Air Force dental technician accused of being a witch
By Jeff Schogol, Staff writer 5:32 p.m. EDT October 5, 2015
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The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is representing a former Air
Force contractor who says she was fired from a dental clinic at Fort
Meade, Maryland, after complaining that her co-workers discriminated
against her because she was Hindu. She claims they then accused her of
being a witch.

Group founder and president Mikey Weinstein wrote in a letter to
officials: “We have spoken with witnesses at the clinic under your
command who have universally confirmed that, not only did this horrid
harassment take place, but ever since the execution of her punishment
for failing the religious test imposed by the leadership of Epes Dental
Clinic, a particular offending party has effusively celebrated her
replacement by a Catholic woman by saying publicly that ‘It's good to
see we got an angel, since last time we had the devil.’�

The alleged harassment violates a “vast sea" of Defense Department and
Air Force directives as well as the U.S. Constitution, Weinstein writes.

"The No Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of our nation’s
Constitution absolutely forbids the exact same type of practices which
are so commonplace under your command in the brazen establishment of
evangelical Christianity as the only approved solution for religious
belief in the 579th D[ental] S[quadron] of the Epes Dental Clinic at
Fort Meade,� the letter says.

Reached by Air Force Times, Deborah Schoenfeld said that her co-workers
at the Epes Dental Clinic harassed her over her Hindu faith, claiming
she was satanic for wanting to practice yoga and meditating.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, two of her former co-workers
confirmed Schoenfeld's account to Air Force Times and said that other
employees at the dental clinic are devoutly Christian and deeply
suspicious of Hinduism. One of them confirmed that she was referred to
as a "Hindu witch."

One co-worker, who Schoenfeld said prayed for her to find Jesus, told
her that meditation summons demons, adding that “all the soldiers who
are doing meditation and yoga to help their PTSD, they are getting
infected also,� Schoenfeld said.

When her requests for help through the chain of command went nowhere,
she filed a formal complaint on Sept. 2, Schoenfeld said. That day, she
was fired for allegedly using profanity against a co-worker, although
she was not allowed to know who had accused her of doing so, she said.

The Air Force District of Washington has received Weinstein's letter and
is looking into the allegations raised, said spokesman Maj. Joel Harper.

"The Air Force thoroughly reviews all instances in which airmen report
concerns regarding religious freedoms or accommodations," Harper wrote
in an email Monday to Air Force Times. "Mutual respect is an essential
part of the Air Force culture. Supporting the right of free exercise of
religion relates directly to the Air Force core values and the ability
to maintain an effective team."

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Ahh, Christian religious fundamentalists, working every day for the
downfall of America.