A note to Mr. Weinstein

Published On: May 2, 2013|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|0 Comments|

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Dear Mr. Weinstein,
I’m not sure that anyone has ever written to you in this way. I haven’t followed your career nor do I even know who you truly are as a man. However, I have recently heard some media clips of you giving speeches regarding Christianity and your negative thoughts towards Evangelical Christians. I have also read several bios on your life, your military and professional careers. I understand that you and your family are Jewish and I want you to know first and foremost that I am a friend to the Jewish people. The love that I have for the Jewish people is deep and it is real. I want you to understand also that I am a Christian. I decided at the age of 12 that I believed in Christ and gave myself to Him. It is the most important decision that I have made in my short life of 42 years. I see it as an eternal decision and not one that is temporal.

I know that you and your family have suffered criticism, harrassment and hatred in the past. I am sorry for the sorrow and hurt that you have had to heal from. I too have been bullied, but not due to my white skin or my race, but because there are bullies everywhere and they are scared and therefore, they act out. I want you to know that true Christians are on your side. We don’t believe in hatred, racism, bigotry or bullying. We are tought to love our neighbor and an even tougher lesson – to love our enemies. Anyone can love someone else that loves them. It is extremely hard to show love to your enemy. I’m certain that you and I have similar feelings towards this country and our patriotism runs deep. However, when I heard your speeches on your thoughts on Christianity, I felt the strong need to take time out of my day to help convey my thoughts to you directly.

I know that my love for the Jewish people stems from the fact that my Lord and Savior Jesus was a Jew. I don’t believe that the Jews are solely responsible for
killing Jesus and neither are the Romans. I believe in scripture and that we have all trangressed against God and so we are all responsible for His death. I don’t
need to, nor do you want to hear a sermon about Jesus. Your thoughts on prosthelityzing are very clear. I must reinforce however that God’s chosen people are the Jews and they were to be the great light unto all humanity. It was their responsibility and duty from God to follow his law and be an example to all other cultures in the world. The fact is that they failed time and again. God’s remedy for sin, including insincere tradition and legalism in the Jewish culture
resulted in sending His Son Jesus to not only be an example to each of us, but to live a perfect life, die on a cross, be buried in a tomb and to be resurrected
in newness of life. This happend!

This means that all mankind can have hope in the events that took place over 2000 years ago. Search your heart and the Holy Bible for yourself. Be earnest and sincere in this endeavor and you will find it is true as well. I want you to know that Christians are not out to get anyone, they don’t want to kill anyone and they certainly don’t intend to harass or exclude anyone for being different. There have always been extremists in different cultures and people groups. They are the ones that are scared and have built up so much hatred. I am a husband and father like you. I want to protect my family like you. However, unlike you I can’t allow you to talk against Christianity like they are some hate group. Your perception of Christians is somehow skewed and I want to be the one to ask you to stop speaking against Christians. It is a vain action that will only result in continued controversy in you and your family’s life. You need to be a better example to your family and community. The Christian is a friend to Israel and the Jew. You will find no better ally in the world than the Christian for all Jews.

I would like to close by stating that with all of your talent and resources, there are better things to do with your life than fight against the Christian. We are not your enemy. Like the Jew, God is on our side and fighting against us is futile. Get to know a true believer. Befriend a true Christian and I guarantee that your viewpoint will change. I challenge you to think sincerely on what I have conveyed to you. I would welcome your reply and hope that you do indeed reply.

Kind regards,

(name withheld)


Dear (name withheld),

Mr. Weinstein is very busy protecting the religious freedom of those in the military, many of whom believe exactly as you do, so I thought I’d try to respond on his behalf.

It’s unfortunate that whatever you’ve read has so misstated the case as to have you believe Mr. Weinstein has negative thoughts about Evangelical Christians. That is simply not the case and nothing he has said should bring one to that view. Mr. Weinstein and all of us associated with the MRFF believe in the right of every individual to subscribe to the religion, religious view, spiritual belief or non-belief she or he chooses. We honor those beliefs and those who hold them. What the MRFF insists upon, though, is that the military, as part of our government, honor the Constitutionally mandated separation of church and state and protect the right of all members of the armed forces to their personal belief system without being pressured or suffering intimidating tactics intending to force them to accept another view. That means that no particular belief system can be foist on soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen and women by those whose rank or position gives them power over those in their command.

What is currently the case, and what is probably what you read about, is that a fundamentalist Christian sect has infiltrated itself into positions of authority and command in today’s military, engaging not only in inappropriate proselytizing but also demonizing other faiths and creating not only discomfort but fear, and impacting the careers of those who do not agree and will not submit to their demands.

As I’m sure you understand, and given the profession of faith you’ve articulated here I assume you would agree, it is unacceptable to any fair-minded person that our servicemen and women should be subjected to a kind of brow-beating and propagandizing that amounts to a sort of religious blackmail.

It will probably please you to know that upwards of 90% of the members and supporters of MRFF are themselves Christians, many of them Evangelicals. They simply do not believe their faith should be imposed upon others and they find it scandalous that people who object to the behavior of the members of this sect should find themselves ostracized and otherwise punished.

Sadly, I think many in command positions in the military who are themselves Christians sometimes seem to find it difficult to recognize the behaviors of their colleagues in the ranks as inappropriate. And, let me add, some actually may be intimidated by either the rank or the power of those who are committing the worst acts, unwilling to speak up for fear of finding themselves thought of as weak in their faith.

So, Mr. Hagan, in a free society such as we enjoy, you are welcome to believe as you do, and you are of course welcome to share that belief with others, but in a military society that is part of our government, no one has the right to force a belief, no matter how strongly held, on one in his or her command.

I hope, now that you better understand what Mr. Weinstein and the MRFF stand for, you will consider reading a bit further, finding out a bit more, and lending your voice to ours by helping to end religious persecution in the U.S. armed forces.

Thank you.

Mike Farrell

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