President Obama’s speech to the

Published On: February 3, 2011|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|0 Comments|

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Dear Mikey,

As a Jewish American and a U.S. Navy veteran I am deeply saddened by the President’s appearance this morning at an event coordinated by right wing bigots who seek only to inflict their religious beliefs on the rest of the country, and the world. Further I nearly choked to death reading Christian author, David Aikman’s comments about the President’s appearance this morning; he said, “…it shows the world that while the U.S. has no established religion, many of its leaders are open about their faith.”; of course, nothing could be farther from the truth; it demonstrates once again that there are far too many individuals in positions of power who are willing to sell our our constitution and its Establishment Clause for more votes or another term in office.

President Obama’s presence at the event, along with his pointedly Evangelical Christian comments, only serves to punctuate his willingness to allow uniquely Fundamentalist Christian encroachment into all areas of government, including on-going funding of unconstitutional “faith based initiatives” (wherein discrimination based on religion and sexual orientation are allowed, despite federal funding) and the increasing imposition of hard right, fundamentalist Christianity on our military service members and veterans. It has never been clearer that as long as Barack Obama is President, religious freedom will continue to be denied countless citizens who seek assistance through programs paid for by federal dollars, and in particular to our military personnel and veterans. Nothing short of the federal courts can now restore our constitutional protections; and it is with that in mind that I write this note to you, encouraging you and your countless supporters to continue to fight the good fight. Further, for any who can afford to do so, I urge them to consider sending the MRFF even a small donation every month. To that end I have decided that if the President can quote Christian scripture to the nation, I can quote Jewish scripture to my brother – Mikey – and to the many individuals, including our military personnel and veterans, who support the Military Religious Freedom Foundation: Tehillim (Psalm) 126:5 reads, “Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.” – the point being that if we are serious about defending our constitution against pervasive attacks by those who would seek to use federal, state and local governments to impose and inflict their own narrow religion upon everyone else, then we need to get busy sowing. If we genuinely hope to one day live in a nation where religious encroachment into our civil rights is a thing of the past, we must get serious and get busy supporting the MRFF with our hard earned money now! Every dollar donated to the MRFF goes to fight the good fight, not just to preserve the rights guaranteed to us by the Establishment Clause of the constitution, but to defend and protect real people who are genuinely under attack by superior officers, medical providers and so many others who illicitly use their positions of power to further their own religious goals and objectives.

Finally, I would like to end with a classic quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – a quote that is a classic precisely because it rings true to every person of good will: “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

It’s long past time for all of us to pitch in, write our congressmen/women, write letters to the editor, and support the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

Respectfully,

(name withheld)

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