Mikey and Bill O’Reilly

Dear Mr. Weinstein,

Your website states:
Therefore, MRFF holds that:
No religion or religious philosophy may be advanced by the United States Armed Forces over any other religion or religious philosophy.
No member of the United States Armed Forces may be compelled in any way to conform to a particular religion or religious philosophy.
No member of the United States Armed Forces may be compelled in any way to witness or engage in any religious exercise.
No member of the military may be compelled to curtail – except in the most limited of military circumstances and when it directly impacts military discipline, morale and the successful completion of a specific military goal – the free exercise of their religious practices or beliefs.

How does this square with your support of the actions you have taken? Judging from your “achievements” on your website apparently the civil rights of peace-loving Christians are a clear and present danger to the miltary but the civil rights of Muslims like Nidal Hassan, murderer at Ft. Hood are not.
I watched Mikey on Fox News. I have to say that the name of your organization is an oxymoron. Your organization is anything but a promoter of religious freedom.
The Constitution states that Congress shall make no law respecting establishment of a religion or PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF…….(direct quote).
WHAT about “make no law” do you not understand? WHAT about the term FREE EXERCISE do you not understand? When the government restricts the religious activities of its soldiers in ANY way (“make no law respecting the establishment of a religion – or prohibiting the free exercise thereof), it is in effect stating that religious activities are not welcome within the service. This is a de facto establishment of an atheistic, secular service – it is the de-facto establishment of a religion ( Secular Humanism).
To insist that a military person give up their Constitutional rights – even the right to freely exercise their religion – upon entering the military service is an anathema to every principle that undergirds our nations’ founding document. Presumably, Mikey and every other soldier who served in the military spoke an oath of induction to uphold the Constitution – including the Bill of Rights therein. Any soldier, current or former who tries to take away the Constitutional rights of their fellow soldiers or the citizens we presume they protect is a liar and a hypocrite because of their oath of induction. They should be brought up on charges. Your organization and the ACLU are one and the same.

Tell “Mikey” that if anyone is an enemy of this country, and an enemy of the Constitution, it is he and his kind. Unlike Mikey, I on the other hand will be glad to give my life to protect the Constitutional rights of my fellow US citizens (including, with great distaste, Mikey’s). I will be happy to mow down anyone who seeks to destroy the Constitution and take away our Constitutional rights. We Christians are getting increasingly impatient with those who seek to take away our right to practice our religion in the public marketplace of ideas. We are going to fight back in the marketplace of ideas, we will turn the tactics of the Left on the Left, we will fight in the media, in Congress, and if necessary, on the battlefield. See you on the field.

(name withheld)

Dear (name withheld),

Even Christianity, the majority religion in America, is subject to constitutional provision.

Over the centuries the US Supreme Court has made hundreds of rulings regarding religion, separation of church and state and other issues concerning the parameters in which religion must be practiced. The Free Exercise Clause is such a case. Thee are a number of conditions that curtail free exercise.

One of those land mark decisions is “Lemon Vs. Kurzman, 1971,” in which the court held that “government, including the Armed Forces and Public Education, may not promote, favor, prefer or proselytize one religion over another or religion over non religion.”

In addition, many decisions deal with the separation of church and state and all have been addended to the US Constitution as case law.

As with all freedoms there is a responsibility to use them wisely and legally. For a complete picture of these conditions Google US Supreme Court rulings on the separation of church and state.

Rick Baker
MRFF Volunteer
USAF (Ret)