "strike or omit the words “So help me God” from an enlistment or appointment oath if preferred.”[33] In October 2014, MRFF exposed the Army ROTC program’s unconstitutional restrictions against non-Christians.
The shirts depicted the Statue of Liberty wearing a hijab and holding the Quran on her left arm superimposed over a golden crescent and the statement “DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN AMERICA.”[35] In 2016, MRFF Action leads to the removal of unconstitutional sectarian religious text from POW/MIA "Missing Man" tables at five federal facilities.