February 2012 Newsletter: Quran Burnings, Nazi Flags in Afghanistan; MRFF triumph over anti-Muslim General; MRFF Speaks at Ft. Riley

Dear Military Religious Freedom Foundation,

Thousands of Afghans consider it acceptable to murder American/ISAF service members over the burning of a book (accidental or intentional), but US military leadership are the villains here? Have you lost your mind? The US must not apologize. The US must safeguard the rights of its citizens to speak freely about religion. The fact that you don’t vehemently oppose the idea of a trial of those responsible for the Koran burning is incomprehensible to me- almost to the extent that I seriously question my affiliation with the organization…

(name withheld)

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Hi (name withheld),

Thanks for your note to MRFF. Mikey’s up to his chin in mail and has many other irons in the fire. I hope you don’t mind me sitting in for him.

My name is Rick Baker and I volunteer for MRFF especially when mail volume is high, to make sure everyone gets a deserved response.

I am a former Air Force Officer and Rescue Pilot, having served two consecutive combat tours in Vietnam. I say this only to qualify my remarks about military procedure.

It is true that thousands of Afghans consider it acceptable to kill American and allied troops over the burning of Kurans. It is also true that thousands of Afghans consider it acceptable to kill American and allied troops at any time, any place and for any reason. Yes, we are assisting the Afghans to rid themselves of religious tyranny and getting shot in the butt for it.

So, to ameliorate this violence against our troops, our military leadership in this theater, from day one, have been issued a standing general order from CENTCOM; General Order Number One which outlines things we must not do to rile up the Iraqi and Afghan locals, such as Christian Proselytizing, disrespect for Muslim holy days, defiling Mosques, talking to women, handing out Bibles to civilians at gun point, peeing on enemy dead, etc.

Given the already fierce Muslim/Christian religious animosity it doesn’t take much to set the Muslims off.

So when our military leadership ignores or forgets General Order #1 and orders or allows things like the Kuran burnings to occur, it is they who put their troops in harms way needlessly.

Mikey’s admonition to local commanders is simply to help keep them and their commands out of needless danger. Since it is the commanders who either directed or allowed this violation to occur, then it is they who must be reminded of their irresponsible act. If they are not listening to directives and allow their personal beliefs to override common sense, they must be corrected.

The rights of American soldiers may, from time to time, suffer minor abridgements in the interest of the majority. General Order #1 is such an adjustment of soldiers’ religious freedoms designed to save lives. Speaking freely and openly about one’s religion or proselytizing in an Islamic environment redoubles the effort on the part of the enemy and even our supposed allies, to kill even more Americans.

So, in a way, knowing the volatility of religion in this theater of war, local commanders, in fact, contributed to many American deaths.

Believe it or not, in MRFF’s continuing mission of guaranteeing religious freedom in our armed forces, the major offenders are those known as Christian Dominionists who are on a level of religiosity equal to and often in excess of Muslim counterparts. Dominionists are of the “kill ’em all and let God sort ’em out” school of warfare. They would love a nice juicy Holy War to
reinforce their belief in the invincibility of their doctrines. If you are not familiar with the term “Dominion Christian,” just Google it. There is a plethora of information, much of it truly shocking.

It is our considered belief that if an apology will assuage the anger and resentment of the Afghans then it must be made. This for the common good and advancement of interfaith and military relationships.

You are important to us and we would not want to lose your support over this incident and hope that you can see our point. We do not encourage a trial but would not oppose one. I personally would hope that the commanders involved recognize their role in the reaction to the Kuran burnings without further legal action .

Sincerely,

Rick Baker
20th Special Operations Group
Phan Rang, RVN 1964-66

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Richard,

It seems to me like US leadership and MRFF are acquiescing to the demands of religious fanatics in order to ‘protect the troops’- when the fact is that the troops are there to combat the religious fanatics in the first place. I 100% support MRFF’s efforts to rid the military of proselytization of ‘Dominion Christians’ as you call them, but why does MRFF in turn stick up for the demands and concerns of rabid Islamic lunatics? I certainly don’t think it should be US policy to go around burning Korans, but I frankly don’t think its a big deal and don’t think US leadership needs to stoop to the level of the fanatics by agreeing that heads should roll. What if the US military burned books on scientology? Does the rabidness/lunacy of the reaction make the act any more unjust? Sam Harris’s essay at the link below sums up my position.

http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/do-we-have-the-right-to-burn-the-koran/

(name withheld)

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Hi (name withheld),

Finally getting time to write again.

It is not my understanding that American troops are in the Mid East to fight religious fanatics. Now I know that President Bush briefly referred to the Iraq invasion as a “Crusade” but in general the reasons given to Congress and the public for our presence there was to remove a heinous dictator and free the Iraqi people from his grasp. The Afghanistan war stemmed from our response to the Twin Towers episode and the subsequent search for Osama Bin Laden and his band of merry Taliban.

However, no official statement giving the reason for our presence as a “Holy War” has ever been officially made.

It is the Christian Dominion religious fanatics in the US Armed Forces that concerns MRFF at this juncture. We have no Muslim Supremacy cases or Jewish or Buddhist, etc. Only Christian. I suppose if we were in Afghanistan the positions might be reversed.

Also it is not Muslims seeking our help but rather our perception of what could cause more death and destruction if allowed to take place. What good is attacking Islam when the only result is increased hostility against the very troops who are there to help?

The US Armed Forces must remain religion neutral in order to guarantee all members freedom of religion and avoid religious conflict world wide.

Rick