Your e-mail to Mikey Weinstein, President of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation

Published On: April 23, 2010|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|0 Comments|

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To MRFF:

“Just a word to you about your objections to Franklin Graham speaking at the Pentagon’s Prayer Vigil. You and those in the Army responsible for his dis-invite (for lack of a better word), have slapped our Lord and Saviour [sic] in the face. I will pray for you to come to your senses and realize that when Jesus said there would be many false religions, he meant it. Islam is a false religion and has no place in a Christian Nation. Of course, according to Obama, we are no longer a Christian Nation. However, I for one believe we still are.

Feel free to contact me at any time.”
(name withheld)


Dear Mr. (name withheld)

I suppose I should thank you for your letter to Mr. Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. It is not every day that I get the opportunity to respond to such obvious expressions of ignorance.

Your expressions of religious belief have nothing to do with the issue at hand. However, your assertion that the United States of America is “a Christian Nation” really brings the point home. And of course the point is this: you are dead wrong. More than likely you are just one more of the countless individuals who parks himself in front of the TV and watches Fox News, or maybe listens to Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, etc. Because you’re not intellectually curious or particularly intelligent you swallow whatever you’ve been told without question. Or maybe you go to church three times a week and listen to the pastor of the first church of the gospel of hate rattle on and on about how this is a Christian Nation and you just believe it, after all, what pastor would lie to you? Either way, you have been hoodwinked. The fact is I am not only intimately familiar with the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, but I have also taken the time to read what the founding fathers have written. Have you ever even heard of Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe? How about the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers? Well I have and I’ve actually taken the time to read what they had to say. But for now why don’t we just start with what the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli (passed by Congress and signed by President Adams in 1797) had to say – here’s Article 11 of the treaty: “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.” It also bears noting that in signing this treaty into law, President Adams said, “Now be it known, That I John Adams, President of the United States of America, having seen and considered the said Treaty do, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, accept, ratify, and confirm the same, and every clause and article thereof. And to the End that the said Treaty may be observed, and performed with good Faith on the part of the United States, I have ordered the premises to be made public; And I do hereby enjoin and require all persons bearing office civil or military within the United States, and all other citizens or inhabitants thereof, faithfully to observe and fulfill the said Treaty and every clause and article thereof.”

You see, our founding fathers were actually products of the Enlightenment. Thomas Jefferson’s writings make crystal clear that he absolutely denied the deity of Jesus. In fact he created his own bible by taking the Christian bible and excising every alleged miracle or implication of deity. There were a couple of exceptions to the rule, but nearly every one of our founding fathers self-identified as either “Free Thinkers” or “Deists”. In the event you can’t comprehend what those two terms mean, may I suggest a little time spent on the Internet or in the your local public library might provide you with the definitions you’re looking for.

And if you’re one of those people who harken back to the “good old days”, well then you are really a bigot, because in those “good old days” the Klan was rampant, women couldn’t vote, African Americans were lynched and denied their civil rights and before that they were treated like animals and enslaved. Oh yes, and Jews like me were treated like second class citizens and lynched too. In fact those days weren’t all that long ago. During my service in the U.S. Navy I was sent to attend an Air Force school at the Air Force base in Biloxi, Mississippi. One evening a friend of mine and I decided to go out for a drink. A bouncer at a local bar stopped us;  he looked at me and said, “You can come in, but your friend can’t.” (My friend was an African American.) So I asked the guy, “You mean you won’t let a black man in, but you’ll let a Jew in?” The guy asked me, “You’re a Jew?” When I answered in the affirmative he said, “In that case you both need to get the hell out of  here.” That was Biloxi, Mississippi in 1982! Are these the kind of days you are wishing would come back?

The truth is, you’re just one more hateful bigot who cares only about inflicting your religion of hate on everyone else. I have represented many Christians, in fact, more than 90% of the foundation’s clients are Christians – Christians in the military and Christian veterans who are discriminated against by fundamentalist Christians who consider them not “Christian enough”. I can see you’re one of those – one of those who hates not only non-Christians, but even Christians who don’t share your bigoted ideology. Essentially a theological child of Rushdoony, you seek to impose your own hateful version of a Christian theocracy on the United States and its citizens. You could care less about the Constitution, you only want to impose your hate on the world. That is why I am proud to stand up against you, to fight against you. As a veteran who proudly served the United States honorably in the U.S. Navy I took my oath seriously when I pledged to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. You are one such “domestic” enemy of the Constitution, and as such you’re an enemy of mine.

So, take your ignorance and hate somewhere else. And either take the time to educate yourself or sit down and shut the hell up.

Akiva David Miller

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