Military Religious Freedom Foundation? Seriously?

Your call for the court martial of Maj. General Craig Olson is “brazenly” anti-American.  The very name of your organization is an oxymoron.   If one cannot express his or her belief in whatever faith they believe, than your organization is not granting “freedom.”   Every serviceman should respect the religious beliefs of every other service man, expressed or unexpressed.   As a wife of a retired navy captain AND the mother of an active duty  navy diver I think the members of your organization should be ashamed of themselves!  Go stand in the corner!

(name withheld)

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Dear (name withheld),

I am writing in response to your May 18, 2015 email to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (“MRFF”).  First, I hope you will express my thanks to your husband and son for their service to our country.  I also truly appreciate the sacrifices you must have made as the wife and mother of men who chose to serve.

It appears from your email that you are either confused or misinformed regarding the mission of MRFF.  I hope I can provide some clarity regarding MRFF’s work, as well as its recent demand that Major General Craig Olson be disciplined as a result of his speech at the National Day of Prayer Task Force event.

The mission of MRFF is to protect and defend the religious freedom of all soldiers, sailors, Marines, cadets, and veterans.  It receives numerous complaints from service members throughout the country who are suffering from religious discrimination or persecution at the hands of their superiors and MRFF works tirelessly to correct the wrongs inflicted on these individuals.  I hope you can see that MRFF agrees with you statement, “Every serviceman should respect the religious beliefs of every other service man [sic].”  Unfortunately, that ideal situation is simply not the reality faced by our men and women in uniform.

One way MRFF works to protect religious freedom within the military is by ensuring that military leaders respect and adhere to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as well as military regulations.  This brings me to Maj. Gen. Olson’s speech.  First, allow me to share some facts concerning Major General Craig Olson’s recent speech that are important to the issue of whether violated the mandates of the Establishment Clause:

Maj. Gen. Olson is the Program Executive Officer for C31 and Networks at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.  He is also the highest-ranking officer there, leading 2,200 subordinate Air Force personnel.  In his speech, he admitted that he has neither the ability nor the training to perform his job:

“He put me in charge of failing programs worth billions of dollars.  I have no ability to do that – NO TRAINING TO DO THAT – God did all of that.

“He sent me to Iraq to negotiate foreign military sales; deals through an Arabic interpreter.  I have no ability to do that – I WAS NOT TRAINED TO DO THAT – God did all of that.

“I also went in as a very self-sufficient person.  I thought if you work hard you’ll do fine and that was working great in high school.  Did not work very well at the Air Force Academy.  That’s where I realized I had a very limited intellectual ability.

“I still carry in this pocket my transcript from the Air Force Academy – as Exhibit A in the court of law – that you’re not a gifted intellect; you have no real academic skills.”

In addition to admitting that he is not qualified for his own job, Maj. Gen. Olson requested that the audience pray for Defense Department leaders and for troops preparing to re-deploy.  While this request might be a perfectly acceptable expression of religion under some circumstances, he specifically stated that Defense Department leaders “need to humbly depend on Christ” and requested prayers for the troops so they can “bear through that by depending on Christ.”  Moreover, he made these statements in his official capacity as a military leader while wearing his uniform, thus giving the impression that his statements clearly endorsing Christianity over other religious beliefs were made on behalf of the Air Force.

It should also be noted that Maj. Gen. Olson was speaking at a National Day of Prayer Task Force event.  The mission of the National Day of Prayer Task Force is to mobilize the Christian Community “to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: government, military, media, business, education, church, and family.”  Therefore, he was speaking in his official capacity for a group whose sole purpose is to inject its own Christian beliefs into all areas of government, in direct violation of the Establishment Clause.

Maj. Gen. not only violated the Establishment Clause, he also violated USAF Instruction 1-1, Sec. 2.12: “Leaders at all levels…must ensure their words and actions cannot reasonably be construed to be officially endorsing or disapproving of, or extending preferential treatment for any faith, belief, or absence of belief.”  Pursuant to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the violation of a lawful regulation “shall be punished as a court martial may direct” (emphasis added).

As you can see, MRFF’s demand that Maj. Gen. Olson be discipline was made pursuant to Air Force Regulations, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and the mandates of the Establishment Clause.  MRFF does not oppose Maj. Gen. Olson’s religious beliefs or his right to express them.  However, the Establishment Clause and Air Force Regulations require that he express them in the proper time, place, and manner.  When he endorsed Christianity over other religious beliefs while in his official capacity while wearing his uniform, he essentially announced that the Air Force expects its members to accept and worship Christ.  See Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992) (holding that the decision of a public school principal concerning an introductory prayer at graduation ceremonies was attributable to the State).  This type of proselytizing can have very real consequences for the 2,200 Air Force members under his command.

I hope I have adequately explained the mission of MRFF.  As you can see, its work defending the rights of all who serve in our military is far from “anti-American.”  If you have any other questions or concerns, I would be happy to address them.

Blessed be,

Tobanna Barker

MRFF Volunteer