Letter to MRFF

So, Mikey Weinstein says that an Air Force cadet must remove a Bible scripture from his whiteboard. Who died and made Mr. Weinstein judge and jury? Mr. Weinstein can rant and rave all he wants. But let him get this through his thick skull: The Word of God has absolute authority, and in the end, it doesn’t matter what Weinstein’s opinion is.

You can take this to the bank: Unless Weinstein repents of his evil ways, this is what will eventually happen. On the day of judgment, one of God’s angels will drag Mr. Weinstein–while he is screaming in absolute terror–to a place where he definitely does not want to go. It is a place of absolute darkness, where God is absent and Satan has absolute domain. It is a place where Weinstein will live in eternity, and where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. At that point, Weinstein will believe in God, but it will be too late for him.

(name withheld)

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Dear (name withheld),

I’ve been asked to respond on behalf of Mikey Weinstein and MRFF, as Mr. Weinstein is busy — as usual — defending individuals in the military from those who would insist on imposing their religion on others, whether others want that or not. Your threat of God’s vengeance against Mikey indicates that you, too, would impose your religious views forcibly on others.

Just for the record, out American founding fathers anticipated people like you, having known so many in their lifetimes and learned of so many others preceeding them in history. That is exactly why they wrote into the Constitution and, again, into the First Amendment, that government and religion are to be kept separate. Religion is up to the individual.

In the military, individuals can feel quite pressured by others in their chains of command, which makes it all the more critical that expressions of religion not be done in such a way as to appear coercive. Chapels and chaplains are there for that reason. Similarly, those who live on base have private areas in their living quarters.

Now, if this doesn’t fit your view of America, our military, our history or Constitution, then I recommend strongly that you read up on them for yourself. Meanwhile, the rest of us will get back to work, protecting and defending those who protect and defend us.

Signed,
A patriotic American veteran and staunch MRFF supporter

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Dear (name withheld),

Mikey has read your email and asked me to respond.

You wrote:

“Who died and made Mr. Weinstein judge and jury?”

I’d like to ask you – who died and made YOU judge and jury? When did Jesus relinquish His Judgment Seat to you?

“Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1)

Jesus left us His standard for who is going to heaven and who is going to hell (Matthew 25:31-46) and you missed the mark on this one. I suggest you read all of this passage because He says that even those that profess to be His are not if they don’t take care of their fellow man.

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:40-41)
No, Mikey is not responsible for having the scripture erased from the whiteboard – the Air Force is. They have strict laws on religious neutrality.

Our military is secular not Christian and anyone who wants to don the uniform of our military is free to do so regardless of their religious affiliation or not religious beliefs.

BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE
Air Force Instruction 1-1
7 August 2012

2.11. Government Neutrality Regarding Religion. Leaders at all levels must balance constitutional protections for an individual’s free exercise of religion or other personal beliefs and the constitutional prohibition against governmental establishment of religion. For example, they must avoid the actual or apparent use of their position to promote their personal religious beliefs to their subordinates or to extend preferential treatment for any religion. Commanders or supervisors who engage in such behavior may cause members to doubt their impartiality and objectivity. The potential result is a degradation of the unit’s morale, good order, and discipline. Airmen, especially commanders and supervisors, must ensure that in exercising their right of religious free expression, they do not degrade morale, good order, and discipline in the Air Force or degrade the trust and confidence that the public has in the United States Air Force.

This law is for the Cadets, too, and his whiteboard was outside of his room. If he wrote this scripture inside of his room there wouldn’t have been a problem. No one is stopping or persecuting any Cadet from practicing their faith but it cannot be done in common areas.

If a Muslim wrote a quote from the Koran on their whiteboard OUTSIDE of their room – knowing the atmosphere at the Air Force academy for years – you can bet there would be outrage from the Christians.

Just in case you didn’t grasp the full story on this; 29 soldiers and 4 faculty and staff members contacted Mikey with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF). We DO NOT act on our own but on the complaints by our soldiers. If you have a problem with this I suggest you send your complaints to the soldiers and faculty staff. We are nothing more than an agent on their behalf to force the military to obey their own rules.

I’ll clear up another lie for you: Mikey is the face and founder of the MRFF but 75% of the Board, Advisory Board, volunteers and supporters are CHRISTIAN. A full 96% of our 36,000+ (1 can represent 50 and 1 does represent 100) military clients are CHRISTIAN. We fight for Christian rights more than anything else. You don’t hear that do you?

By condemning Mikey in your self-righteous, arrogant, hateful manner you have condemned all of us – including the Christians. I, for one, am shocked that a Christian would write such a thing as this without even bothering to check the facts. You are going to be held accountable for the words you typed in your email.

“But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matthew 12:36)

Idle – lazy, shunning the labour which one ought to perform

May God have mercy on you.

Pastor Joan
MRFF Advisory Board Member