Extreme Offense

To Whomever,

Please remove “Military” from the name of your organization. As a devout Christian and service member, you do not represent me and never will. I am appalled by your use of the title “Military” in the name of your organization as it implies you have some association with it, an obvious falsehood.

As your organization and your clients are so easily offended by the smallest expression of religious freedom in this country (like posting a simple Bible verse on a whiteboard designated for PERSONAL USE, something so offensive I am amazed that anyone was able to keep their previously eaten food in their sensitive bodies), I would like to express just how overwhelmingly offended I am by your use of the word “Military” in the name of this “Foundation”.

However, the feelings and desires for freedom expressed by a Christian service member (who would protect you the same as any other service member) are to be suppressed at all costs and are not remotely as important as those of another person. Because lets be honest here…this “Foundation” really isn’t about religious freedom at all is it? It is about religious suppression.

Respectfully,

Your Loyal Follower of Christ
Your Loyal Service Member
A Person Who Would Die to Protect You and Your Family

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Dear (name withheld),

I’m sorry you chose to be upset about the work we do, but I’m afraid we can’t accommodate your request. There is no “falsehood” involved in the name or the work of the MRFF. Our organization is founded by an Air Force Academy graduate who went on to a distinguished career in the military and followed that with a successful stint in the Reagan Administration and then in private business. His two sons and a daughter in law are themselves graduates of the USAFA and are now serving their country. In addition, the 36,000 members of all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces who value and appreciate the help of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation completely understand the need for our assistance and support the mission of the organization.

So, while you feel no need for the assistance of the MRFF, that doesn’t mean your brothers and sisters in arms feel the same way. In short, you’ll just have to live with it.

Our job, should you care to know, is to protect the right of free thought, free choice and freedom of religion of the men and women in the military. We protect those who suffer from superiors who want to insist a particular religious belief on those who do not welcome it but because of being in a subordinate position cannot object without suffering penalties.

I’m sure, as you identify yourself as “a devout Christian,” you’d be decidedly uncomfortable if a superior attempted to foist on you a belief other than your own. In our experience, even Christians have been given to believe in some instances that they are not the “right kind” of Christian. I’m sure you wouldn’t countenance such behavior and wouldn’t accept it being pushed on someone else.

You see, that’s why this country has established a separation between church and state, so that no one is forced to feel a government body is shoving a particular faith or belief system down his or her throat. It is in support of the continued honoring of that separation that the MRFF spends its energy.

The incident that seems to have troubled you was brought to our attention by cadets who felt the message posted in a public place by one in a leadership position was discomfiting and was meant to put undue and inappropriate pressure on fellow cadets. Because these cadets were concerned that making an issue of it would create problems for them with those in positions of power over them, they contacted us. We, of course, conveyed our concern to the leadership of the Academy, who took the issue under consideration and determined that the posting was inappropriate and should be removed. It’s really as simple as that.

The decision to have the posting removed was made by the USAFA leadership because they agree that the military, as an arm of the government, should not be seen in any way to be favoring or supporting one belief system over another.

This in no way means one’s religious rights are being constrained; it simply means that everyone’s rights must be protected and the correct way to do that is to keep personal feelings to oneself or express them in the proper way and in the proper place.

So you see, you are simply incorrect in your assessment of this situation, just as you are incorrect in your assessment of the need for and the work of the MRFF. We are not about “religious suppression” at all. In fact, most of our member/supporters are themselves Christians, some of them clergy. What we’re about is respecting and protecting the right of everyone to have her or his religious – or non-religious – view treated with the honor it deserves and making sure no particular belief system is promoted, even “innocently,” in a way that makes it appear it is the one favored by the military, by the government, or by those in a position of power.

I hope this helps you better understand the value of and need for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

Mike Farrell
(MRFF Board of Advisors)

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Mike,

Thanks for “handling” me. I appreciate you allowing me to see the original email from your leader so that I could read how my loyalty to this country and my personal beliefs is mocked…it is exactly what I would expect to see on internal emails from an organization like yours. How can anyone mock the loyalty of a service member until they have served with them? Is it because I didn’t spend my military career inside of a court room that my loyalty falls short? Or was it my loyalty to Christ he was mocking? Either way, unlike your clients I am able to brush off criticism and ridicule (or simply something that I don’t like in most cases). No worries.

As for the rest of your canned organizational statements, we all know they are a ruse, and there is no reason for you to send back a response. I don’t plan addressing this situation again.

Your “Loyal” Correspondent

(name withheld)

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Dear (name withheld),

Your skin is apparently thinner than the logic of both your original comment and this petulant response. No one was mocking your loyalty; what was being pointed out with the quotation marks was the self-important and over-the-top manner in which you chose to identify yourself. The point being made is that your style of declaring your personal faith and attitude is, clearly for you, something to be headlined. It’s called, in common parlance, “stating the obvious.”

Why does one do that except to make a point? To us, it is irrelevant because we assume any service member is loyal. Why else would she or he volunteer? And to us one’s faith is personal and not a matter for discussion or question except when it is imposed on others. Why would someone have a need to do such a thing?

So you see, the attitude you assume in your response is just as mistaken as the attitude you assumed in your initial communication. And, sadly, you’re apparently so armored in a sense of rectitude you’re impervious to a consideration of any viewpoint but your own. Need I point out that it took you a full paragraph of defensive yammering before you could finally claim the ability to “brush off” my response?

Though I know you’ve said you won’t trouble yourself with answering this response, I can’t help but note your assertion that “we all know” that my description of the work of the MRFF is “a ruse.” Though I suspect I may know the answer, I must pose these questions: who are “we all”? and “a ruse” which is a cover for what, exactly?

Happily anticipating of your clarification… I am,

Mike Farrell
(MRFF Board of Advisors)