May 23, 2009 You Jews just never stop. Move to Israel. -- Regards, [name withheld] MRFF's Response: May 24, 2009 Mikey, They could have stopped after the Pogroms in Russia where just being a Jew was an indictment. Jews didn't stop there either. Yup, those uppity Jews even got themselves in the middle of WWII, where just being Jewish was a death sentence and despite bringing to Europe a thriving business community, strong economy and a religion rich in tradition, culture and heritage, over six million Jews perished in the ensuing genocide. But did they stop? Not on your life. Jews didn't quit, but rather sought out and after much bloodshed, finally got a homeland up and running. May 25, 2009 Has anyone in your organization actually spent time in the military? If so, post your notarized DD214 online to give validity to your claims. [name withheld] Click here to read a MRFF volunteer's response, May 26, 2009 To: Mikey and The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) As a traditional American Jew, I consider Mikey Weinstein to be both a generic moron and a self-hating Jewish moron. I could care less either about Mikeys left wing politics or his so called distinguished career in the US Air Force. Since Mikey doesn't give a damn about his own Jewish people, please answer the following questions: Mikey, why are you antagonizing the very Christian groups who are the biggest supporters of israel, i.e the Christian Zionists?????? Why are you provoking anti-semetism among Christians and others in these very difficult and sensitive times??????? [name withheld] And a response: May 26, 2009 Dear [withheld]: The rabbi is going to dance again. Un az der rebe tantst, And when the rabbi dances, Un az der rebe zingt dem heylikn nign, And when the rabbi sings the holy niggun (song), Sadly, the erosion of our liberties takes no holiday even when we put on blinders. To cower in fear in the face of wrong may be a coping mechanism, but that is not the only option we have in this great country. While our voice may offend some, I takecomfort and guidance from Eclesiastes 3,7: There is a time for silence and a time to speak out. In conclusion, be mindful of the guiding words of our Talmud (Yevamot): Silence Means Consent. Sincerely yours, Jackie Jacobs Another response: May 26, 2009 Dear [withheld] of Los Angeles, You wouldn't happen to be a "Messianic Jew", would you? Just curious. You provide a few hints to suggest it. All that aside, I would like to address the rest of your email, taking up points in the order presented there. [name withheld] And another response... May 26, 2009 Dear [withheld], I was greatly disturbed with the above note you sent to a fellow Jew, and one who dares to rise to what being Jewish really is. Mr. Weinstein, rather than being self-hating, has chosen to expose and fight the creep of religious fundamentalism in the military. While the Anti Defamation League should have long ago jumped into this battle, they have not and my guess is that the reason lies in their willingness to look away from the damage Christian Zionists do to all Jews. It is a Faustian bargain Jews have made with these people who do everything in their power to prevent peace in the Middle East - precisely the goal of people like John Hagee. Forget the nonsense about the Rapture as that is of little relevance aside from the base anti-Semitism such a theory holds. What matters are their efforts to in-gather the Jews and bring them to Israel to gpopulate the disputed territories. The Christian Zionists do everything they can to derail any peace process while at the same time politically encouraging war against Iran. They are not friends and any Jew who thinks they are is deluding himself. Mr. Weinstein is a courageous man who speaks up for all of us. If you take a look at his work with an open mind, perhaps you'll see this. Marji Mendelsohn May 26, 2009
Dena: Thanks very much for your email. If ADL does share many of the same concerns of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and there is a belief that it is a well intentioned group, I would be most interested in how ADL is dealing with the same issues? The writings in Harpers, GQ, Chirac disclosure and the internationally released, Al Jazeera videos seem to give the organization and their mission a legitimacy that may not have had before. It is now a fact that what Mikey Weinstein has been saying for several years is quite true. Furthermore, perhaps ADL might consider that while his methods and approach are not to their liking, it was the only voice, absent that of ADL and many other organizations that should or could have spoken. Back to my original question, is it time for ADL to participate and express their outrage at what is going on and doing so in whatever form or fashion ADL and it’s members think is appropriate? This issue is much too important to refrain from action because of your disapproval with style. The substance is there. It is time to set aside petty differences and do what is right and in the best interest of us all. I have copied Mr. Foxman and I would appreciate your giving Marvin Nathan and the local board a copy so that they might know of this serious threat facing our nation and our world. Sincerely, [name withheld] May 26, 2009 To: Mikey and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (name withheld) May 27, 2009 Subject: Kill Two Birds With One Stone Jesus fought against the Jewish religion. My problem is virtually everywhere that Christianity is being opposed in the US, its by Jews. You people come to a Christian country, then you constantly whine about Christianity and try to suppress all public expression. I'm sick of it. Like I said, if Christianity is so offensive to you, move to Israel. They're begging for Jews to move there. You could kill two birds with one stone: you'd make us Christians happy and the Jews in Israel happy. Such a deal! [name withheld] May 27, 2009 To: M. Weinstein and MRFF Judaism is the religion of the pharisees. You know, the guys who murdered Jesus and who then brag about it in their rotten Talmud. If Jesus was observing the religion of the pharisees, they wouldn't have killed Him. [name withheld] May 27, 2009 Two hundred years of history prove that America is a Christian country. Or else what are you campaigning for if not the de-christianization of America? You want Christianity suppressed. That's the purpose of your organization. And like virtually all other anti-Christian groups, yours' is led by Jews. [name withheld] May 27, 2009 Subject: Anti-Christ Jews Here, learn something about how the anti-Christ Jews are trying to destroy America. Its coming from a Jewish convert to Christianity: My Name Is Brother Nathanael Kapner. May 27, 2009 Subject: Minority Tyranny The government is not requiring any particular type of religion. You guys are trying to outlaw the exercise of religion by individuals. You know, none of this was an issue a hundred years ago. So why now? Because Jews, who make up 1% (or less) of all military personnel, don't like it? I call that minority tyranny. [name withheld] May 28, 2009
Dear Mr. Foxman, California Council of Churches IMPACT has been a long-time ally of ADL. For many years I have worked with many wonderful California and national ADL people around our mutual interest in stopping hate crimes, and we continue to ally on these issues and support for religious freedom. Therefore I write to ask you to engage with us on yet another such concern. CCC IMPACT is the sister organization of the California Council of Churches. Together we represent 5500 congregations within the mainstream, progressive Protestant communities of faith with a combined membership of 6.5 million people in this state. Our complete focus is on social justice, chief among which is protecting freedom of religion. When we encountered Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation we knew we had to support MRFF's work. The stories of repression of not just our members' right to faith practices and beliefs but of the deep and abiding anti-Semitism that exists within the US armed forces were simply not something we could ignore. The pervasive coercion of our military and the rampant evangelizing of both our troops and populations overseas is not conducive to our First Amendment freedoms nor to our military's sole responsibility - upholding the Constitution. We have long known of the assaults also upon Mr. Weinstein and his family, of the scurrilous attacks on MRFF and its work. I have been made aware of emails determining in the mind of the writer that America is a "Christian nation" (palpably untrue) and calling Mr. Weinstein any manner of disgusting anti-Semitic names, and threatening both him as a Jew and all Jews as tools of the devil. This simply cannot be left unchallenged. Not only must voices be raised on behalf of religious freedom, they must be raised on behalf of Mr. Weinstein and his family who have had their lives threatened, who have been assaulted in their home, and who bear this burden of free expression of constitutionality on behalf of all of us. We therefore ask that you please step forward in support of MRFF and the Weinstein family. We are mindful, from other supporters, that there is a concern that standing up to ultra-conservative Dominionist Christians might cause a rift with those evangelical Christians who support Israel. We believe these are actually two different groups, and urge you to wade the waters to separate them. Defending Israel is simply not possible if defending Judaism and the right to religious freedom here in America cannot go forward. The stories of anti-Semitism within all branches of the military simply must be challenged, and we call upon you to join us in that effort. I look forward to a long and enduring relationship between us and ADL on these concerns. I also look forward to hearing from you about how we might support you as you support MRFF and the work it is doing on behalf of all our members and their right to practice their religion openly, honestly, and without retaliation. Sincerely, Elizabeth Sholes May 28, 2009 Subject: No Mercy On Christians To: MRFF Anti-Jewish pogroms often happened for economic reasons like, for example, Jewish tax collectors gouging the people. The kings of old often used Jews for such things since they could rely on them to have no mercy on the king's Christian subjects. [name withheld] May 29, 2009 Mikey, Foxman and the ADL have to decide if they have the courage of their convictions, or if they're willing to continue to sell both their constituents and supporters down the river in order to maintain their friendship with the Christian Evangelical Community who would, by the way, sell the ADL down the river at the drop of a hat....and in fact, are doing so already. The Evangelical Community only supports Israel out of selfish reasons - they seek only to use "the Jews" to achieve their twisted goals....and, in fact, they are already achieving their goals - already, they have been given access to nearly every Jewish home via evangelizing Christian cable TV programming, despite Israeli law making proselytizing illegal in Israel....and, I won't even address their twisting messianic fantasies! Evangelicals will never respect Jews or any other non-Christians, nor will they ever respect our rights; their pervasive philosophy of supersessionism extends well beyond their views regarding the relationship between the Jewish and Christian faiths, they believe that Christian faith also supersedes the Constitution of the United States - these ridiculous human beings will never rest until they achieve power over everyone and everything and thus have the ability to inflict and impose their will on everyone and everything. They will never stop - NEVER. May 31, 2009 To a MRFF supporter and volunteer: what can I say---you found me out. Now I know what they say about you Jew girls is absolutely true. I suppose those Reform types just can't deal with you smart, sophisticated Jew Princesses and that's why they marry dumb, but beautiful shiksees---isn't that what you call them. I'm one of those good ol boys from the hill country of Tennessee. I only had Jews on my maternal side---you know like Elvis, and yes I really do believe you should take Jeezus into your heart. In fact I have a little plastic Jeezus mounted on my car dash! "I don't care if it rains or freezes---cause I have my plastic Jeezus"! Won't you take Jeezus as your Saviour---my precious little Jew woman! [name withheld] June 1, 2009 Dear MRFF, This entire foundation is a complete sham. Use of the word "freedom" is just laughable. I recently read about the destruction of privately owned Bibles by the US military in Afghanistan that were printed in the local language for the people of that region. Seems highly hypocritical for Mikey Weinstein's MRFF to advocate the chaplain be court-martialled for simply encouraging voluntary evangelism. This brightly highlights the issue of motivation. I can sum it up in a single word - FEAR. I am motivated by a fear of the LORD. It's group's like MRFF, rooted in atheistic philosophy, that are motivated by a fear of being wrong. MRFF's Response: June 1, 2009 Dear Born Again, And another response: June 1, 2009 Mikey, June 2, 2009 Subject: You're my heroes Don't mean to waste your time. Barely knew of your existence, but I just read an article about you guys by Jeff Sharlet, and I just wanted to say you guys are my heroes. Just as people often greet service men and woman by saying, "Thank you for serving", I want to say: Thank you for standing up. June 3, 2009 Dear MRFF, Unconstitutional religious proseytizing will continue to be a serious problem When I attended the service for [military member's name withheld] at the Chapel at Ft. [military installation name withheld], the military chaplain said, as closely as I can quote: "our soldiers are fighting for Jesus Christ our savior, not their comrades and not the flag. And therefore our military leaders need to follow the teachings of Jesus if they desire to lead." I was shocked as were several other members of the audience. What it had to do with [4 Star General's name withhheld] is beyond me. [name withheld; the writer is a highly decorated service academy graduate and military veteran] June 5, 2009 Dear Mikey and MRFF, My name is [name withheld] and I am a [age withheld] year old [military rank withheld] serving in the United States Army at Fort Hood, Texas. I am a Iraq combat veteran as well. Though raised in a Christian environment, I am also a non-believer from a religious perspective. I understand that the army is not a democracy, but yet it is also not an organization where you are supposed to proselytize to someone against their will. It started Monday evening, June 1, '09, when I was asked by my wife whether I was going to the brigade town hall meeting. She had received an email from the Family Readiness Group.. I usually don't attend these meetings unless I have to go. I told her that I was not going to the meeting which started the next day at 6pm, well after work hours. The next morning, I was told by my company First Sergeant that the meeting was mandatory, so all the soldiers had to be there with the exception of the people that were on leave. The way that it works leading up to the meeting is that everyone with school age kids or spouses would leave work at 4pm to get their families ready to be there at 6pm in time for the meeting. Everyone else would leave work at 5pm. My spouse usually does not get off work until after 6pm so they told me I had to stay at work. Come 5pm, I only had time to run to my house to let the dog use the restroom and then turn around to go right to the meeting. I did not have time to shower or do anything else between that time.. I arrived at the meeting right at 6pm and I had to park almost a quarter of a mile away because all of the lots were full. I entered the gymnasium and I ran into my First Sergeant who told me that I had to sign in on the sign-in roster. I then took a seat in the bleachers and waited about 10 minutes for the meeting to start. The meeting started with the Military Police talking about how to be safe if the spouses' soldier were to deploy overseas, then it was proceeded by Criminal Investigative Division. While Criminal Investigative Division was talking, I got out of the bleachers because I was really uncomfortable sitting there and stood along the outside of the basketball court. I could not quite make out what Criminal Investigative Division was saying because the guy did not have a lot of projection in his voice as well as the children that were playing. Then the brigade chaplain got up to talk. When he first got the floor, he said that it would only take his message would only take 5 minutes. I hear him start talking about all people being sinners. He actually went so far as to ask for a show of hands as to "who was for Jesus". He then said like we were all imperfect and that god was the only perfect being. At this point I was really shocked and I even mentioned it to a few people that were standing near me.I tried to leave the gym but I noticed there was the First Sergeant and the battalion Command Sergeant Major standing by the doors.I knew that there was no way they'd allow me to exit the gym. I was completely trapped there as a true captive audience for my military chain of command to proselytize me about Jesus Christ. Everyone in that gym was also trapped. The speech went on and on about loving jesus and the benefits you would get from loving jesus. At this point I was deeply offended because he had the audacity to say those things at an event that was supposed to be about the move to Korea. The next morning I asked a few people that said that it was a waste of their time but there was nothing they could do about it. So later that morning, I called Inspector General to file a complaint. I was told by the guy that there was not much I could do because I am in the army and we get mandatory briefings all the time i.e. sexual assault, Army Substance Abuse Programs, suicide prevention, etc. I told him that religion had nothing to do with those subjects. I told him that it was not the message itself that I was offended by, it was the fact that I was forced to go there in the first place. My point that I tried to make to him was that, they should have not made it mandatory and that they knew who they had speaking at the meeting before hand. I was told by Inspector General that if there were any spiritual fitness briefings that were mandatory, then I would most likely have to go. I told him that would not be right because I would then be held against my will for an event that has nothing to do with my profession nor any part of my military career. I told him that it was not spiritual fitness that got me through combat, it was physical and mental fitness that did. Fort Hood has a standing order with the post commander that all soldiers have to be gone by 5 pm.. To call a mandatory meeting and then get preached to was way out of line. It is not just because I am a non believer either. What about all the other people such as the Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, etc who went there to have their time wasted and be made to feel terribly inferior and not a true member of the Army "family"? What about the oath we all swore to the Constitution and not to Jesus? [name withheld] June 5, 2009 Jews as Americans? It's possible you're ignorant of your own history I suppose. Your (sic) surely not ignorance of your race though! No never. Which is why you always remain apart from the whole. Do you reject Zionism? Fat chance altho a few of you do. Screw the flag waving. Its race that matters. The jews know that better than anyone. [name withheld] June 6, 2009 To Mikey Weinstein and military Religious Freedom Foundation, What is it about Jews that they are up to their eyeballs in financial chicanery, ambulance chasing, pornography, lying thru their mainstream media teeth. That the wealthy doctor who died when his private plane went down in Montana, crashing into a Christian cemetary and killing him, his wife and children, had made millions from owning several abortion clinics and was, big surprise, jewish! The story reported? California doctor and family die in small plane crash. And you want to spread the lie that there is no religious freedom in the military...shame on you. Want to be jewish? The spawn of Satan? Hardly. I'll side with the angels. [name withheld] SUPPORT MRFF As we continue to fight in the courts, the media,
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