Re: MRFF Action Alert – CNN: Military backs off threat to pull atheist from ceremony

Published On: October 20, 2011|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|1 Comment|

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Dear Military Religious Freedom Foundation:

yet another stupid act of misadvocacy

public chaplaincy benedictions have never been deemed religious activity in any constitutional sense, see Article VI US Constitution…

to argue as MRFF idiotically does is to assert that for two hundred years the consisent practice of well educated, well meaning Americans has been unconstitutional, such an argument is mere hubris…

if a soldier refused to bow their head on command to avoid an incoming bullet with carvings “Long Live Allah” on them, one suspects the defiance would be actionable, even if the soldier were a professed or avowed agnostic as claimed…

by advising the public of the orders, MRFF has violated the fiduciary duty to the soldier by making it very unambiguous who is the ONE at attention…

y’all can’t find any more important human rights work to do than this?

(name withheld)


Hi (name withheld)

Thank you for contacting the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) with your concerns over military Chaplains. We are more than happy to answer any questions you have and in doing so; hope to clarify our position regarding the religious atmosphere in the military.

First, I’m going to give you a little background.

Mikey Weinstein, the founder of the MRFF, is an honor graduate of the Air Force Academy, held the position of Judge Advocate for 10 years at the Air Force Academy and was a Presidential Counsel to President Reagan for 3 years. Many of the people involved with MRFF are military veterans. Some of them, including Mikey, have been the object of beatings, verbal abuse, withholding of advancements, drummed out of the military on false charges and subject to the harshest religious proselytizing ever imaginable.

First and foremost, we are not anti-Christian. In fact, there are many mainline Christians that volunteer with the MRFF. I am one of them and am also an ordained minister in the Assemblies of God. What we are against is the forced, in your face, proselytizing by the Dominionist Christians who believe our soldiers should be “Warriors for Christ” and every war a “crusade.” Painted on the side of a Bradley tank in Iraq was “Jesus killed Mohammed” in Arabic. Mosques in Samarra were spray painted with crosses. Bibles are given out in Iraq and Afghanistan against military law. No wonder they hate us even more because we are signaling that we are fighting a religious war.

The MRFF believes that any person who wants to don the uniform of the US military to fight for our freedoms under the Constitution, has that right no matter what religion they practice or if they practice no religion at all.

Currently the MRFF is helping over 25,000 soldiers who have reached out to us to help them with the unwanted religious proselytizing they are being forced to endure. They have tried the chain-of-command to no avail because those in command, all the way up to the Pentagon, are of the same belief. There is no one else to turn to but the MRFF.

We receive many letters from soldiers that would break your heart if you could read them. The Catholics, Protestants, Methodists, etc. are being told that they are not the “right kind” of Christian and will ‘burn in the lake of fire for all eternity” unless they are “born again” and join their fundamentalist/evangelical/dominionist church. Those soldiers that do not want to attend events put on by Chaplains or attend church are confined to their barracks, can’t use their cell phones, watch TV or use the internet, instead of free time. They must do menial jobs such as cleaning the bathrooms. They are being unfairly punished because they would not repent of their own personal belief system for a more extreme one. One letter we received was from a soldier whose buddy was contemplating suicide because he couldn’t take the proselytizing anymore. When I hear on the news that another soldier committed suicide I wonder if this could be the reason.

According to the Army’s “Duties and Responsibilities of the Chaplain” Power Point Presentation under “Elements of Religious Discrimination” you will find what discrimination is –

Discounting the beliefs of others

Religious jokes/slur

Compulsory Services/Ceremonies

Stereotyping people by their religion

Non-association due to religion

Worship time not made available

Lack of concern

COMPULSORY SERVICES/CEREMONIES IS LISTED AS RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION AND THIS SOLDIER SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PRAYER.

The first amendment in the Constitution states;

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion (establishment clause), or prohibiting the free exercise thereof (free exercise clause).”

Our military cannot favor one religion over any others (Establishment Clause) and cannot stop our soldiers from practicing whatever religion they want or if they want to practice no religion (Free Exercise Clause).

Because Congress authorizes and funds our military, these clauses are in effect.

Article VI of the Constitution states;

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no Religious Test.

No person holding any job in the US government is to be judged on their religious affiliation or lack thereof.

The Commander is responsible for ensuring that soldiers and their families have the opportunity for the free exercise of religion.

The Chaplain is a special staff officer to the Commander and soldiers who want religious support.

There are 4 Chaplain Branch Insignia for the military-

Buddhist

Christian

Jewish

Muslim

I’m sure a Christian soldier would not bow their head to a Muslim prayer. Why should an atheist be forced to bow their head against the Establishment Clause? And why should he be penalized against the Free Exercise Clause?

Your analogy of being forced to bow one’s head during a religious prayer to an incoming bullet with the words “Long Live Allah” carved into them doesn’t make sense.

There is a chain of command that the soldier must use when making a complaint, but then the chain all the way to the Pentagon is complicit in the forced proselytizing there is no one else to turn to for help but MRFF.

MRFF takes these breaches of the Constitution very seriously. By making these incidents public we have given soldiers a safe haven to ensure their rights are not trampled on. Just because you join the military doesn’t mean that you’ve given up all of your rights. The military fights for those same rights guaranteed under the Constitution and must adhere to it.

You said –

“y’all can’t find any more important human rights work to do than this?”

What more important human rights are there than the protection of our soldiers who protect us?

Please visit us at www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org and see that we are the most ardent defenders of the Constitution.

Pastor Joan

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One Comment

  1. Andy Kasehagen October 21, 2011 at 12:31 pm

    Did I miss something here or did this individual equate bowing one’s head to a religious benediction to an incoming live round? Is this truly the vision of religion this individual has?
    The giggle factor here is off-the-charts.
    C’mon man!!

    Peace be with you…DUCK!!!

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