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It's not really about Christian evangelicals leaning on Jews at the Air Force Academy. It's more serious, as I learned from the Albuquerque lawyer over lunch.

"This is not a Christian versus Jewish thing. This is an evangelical Christian versus the Constitution thing," he said.

"We have 702 military installations in 132 countries around the world," he continued. "On every one of them, there's an Officers Christian Fellowship and a Christian Military Fellowship for the enlisted. Their stated goal is to see a spiritually transformed military with `ambassadors of Christ in uniform.'

"I get calls 24/7 from around the world. The vast majority of complainants are Protestants and Catholics."

And the proselytizers - who are they?

"They are evangelical, fundamentalist, dominionist Christians," he said.

Dominionist?

"They want to exercise Godly dominion over every aspect of American life. They see the military as a mission field. They see a cosmic battle going on between the forces of Christ and the forces of darkness. The irony is that if you look at Wahabi Islam, they will tell you there is a cosmic battle going on between the forces of Allah and the forces of darkness."

Why shouldn't they enjoy free speech?

"I will defend to the death their right to believe and preach. I object to their engaging the machinery of the state to push their Biblical world view."

Under new guidelines, he said, superiors in the chain of command can "share their faith," so long as it's done noncoercively.

"It can never be noncoercive," Weinstein said. "And that violates the Constitution."

Last July, Brig. Gen. Cecil R. Richardson, the Air Force's second-ranked chaplain, told the world, "We will not proselytize, but we reserve the right to evangelize the unchurched."

Make you nostalgic for Father Mulcahy? It made Weinstein furious. He waited for the Air Force to discipline Richardson or clarify policy. Neither happened. Finally, he sued, asking the courts to force the Air Force to treat religion neutrally and to ensure that no member on duty be proselytized or pressured.

Why you, Mikey Weinstein?

"It's very hard for the right to paint me as a tree-hugging, chardonnay-sipping liberal," he said.

Weinstein is Republican, spent 3 1/2 years in the Reagan White House and served Ross Perot as general counsel. He, his father, brother-in-law, a son and a daughter-in-law are Military Academy graduates. Another son is a junior at the Colorado Springs academy.

For the legal case, Weinstein hired local attorney Sam Bregman. For the court of public opinion, he's whirled like a dervish through countless TV, radio and newspaper interviews. For political and financial support, he's created the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org).

The Air Force, with evangelical backing, responded with new guidelines. Old wine in new bottles, Weinstein figures; he's asked the court to deep-six them. Meanwhile - big surprise - the White House decided against crossing the religious right.

Weinstein talks so passionately that I might have suspected paranoia if I hadn't heard his opponents preach against separation of church and state and for an American theocracy.

So given this unholy war against freedom of religion, why aren't the Catholic bishops and Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Jewish leaders at his side?

I phoned Mikey Weinstein to ask him. He said people may be "unaware," distracted by the Final Four - you know.

Sorry, Mikey - no sale. They're trying not to see.

Alpert is a semi-retired newsman in Albuquerque. Reach him at arthuralpert@swcp.com.