REUTERS – Memorial crosses at California Marine Corps base ignite debate
Accessibility Notice
This post was created on the previous version of the MRFF website, and may not be fully accessible to users of assistive technology. If you need help accessing this content, please reach out via email.Recent Posts
- May 4, 2026 | No comments
- April 30, 2026 | 2 comments
5 Comments
Comments are closed.
I checked out your web site after a mention of you in the news and I must say that I am disappointed. When we swore our oath to this country, we did so with Gods help. Remember? But I really came to ask a question about a statement made by Mr Weinstein, “Our goal is to support the Constitution, which mandates separation of church and state, and to support all members of our armed forces including those who are not fundamentalist Christians.” Since this is a statement is believed to be a fact by Mr Weinstein, can he also present where exactly the Constitution mandates this separation? That would go a long way to make your point or expose where your loyaltys lie.
Mikey –
Quoted from your website:
“The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is the sole nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the Constitutional guarantee of both freedom of religion and freedom from religion, to which they and all Americans are entitled.”
From what I read in the news, I believe that your “dedication to ensure” is neglecting the part about Freedom OF Religion!
1st amendment: ” Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free excercise thereof.:
On its face this appears to not support your position.
@Lance
Actually, when we swore the oath to serve this country and protect the Constitution, we did NOT do so with any deity’s help. There is no requirement to swear any oath in this country to any deity, and it is unconstitutional (Article VI) to have any such requirement.
And to answer your question, there are 4 places in the Constitution which together mandate the separation of church and state. The first is in Article VI, which states that there shall be no religious test for any office or public trust.
The second and third are in the First Amendment. It first part states that Congress (and by extension the rest of the US Government) may make no law establishing any religion. This means that the government may not give any preference to any religion or belief system over any other. ALL belief systems MUST have exactly the same benefits and/or restrictions. A person cannot be forced or coerced to follow any belief system that he or she does not subscribe to.
The second relevant part of the First Amendment is that Congress may not prohibit the free exercise of any religious belief. This means that each individual is free to follow his or her own beliefs without hindrance, without overt or covert pressure to change and follow those beliefs, as long as those beliefs do not impinge on the rights of others to follow their beliefs. Congress may not make any law which interferes with people following their beliefs UNLESS there is a relevant and overriding secular reason for the law. For example, a religion which includes human sacrifice is restrained from practicing that rite because of the laws against murder, and the sacrifice impinges (severely) on the right of the victim to follow his/her own beliefs and to not be forced to follow someone else’s.
The fourth part of the separation of Church and State is in the 14th Amendment, Section 1. It states that no state may abridge the right of the citizens in that state which are guaranteed to the several states, i.e. at the federal level. This means that states are subject to the US Constitution as well as their state Constitutions, and that the protections in the US Constitution are superior to any laws in the states where there is a conflict between the two.
The four pieces together comprise what is referred to as the “Separation of Church and State”. There are many laws, combinations of laws, and judicial rulings which have a “shorthand” name which refers to them. For example, the “Lemon Test” is not actually called that in the Supreme Court decision of Lemon vs Kurtzman (1971), even though the original explanation of the test is detailed there. However, that test is well known by that name, and often referred to by that convenient shorthand. That is the same with the Separation of Church and State. Those sections and others of the US Constitution help ensure that the US is ruled by a secular government, not a religious one.
When the Mormons come to my door, I send them away telling them I have more respect for Satan worshippers than them, because the Satan worshippers are upfront about their beliefs and do not base their religion upon deception and deceit door to door.
So when I came to your site, and say the name of your organization “Military Religious Freedom”, and being retired military myself, I said “Cool”, let’s look at this organization. So I figured the first place to look should be your “Mission”. Here is what I have observed from your mission (and related articles to those missions statements).
No member of the military may be compelled to endure unwanted religious proselytization, evangelization or persuasion of any sort in a military setting and/or by a military superior or civilian employee of the military.
Since, as a CPO in the Navy, I had many sailors that I was superior to, they would be enduring ‘unwanted religious proselytization, evangelization or persuasion” if I displayed any article on my desk to profess my faith.
No member of the United States Armed Forces may be compelled in any way to witness or engage in any religious exercise.
Seems to me the vague word here is “exercise”, and the only way to enforce this, is to require there be no visible or audible expression by ANYONE of their religious beliefs at any place members are required to pass through with their eyes open
No religion or religious philosophy may be advanced by the United States Armed Forces over any other religion or religious philosophy.
The vague word here is “advanced”, since any outward display of their religious beliefs by ANY service member would be interpreted as an attempt to advance that religion over another.
In a nutshell, I see that your mission to ensure no one religion gets any more attention (as evident by any outwardly display of their religion by a serviceman) is to abolish ALL religious freedoms to prevent “advancing”, “exercising”, “proselytization”,
“evangelization” or “persuasion”.
But then your follow all these up with:
It is the responsibility of the military hierarchy to ensure that the free exercise of religious freedoms of all enlisted personnel are respected and served.
I’m sorry, but the Mormons have nothing up on you guys. Your mission statement alone has got to be the most hypocritical list of lies I have ever seen, since it becomes so very obvious that you oppose religious freedoms, and simply pretend to support them to attract attention and donations. DISPICABLE!