To whom it may concern,
Your insidious out look on MY religious Freedoms are extremely biased! I fought and was wounded 2. I was given a Bible at Walter Reed.
You have the Balls to spout off in E-mails and write ridiculous articles. I would love to see you or one of your so called military constitutes in a foxhole under fire. Real Combat Fire, not firecrackers. Your a joke and would love to have you or one of your workers take the Bible of my VFW MIA/POW Table. Honestly, even if I was still active and not retired I’d still beat your Asses. Your in the same group as the Extremist group ISIL.
Good Evening
(name withheld)
Dear (name withheld),
“Honestly, even if I was still active and not retired I’d still beat your Asses.”
Which one of the following do you want to take on first?
Board Member
Major William E. Barker (Marines)
Advisory Board Members
John M. Compere (Judge and Brigadier General (Retired Army)
Chaplain Col. Quentin D. Collins (Retired Air Force and Army)
Edie Disler – PhD, Lt Col (Retired Air Force)
Robert S. Dotson (Retired Brigadier General)
Robert T. Herres (Retired Air Force and past Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Eagle Man, Ed McGaa (Retied Marine Corps fighter pilot)
George Reed (Retired MP and past Director of Command and Leadership Studies at the U.S. Army War College for 6 years
A.A. “Tony” Verrengia (Retired Air Force Brigadier General and Master Navigator)
Lawrence Wilkerson (Secretary of State Colin Powell’s Chief of Staff (2002-05).
Many of our Members, clients, volunteers and supporters have seen active duty.
The VFW is a private non-profit organization – not a government entity – so you can keep your bible on the POW/MIA table.
We are neither an atheist organization nor are we anti-Christian. Mikey is Jewish (and prays to the same Father we do 3 times a day) and 80% of the Board, Advisory Board, volunteers and supporters (244 in total) of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) are Christians. In fact, 96% of our 45,200+ soldier clients are Christians – Catholics, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodist, Lutherans, Baptists, Evangelicals, etc. We fight for the rights of these Christians more than any other religion but it never makes the news.
The bibles are being removed because they were never included in the original POW/MIA table.
Also, it is against our laws.
Col. John M. Devillier is the installation commander and his spokesman paraphrased AFI (Air Force Instruction) 1-1, Sections 2.11.and 2.12, which are based on the laws below:
“Our leaders and personnel are encouraged to accommodate the free exercise of religion and other personal beliefs, including freedom of expression unless it has an adverse impact on mission accomplishment,” he wrote. “Air Force leaders must carefully balance constitutional protections of individuals’ free exercise of religion or other personal beliefs with the constitutional separation of church and state. They must ensure their actions cannot reasonably be construed to officially endorse, disapprove of, or extend preferential treatment to any faith or absence of faith.”
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/local-military/turner-objects-to-removal-of-bible-from-wright-pat/nq47X/
Jefferson’s concept of “separation of church and state” first became a part of Establishment Clause jurisprudence in Reynolds v. U.S., 98 U.S. 145 (1878). In that case, the court examined the history of religious liberty in the US, determining that while the constitution guarantees religious freedom, “The word ‘religion’ is not defined in the Constitution. We must go elsewhere, therefore, to ascertain its meaning and nowhere more appropriately, we think, than to the history of the times in the midst of which the provision was adopted.” The court found that the leaders in advocating and formulating the constitutional guarantee of religious liberty were James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. Quoting the “separation” paragraph from Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists, the court concluded that, “coming as this does from an acknowledged leader of the advocates of the measure, it may be accepted almost as an authoritative declaration of the scope and effect of the amendment thus secured.
In 1878 “separation of church and state” became part of the Establishment Clause BY LAW.
The Supreme Court heard the
Lemon v. Kurtzman case in 1971 and ruled in favor of the
Establishment Clause.
Subsequent to this decision, the Supreme Court has applied a three-pronged test to determine whether government action comports with the
Establishment Clause, known as the Lemon Test:
Government action violates the Establishment Clause unless it:
1. has a significant secular (i.e., non-religious) purpose,
2. does not have the primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion
3. does not foster excessive entanglement between government and religion
Parker v. Levy:
“This Court has long recognized that the military is, by necessity, a specialized society separate from civilian society… While the members of the military are not excluded from the protection granted by the First Amendment, the different character of the military community and of the military mission requires a different application of those protections. … The fundamental necessity for obedience, and the consequent necessity for imposition of discipline, may render permissible within the military that which would be constitutionally impermissible outside it… Speech [in any form] that is protected in the civil population may nonetheless undermine the effectiveness of response to command. If it does, it is constitutionally unprotected.” (Emphasis added) Parker v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733, 1974
The bible had to be removed because it violated AFI 1-1, Sections 2.11 and 2.12, the Constitution,
Reynolds v. U.S., 98 U.S. 145 (1878,
Lemon v. Kurtzman and Parker v. Levy.
“Your (sic) in the same group as the Extremist group ISIL”
Um…nope.
Good evening to you, too.
Pastor Joan
MRFF Advisory Board Member
Dear (name withheld) –
I am responding to your April 18, 2016 email to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. First, I want to thank you for your service and assure you that we at MRFF have absolutely no problem with your reliance on the Bible during your time of service – in fact, we would vehemently defend your right to practice the religion of your choice. It may surprise you to learn that over 96% of our clients are Christians who suffer religious discrimination and persecution!
On the subject of discrimination, I am appalled by your instinct to lump anyone with a different religious belief from yours into the same category as ISIL! Your violent and insulting reaction to the mandates of the First Amendment is exactly why we fight for the religious freedom of ALL brave soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, cadets, and veterans – NOT just the Christian service members!
Perhaps if you approached the issue with any understanding of the Constitution or the mission of MRFF, people would be more inclined to give your ranting some sort of merit. Remember – You can’t spell “proselytize” without the letters “P-O-L-I-T-E!”
Blessed be,
Tobanna Barker
MRFF Legal Affairs Coordinator
Dear (name withheld),
You apparently misunderstand the issue and your anger is neither necessary nor is it appreciated.
Religious artifacts of one faith do not belong on a government-sponsored display because they reflect only one religious belief and therefore do not honor, and by inference dishonor, the beliefs of those POWs and MIAs who were not Christian.
It is a matter of the separation of church and state. No on here is opposing Christianity, we are supporting the U.S. Constitution and military regulations. It’s a pity that you’ve not chosen to understand the reality of the situation and have instead become unnecessarily defensive and argumentative. No good is served by your combative attitude.
As you’ll note if you’ve been paying attention, the military authorities agree with our position and have asked that the Bibles be removed..
Mike Farrell
(MRFF Board of Advisors)
