You are a disgrace

Published On: March 11, 2015|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|2 Comments|

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.

Hey Bekki,
I’m sure your parents are real proud of you!! Or maybe they are as sorry as you are for supporting that piece of garbage Mikey!! What a joke of a name!! Why don’t you go get a REAL job and do something worthwhile with the life God gave you instead of being a worthless piece of garbage working for that pervert mikey.  That’s right mikey, you are a pervert!! I can guarantee one day you will meet God, both of you will, and you will find out how very wrong about His existence you have been!!!

Mikey, you can scare and intimidate some people punk!! It’s a damn shame our military officers even listen to you one bit!!! Well you listen to me you sick perverted bastard!! You don’t scare me, you can’t intimidate me, and you can’t reason with me!!
You are nothing but a worthless sub-human degenerate who is nothing but a stain on the fabric of this great nation!!

I’m sure your parents are real proud of you too!!

Have a Blessed day!!!

God Bless America!!!

(name withheld)

 

Dear (name withheld),

 

You’re really proud that you can’t be reasoned with, huh?  I was thinking about reaching for my thesaurus to pull out a nice dramatic rebuttal to your nonsense, but alas…

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq-7P94pUoI

 

 

Cheers,

 

Blake A. Page

Military Religious Freedom Foundation

Special Assistant to the President

Director of US Army Affairs

 

Blake and Mikey,

I was going to write this response commiserate with my upper level education; however, considering who my audience is, I’ll keep it simple!!! Please forgive my earlier email, but I am angry, as are a lot of other people!!

BTW Blake, if you think your title is supposed to impress me, it doesn’t!!!

 

Now, whatever you two want to believe or disbelieve about God is fine!! That is your God given right, and I would not ever tell you otherwise!! It is part of our Constitution as well!!! I don’t even judge you for not believing!!! This decision is clearly up to you, and it is between you and God, and whether you believe it or not, someday you both will meet God, and you will find out how wrong you both were!!!

 

I pray that you turn toward Him before it is too late!!!

 

Now the reason so many of us are angry at you and your obtuse group is that you raise hell over every little religious thing that happens in the public arena, but usually in the military!

Now, if the military and/or the government was ORDERING or pushing anyone to participate in any form in a religious way, I would disagree with that!!!

So does God!! He gave us all free will to believe as we choose; however there are consequences to the choices that we make!!!

 

But no one is forcing anyone to believe in any certain way!!

 

It is asinine to believe that telling someone to “Have a Blessed Day” is anymore a problematic issue than saying “rock on”, or Long live Country Music”,  but Mikey thinks it is!! What if that person doesn’t like rock music or country music!!! So what!!! If you don’t like what is said, ignore it!!

It is pathetic that some stupid person is upset because someone, in this case a guard gate, actually cares if they have a good day or not!! How miserable can someone let their life get, and then to say if their identity is known, their life would be in danger because of their complaint??? What a stupid thing to say, and then for you to believe and/or repeat such a stupid comment truly shows how stupid you are!!

 

It is petty and asinine for you to be going after every little supposed religious injustice because in your mind it is wrong!! How ridiculous can you be?

 

Furthermore Mikey, for you to go after that soldier here some time back was just unacceptable!!! You were wanting him publicly punished or some idiot thing such as that because of something he put on his whiteboard where someone could see it!!!

 

Are you really that horrible of an individual? Or was that just some misquoted comment!!

 

How would you like it if I said I wanted you publicly humiliated??? Would you like that Mikey?

 

If you don’t think we have bigger problems to deal with than these issues you keep bringing up, you really are stupid!!!

 

Give it a rest!!! Go worry about things that really matter, and put your energy and resources into that!! Like app. 22 vets a day committing suicide!!! Like all the homeless and hungry vets that we have!! How many go without proper medical care?

 

Now, you will do well to recognize that there are a lot of very wealthy Christians like myself who can and will become a very serious legal adversary to you and your group if you continue on your present course!!

 

Is that how this needs to go?

 

I am not threatening you!! However we all have the same rights to sue another person or an organization, and I know for a fact that you don’t have anywhere near the money that we have in order to fight us!!!

 

We are tired of you and your little band of followers Mikey!! Enough is enough!!!

 

Where do we go from here?

 

The ball is in your court!!!

 

If either one of you want to call me and discuss this, (phone # withheld).

 

God bless you both!!

 

Have a blessed day!!

(name withheld)

 

 

Dear (name withheld),
If you think your exclamation marks are supposed to impress me, they don’t.
Now, if you’ve got the temerity to go about spreading the love of Jesus by raging at others through your keyboard, you’re most likely not the type to be able to handle a calm and reasoned discussion.  You’ve attempted to make enough points in your e-mail here that I am assuming you want to have a discussion just as bad as little Pinocchio wants to be a real boy.  Your dreams are certainly far off in the distant future, but who am I to stop you from shooting for the stars?
All that aside, you seem to be concerned about some of us at the foundation meeting some god or another.  I could assume that you’re referring to the god that’s really popular right now.  Perhaps you’re concerned about my meeting with ThorFrankly, discussing theological matters is a droll affair for me, and what little amusement that comes from it isn’t well spent with people as clearly unhinged as yourself.
You said that you and others are angry at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation because we “raise hell over every little religious thing that happens…in the military!”  Again, the name of our organization is the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.  We don’t try to hide the fact that the issues we seek to address deal with the military and religion.  Yes, I am being intentionally redundant, because I don’t want you to navigate away from this e-mail with a shred of doubt as to what we at MRFF deal with.
You say you would take issue with the military ordering anyone in the military to participate in religious activities.  Your verbiage was a bit rough, but that’s the best meaning I could extract from it.  Assuming that was your intended message, I have a series of questions for you.
-Are you aware that nearly every military unit has official greetings which service members are ordered to use?
-If the guards at Robins AFB were ordered to use the greeting, allahu akbar, would you take issue with the order?
-If the guards at Robins AFB were ordered to use the greeting, Hail Satan!, would you take issue with the order?
-If you do not think it would be right for all guards to be ordered to use the greetings “allahu akbar” or “hail Satan”, why?
I will concede the point that if you, individually, believe that it would be permissible for an officer to order subordinates to use those greetings then it wouldn’t make sense to change the greeting to begin with.  If you genuinely believe as a fundamental principle that it is acceptable for a service member to be ordered to profess something against their beliefs and those who prefer not too just need to learn to deal with it or ignore it, this conversation is wasted energy.  If this is the case, you, individually, are fundamentally maligned with functioning society.
On to your very last point.  I’m always interested to try to understand how others think and feel about the world.  You’ve made an assertion that you have a lot of money and therefore have some ability to win in the free marketplace of ideas.  I like to point this out, as it wasn’t suggested or something I had to extract from your message, but you said it outright.
“Now, you will do well to recognize that there are a lot of very wealthy Christians like myself who can and will become a very serious legal adversary to you and your group if you continue on your present course!!”
It’s not a secret that social and political conservatives capitalize on their capital in the culture wars.  What is interesting though is that people like yourself have a belief that the team with the most money can win, and deserves to win, in all arenas.  In what perverse version of the world is the moral high ground reduced to real estate for sale?  You’ve called Mikey a pervert, but your concept of ethics is as perverse as any I’ve seen.  You are correct in saying that the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is not a financially wealthy organization.  Our wealth comes in the forms of knowledge, a sense of principled justice that cannot be bought or sold, and an ideological alignment with the framers of our US Constitution.  The nice thing about our mission is that we’ve already won a thousand times over.  We won the moment the Constitution was written and theocracy in the United States was made criminal.  Sure, we have the occasional insurgence of domestic terrorists that want to conquer under the sign of the cross, but until those lunatics strike up a second civil war they’ll be guaranteed to lose in court regardless of their coffers.
Cheers,
Blake A. Page
MIlitary Religious Freedom Foundation
Juggernaut of Secular Awesome
Proud to Never Have Attended Texas Tech U

 

 

So Joan told me that a large number of Christians make up a large part of your organization!!
Christians believe in the one and only true God!!!
You don’t seem to share that idea!!! Since apparently you don’t believe in God at all!!
So it appears that there is a difference of opinion in your group.
Anyway, I’m done talking with you Blake.
Goodbye
(name withheld)
Dear (name withheld),

I do not believe in the Christian god, or any other god.  I am also an individual, and do not speak for the religious preference of each of our volunteers, clients, supporters, etc.  I have the good fortune of being able to live with humans that I disagree with on philosophical points without feeling the need to disrespect or disparage them.
Yes.  There are differences of opinion in our group.  And that’s a good thing.  We call this difference of opinion “diversity”.  It has been the singular most celebrated facet of our country’s population since its inception.  In fact, those that see diversity as something to be shunned have been universally characterized as the villains of history, because they do nothing good in the world.
If the only point you found contentious in the entire message I sent you was the one point I made no effort to argue your powers of persuasion are on par with a screaming infant.
Take care,
Blake
Blake,
I do not judge your right to believe as you do, and I would not do that to anyone!!! You are very correct about diversity!!
Your pastor Joan told me that Mikey is a Jew, a Christian!! I’m having a real hard time believing that!
But that is my issue, not his or yours.
Now, my whole issue with what was being said at the gate is this.
If a superior officer had ordered any greeting to include a religious statement of any kind,  I would disagree with that order. I don’t want our government telling anyone how they should believe, or even if they should believe!
However, an individual taking it upon him or herself to tell someone to “have a blessed day” is not an issue! It is not making me believe any certain way; it is not even suggesting that I should believe a certain way.
If someone told me “hail Satan”, or any other greeting,  I would probably say “Jesus loves you”, or something like that, or maybe just simply ignore them, as they can ignore me. They have the right to believe as they choose, and I have the same right.
I have read on your website what your group professes to do! I think your ultimate goal is to restrict the spread  of anything to do with Christianity in the military at all!! I would not be surprised if you would try to keep our service members from attending a base church if you could make that happen.
Mikey, a few months ago you tried to make an example out of a soldier who had posted a Christian reference on his public whiteboard. I am unclear as to what the issue was. It was his private board; how is that any of your business?
I’m sure the Muslims in our armed forces do the same thing, but I don’t see you saying anything about them. Of course we know what would happen if you did!!
In fact you don’t say anything about any other religion. Why is it only Christian’s that you go after?
I await your response.
(name withheld)

Dear (name withheld),

I think we’ve come to an understanding.
“If a superior officer had ordered any greeting to include a religious statement of any kind,  I would disagree with that order. I don’t want our government telling anyone how they should believe, or even if they should believe!”
Excellent!  If an order was issued to use a religious greeting (it was) you would disagree with that order.  That is precisely our position.  The order to use a religious greeting was rescinded.  So it looks like we’re on the same team.
You make the claim that MRFF has an axe to grind with Christianity.  You don’t present real evidence in defending your claim.  A few months ago we tried to make an example of a cadet in a leadership position (not a soldier) who posted a Christian reference on his public whiteboard which was also used for the dissemination of information to his subordinate cadets.  Please get your facts in line with reality before you try to present them as evidence.  We can’t have a productive conversation if the claims you make are caricatured versions of the truth.
Now you’ve asked us to go after “the Muslims”.  Could you be more specific?  Which Muslims?  What did they do to violate the law?  Before we take on any case we need to know details about the parties involved and specific events that transpired.  We also need to have a client come forward to request our services.  If you know of any real instance of Muslim leaders ordering their subordinates to violate their religious beliefs using their rank or position in the military, please let us know and we’ll investigate it as we do all claims made by our clients.  While I am not omniscient, and can’t say with certainty that the sort of incidents that are frequently reported to us as perpetrated by Christians are never perpetrated by Muslims, I can say with confidence that we just don’t get those complaints.  With the amount of anti-Muslim xenophobic rage floating around nowadays, I’m sure a large number of sailors, soldiers, marines, and airmen would be jumping at an opportunity to see Muslim leaders in some sort of trouble.  They just don’t seem to violate the Constitution with the same frequency as Christians.  Short version, the reason you see us dealing with Christian theocrats more frequently than Muslims is because the reports we receive are of actual violations of the law, not vague claims of “Muslims are bad so go get ’em, giggity giggity yeee-haw!”.
And lastly, what’s “a Jew, a Christian!!”?  Those are mutually exclusive terms.  If you’re curious about Mikey’s personal religious beliefs ask him.  If he doesn’t feel like answering, who cares?  Someone else’s religious preference cannot possibly impact your life.  If it does, that’s a problem best kept between you and your spirit guide, or psychologist…whatever you’re into.
-Blake
So Joan told me that a large number of Christians make up a large part of your organization!!
Christians believe in the one and only true God!!!
You don’t seem to share that idea!!! Since apparently you don’t believe in God at all!!
So it appears that there is a difference of opinion in your group.
Anyway, I’m done talking with you Blake.
Goodbye
(name withheld)
Oh (name withheld),

Is it too much to ask that you grow up? If you have a concern that you’d like to discuss about the work of the MRFF there are many of us who would be happy to

respond to your questions. But to launch a juvenile assault on a woman you don’t know and condemn her and others on the basis of absolutely no knowledge at

all is not only childish, it’s cowardly.

Your “guarantee” implies that you have a relationship with God. If so, saying the things you’ve said and associating them with your concept of a deity must be

a source of both pain and embarrassment to whatever higher power you think you know.

Your reference to someone finding out “how very wrong about His existence you have been” suggests you think you know something about the beliefs of those

you have targeted with this puerile assault. The degree to which you are wrong is only matched by the depths, one must assume, of your general ignorance.

Further, your schoolyard bluster would make a relatively mature sixth-grader blush with embarrassment. The one point you make that is clearly correct, if sadly

so, is the statement “you can’t reason with me.” That is too sadly evident and is true of most of the ignorant bullies around, a group with which you are doubtless

well acquainted.

As far as the mention of proud parents is concerned… well, maybe you should call home, read them your message and get your mouth washed out with soap.

If any further questions, I am

Mike Farrell

(MRFF Board of Advisors)

 

 

Hi (name withheld) —
I realize that I’m a bit late to this party, but hopefully not too late to get in on the dialogue / debate.  I know that you have already heard from others and may still be having some back-and-forth discourse — my intent is not to pile on.  Rather, I only seek the opportunity to give you my perspective on the issues you’ve raised and, if you are interested, to have some further discussion with you myself.
My background — lifelong, committed and active Christian; USAF Academy graduate (’85); AF veteran; presently a business executive in the supply chain management arena.  And of course, I support MRFF in a variety of ways in a volunteer capacity.
My first approach to MRFF was from a critical perspective.  I learned of the organization through reports related to my alma mater, USAFA, regarding the debate over whether the phrase “so help me God” should be required as part of the cadet honor oath.  To be frank, my initial response was to assume that MRFF was primarily interested in impinging on the religious freedom of believers such as myself.  So I wrote, just as you have done (although my email was decidedly more polite than the nasty note that you sent to Bekki Miller, which is unfortunate but we can set that aspect aside and focus on the real issues).  And like you, I received a nearly immediate response from MRFF that led first to further discussion, and then a concerted effort on my part to learn more about the Constitutional issues associated with religious freedom and the US military.  I must confess that, prior to that time, I was like many Christians in the US… confident and a bit complacent in my assumption that my Christian beliefs should essentially ‘rule the day’ since the vast majority of Americans are, in fact, Christians.
So it was not entirely comfortable for me to realize, as I began to study the issue for the first time, that my confidence and complacency about the appropriateness of Christian prominence was actually at odds with the purpose and intent of the US Constitution.  Nonetheless, I could conclude nothing else.  The SHMG issue with the USAFA honor oath is a great example of the need for greater neutrality on religious matters in the US military.  It’s ironic, don’t you think, that until SHMG was made optional for cadets that non-believers were essentially being forced to lie… when taking the honor oath?  But that is exactly what was happening.  And making SHMG optional has not in any way usurped the religious freedom of believers — those who wish to say it still can do so, although to hear conservative pundits describe it, such a change is nothing short of blatant discrimination against believers.  Nonsense, I say.
You ask in one of your emails that I’ve seen – What is the harm of Security Forces at an AFB saying “Have a blessed day” as a standard greeting?  To me, the potential harm is obvious.  The issue is that it establishes in a rather official way that this particular AFB is promoting the notion that there is a God.  Personally, I agree — there is a God and we would be wise to seek His blessing.  But the US military doesn’t get to take such a stand, because it is enjoined by both the US Constitution and applicable AF guidelines to remain neutral.  It’s really that simple.  Not everyone who enters through those gates is a believer.  And I’d guess that not every SP working the gates is a believer.  So here you have good, honorable people doing a great thing by serving our country, and the fact that some are believers and some are not should have no impact on their honorable service.
Now, I’m sure you think this is still a very small thing — but I’d ask you, then where would you draw the line on neutrality?  If it’s okay for gate guards to express a sectarian belief, is it also okay for commanders to do it with their troops?  Or senior enlisted with junior enlisted?  I’m quite open to your ideas, but you don’t get to just say that it’s okay — you need to describe what you think is not okay.  I can’t tell from your notes that I’ve read if you have a military background or not.  If you do, then you should appreciate that the military environment is unlike anything in the civilian sector.  Soldiers, sailors, and airmen are taught to follow orders, even orders that may lead to their death.  So the degree of control and impact that words and opinions have is exponentially higher than any civilian equivalent.  For that reason, all words and opinions should face greater scrutiny to ensure that the time, place and manner of their use is appropriate.
There is much more that I could share, but I’ll stop here and give you an opportunity to respond, if you are interested in doing so.
Peace,
Mike Challman
Christian, AF veteran, MRFF supporter

Mike,
I met you in person about 25 years ago. I know you don’t remember, that’s ok.
Just a quick handshake, how are you kinda deal.

I know you are saddened by my outburst yesterday.

I’m sorry for that.

I just wasn’t expecting you to be against God the way that it seems you are.

Anyway, take care.

God Bless You Mike.
(name withheld)

 

(name withheld), please don’t continue to be foolish. Whatever people are telling you about us,

have courage and sense enough to find out the truth for yourself.

No one here is against God. That’s just damned silly. What’s happening is that people

with an agenda of their own spread lies about the MRFF. They’re lies. It might be a

good thing for you to find out more and then have a better ability to judge the people

you’re hearing this crap from instead of wasting your time attacking us for things we’re

not doing.

Mike Farrell

Mike,
Please see my other email.
You are correct about that we should always do our best to find out the facts before making a decision or a judgment.
Certainly you and I both know that there are always at least two sides to every situation; the truth is usually in the middle.
I’m sorry for feeling that you were against God. However two other people in the organization have emailed me and both have made it very clear that they don’t believe in God at all. I don’t know whether they mean they are against God, or just simply don’t believe in Him.
We can chat later if you would like too.
I gotta get some sleep. My day starts about 5 every weekday!
Good night Mike
God bless you!!
(name withheld)
Hi (name withheld),
I know there are some associated with the MRFF who are atheists. I know many atheists and agnostics. Being so doesn’t make them “against God,” it makes them, very simply, people who do not believe there is a God or, in the case of agnosticism, people who aren’t sure. That, of course, is their right.

Their work with the organization is appreciated just as much as is that of the Jews, Muslims, Christians of varying denominations, Native Americans, Wiccans, Buddhists, Hindus and those of other forms of belief and non-belief who share the MRFF’s dedication to the protection of the right of every member of the military to her or his own belief system. It is, very simply, support for the separation of church and state so that our government shows or implies no preference to one belief system over others.

Contrary to your concern about someone being “against God,” our focus is on being “for America and its constitution.” The only thing we’re against is when someone wants to push his or her belief system on those in positions inferior to theirs.

I understand that some who believe deeply in their own particular faith feel a need to convey it to others, but that cannot be allowed in a government organization. That’s for church or temple or wherever or whatever time is set aside for one to practice her or his belief system.

I hope that’s clear.

Sleep well.

 

Mike

 

Dear (name withheld)

I guess you were named correctly (name withheld), as your e-mail belongs in the toilet.

Bekki does have a real job and a most important one too.  Unlike you she is concerned with assisting people find the truth instead of whacking them on the head with personal outdated bigotry.

I’m sorry but you couldn’t hold a candle to Mikey Weinstein whose sterling record in the Air Force  Judge Advocate’s office, his time as White House Counsel to President Ronald Reagan and years assisting our young military members keep out of the reach of perverted Dominion Christian operatives who have achieved positions or Rank and Power in the US Military have kept many of our troops from serious harm.

I guess you have forgotten one of Christianity’s most important rules: Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged. (Like I just have.)

Rick Baker
Capt, USAF (Ret)
MRFF Volunteer

Recent Posts

Share This Story

2 Comments

  1. Andy March 12, 2015 at 2:04 pm

    Your website says, and I quote “There is only one religious scripture, the American Constitution”.

    You obviously “Mikey” do not believe in the very scripture you profess to believe in. Because you lead a group that seems to be hell bent on removing any reference to God and decency from the Military.

    You’ll get what you ask for, that much is for sure.

    You’ll also be the victim of your unintended consequences. But then so will your children and your children’s children.

    Have a Blessed day.

  2. Jim March 12, 2015 at 9:30 pm

    Guy, I think you need a new keyboard because every time you try to type a period you get !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! instead.

Leave A Comment