To MFFR

Published On: May 16, 2016|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|1 Comment|

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I served from 89 to 94. I served during a time period that allowed me to believe freely in Jesus and share the word of God with many other men and women in uniform at that time without being told I was somehow wrong by a group like your sick and perverted lack of freedom and destroyer of the 1st amendment rights for soldiers. So I just have this to say about your organized hate of Jesus… When you stand before the very righteous God and have to answer for all that you’ve done on this earth I simply ask this question… What excuse will you have for the out right hate you’ve spewed?

A soldier has every right of a citizen period. 1st Amendment secures any soldiers right to believe and hold his faith in his/her religion. That your organization goes out right against a soldier being able to openly discuss and share his/her belief is simply against the constitution and it just shows your ignorance for what this country was founded upon. But the day is coming that you will bow your knee and confess that Jesus is Lord and on that day you will either do so with joy in your heart or you’ll be staining your pants with fear for the knowledge of what you rejected.

If I ever happen to meet you I will personally witness to you as long as I hold breath in this body for the gospel will not be hidden by the likes of your vile hatred towards Jesus. There are still those of us that have served our country and know how to stand up for what is right and your organization is definitely not right!

(name withheld)


Hi there (name withheld)… My name is Mikey Weinstein… I am ahead of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation… I think you have misjudged us and would ask you to reconsider your baseless ignorant vitriol against us… To begin with, just so you know, there is a very important United States Supreme Court ruling, Parker versus Levy, 1974, that makes it very clear that those in the military in fact do NOT have the same degree of constitutional rights as civilians do… In any event, I’m glad you are comfortable with your Christian faith… We currently represent over 45,300 members of the military and veterans, such as yourself, and 96% of our clients are Christians being oppressed because they are not considered “Christian enough” by their military superiors… I completely reject your version of Christianity which is, of course, my right… For those in the US military, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation doesn’t  give a crap about any of their  beliefs… all we care about is the time, place and manner in which they feel they need to deploy those beliefs  whatever they might be… Have a great day and try to follow that important biblical citation which asserts that you should “Judge not lest you be judged”…Matthew 7:1-3…


Judge not… no we are not to judge in the form of I’m better than that guy because of xyz… however since you’d like to use scripture the Bible tells a man to be an approved workman rightly dividing the word not ashamed… 2 Timothy 2:25 and since I can rightly divide God’s word I am not judging you to condemnation but I am doing what the Bible specifically tells me to do and that is be a fruit inspector. I am looking at your works and they go directly against what God teaches us. 2 Corinthians 13:5… I would have you know not for condemnation as it’s not my place to JUDGE you as I don’t know your heart only God can know a mans heart. I am very specifically saying the work ie the fruit of this organization is rotten to its sick core… You need to repent and accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation. Then stop trying to persecute a man/woman in uniform from his/her beliefs.
(name withheld)

Dear (name withheld),
You’re entitled to your own beliefs but not your own facts… It is my right, as it is the right of every human being, to completely reject YOUR version of Christianity… By the way there somewhere between 35,000 and 41,000 different distinct denominations of Christianity… Again, THAT is not our fight here at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation… We have no issue with anyone in the military sharing the gospel as long as it’s done in a time place and manner that is in full Accord with United States Constitution, it’s construing federal and state caselaw and all Department of Defense directors instructions regulations… If the alleged following of the proselytizing mandates of the great commission by any military member violates any of those terms, we will go to war against those spiritual rapists to the full extent of our ability …you can depend on that, sport …!
Mike Weinstein

Well that is wonderful, my Rabboni is Yeshua I am also Jewish by birth and blood, but I came to know Yeshua as my Lord and savior. The Torah was given to show you and I we are fallen from G-d through sin that entered into all mankind at creation with Adam. Isaiah 53 opened my eyes.
(name withheld)

As I said before I don’t give a crap about your belief as long as you follow the law in practicing it… Spare me any more self – serving declarations about how you happen to view your religious faith… That is NOT the issue with our foundation, jack… we live in a secular democracy where Christianity is afforded no special place of honor or recognition over ANY other faith or no faith for that matter… I think what it is is that you are poorly educated and therefore ignorant… Ignorance breeds fear… Fear breeds hatred… Hatred breeds prejudice and bigotry and… Prejudice and bigotry breed violence… See if you can break the cycle, sport…Be open to perhaps expeditiously pursuing better education than you have obviously ever had before…
Mikey Weinstein

Dear (name withheld),
I am on the National Advisory Board for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).  I was in the military for almost 33 years and just recently retired.  My days go back to the Vietnam era  (joined in 75) and had I not taken a break from service I would have had 41 years in. I started out as an enlisted Airman in the Security Police (USAF) then became an NCO before becoming a Line Officer in the Army which inevitably landed me back into the USAF as a Chaplain then completing my career with the Army as a Command Chaplain. I am a born again Christian and endorsed by a non-denominational organization called the Coalition of Spirit Filled Churches. I was also the highest decorated Military Chaplain in service and had 4 Combat tours. I have met Atheists in Foxholes.  I say all of that in the vein of St Paul in Romans 8; however not in trying to show I am a “Hebrew of Hebrews” as Paul described, rather I am expounding on your flawed perceptions.  Now I know Mikey very well and I was not always on the same side of the table with him, with that said I need to set the record straight.  First off, Mikey is not trying to destroy religion in the service.  He is trying to neutralize radical religious beliefs from all angles.  You are totally incorrect In this assumption, that Mikey does not help Christians.  The reality is that the vast majority of clients he has are Christians who just happened to not “fit” their senior leaders definition of “Christian”.  You have undoubtedly heard the story of Mikey addressing the United States Air Force Academy about Atheists harassing Christians in a commons area of the USAF Academy.  Oh wait, no you didn’t, because it did mot fit the narrative that the mainstream and most “conservative” news outlets are using.  I could go on ad infinitum; but, you have made up your mind on the “guilt” of Mikey and I am not going to persuade you any other way, so I will leave it with this final thought: I voluntarily joined with Mikey when I realized that the last thing I want is a “religious” war (I have had my fill of war with 47 months in combat).  As such, I am going to help him with this fight.  Oh and I was never curtailed of telling others of Jesus, but it was the right place and manner.Thank You,Quentin D Collins, CH (COL-R), PhD, ELI-MP
Director FRAME Initiative.

 

Hello (name withheld),

You have apparently had the benefit of hearing directly from Mikey, so I’m fairly sure you won’t be any more understanding of my response than you were of his. But let me try.

You are simply incorrect. You are of course free to have your belief system. That is your right. What we are doing is protecting every servicemember’s right to believe or not believe as she or he chooses. The way America has chosen to do this is to separate the church from the state so that the government shows no preference for one belief system over any other. As a result, when in the military, one’s belief system remains sacrosanct to the individual, but there are restrictions on the way in which it can be expressed to others. Proselytizing by superiors over inferiors, for example, violates both law and regulation. As Mikey has pointed out, religious practice is allowed, but the time, place and manner in which it can be practiced is limited so that people of differing beliefs do not feel pressured to accept a belief system that is not their own.

You go well over the line of decency when you refer, incorrectly, to our efforts as being “sick and perverted” or destroying of the 1st Amendment rights of soldiers. Soldiers surrender some of those rights when they join the military for the reasons cited above and amplified by Mikey’s explanation.

No one here hates God, as you wrongly suggest. And you are just simply wrong when you say “a soldier has every right of a citizen period.” That’s been spelled out in law and is one of the sacrifices we make as citizens when we join the military.

It’s clear that you have a fervent belief about your religious convictions and the rights associated with them, but just because you believe it doesn’t make it true. A little research into the Supreme Court ruling in Parker V. Levy, as Mikey has suggested, would make that clear to you.

It’s quite sad to me that zealous believers such as yourself so often leap to the assumption that we, who are trying to protect everyone’s right to believe as she or he chooses, are somehow anti-Christian or that we hate God. That is simply nonsense and it speaks to me of a kind of thin-skinned reaction that belies a real faith commitment. As someone once suggested in a discussion of such self-martyrdom, perhaps your God is too small.

Best,

Mike Farrell

(MRFF Board of Advisors)


 

Dear (name withheld),
I have read many ignorant hate letters sent to MRFF . Typical- most are so cowardly Untruthful that they skulk away like ISIS planting a bomb and hide afterwards. I trust that you are reachable so hope I am not wasting my valuable time as per too often.
I was a 20 yr Marine- enlisted in Korea and flew 110 F4 close air support missions for Marines and Airborne in Nam out of Chu Lai- 67. Never talked to a chaplain in either theatre as most of our pilots fairly much avoided also. Volunteered for both tours. So you know all about Creator or rather your 3 in 1 guy Jesus? Wow! Now you get to hurl, empty threats as to our hereafter. Your threats are pure bullshit- Christian.
I am a Sioux Indian and the Christian missionaries did a helluva number on us when we were confined to our reservations after making a Treaty with your types. (We had the Winchester 15 shot and whipped your ass solidly. Typical Xtians you broke every treaty you made with us. What is your Jesus going to do about that when they reach the Spirit world? Creator is supposed to be All Truth- is IT not? You people are the lying most sons a bitches we ever came up against. Blame Germany all on the Nazis- Bull Shit it was a solid Christian Blood thirsty country Sieg Heiling to Their Constantine fomenting leader. Yah, i’d rather use a swear word or two than be a deceiving lying S o B, and worse- Greed on top of that. You pedophiled our Indian youth and raped in those Christian Boarding Schools the Government illegally let you build on our reservations. You gave us Jesus all right but damn little Academic education. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I have a bad opinion of him mainly by what his followers have done to this country culminating in Lyin’ Ted Cruz and 4 yrs ago it was that clown Bachmann. Glad Trump took J Freak Ted Cruz out. Like you he (Cruz)  was adamantly against Separation of Church/State protection. You ungrateful Evangelicals came over here for that protection but now you forget it is the G D law of the land. The Founding Fathers Knew all about the Great Inquisition and adopted it from the Iroquois. Like the  Jews, we do not ignorantly profess to know exactly WHO or What Creator is or isn’t. e got too much class to ignorantly proselytize. What part of Appalacia or So Carolina are you from?  Must home school your  kids too- Right? My Grandson just got enrolled at MIT- Class of 2020. How’s yours doing? It Is, Creator IS a mystery, an unknown. We do not lie to ourselves and intelligently profess that it is a profound Mystery. We are probably a helluva lot closer to the Real Truth than you heretics could ever be if Creator’s Mt Sinai pronouncement to Moses holds True, “Thou Shalt not have other Gods (False Gods) before thee.”  A heretic denies God. You thin ice profess that there is 3 of em’. That Council of Nicea jury rig by the Dictator Constantine is rather thin Ice creating a 3 in one. Hell even Stalin and ISIS Baghadadi have had a Politburo or group of stooges to come up with whatever the Dictator wanted. You are in for more of a surprise than Mikey and I are come judgment day. Here is what the Founding Fathers  thought of in the Download why they had to introduce Church/State to have a more harmonious Democracy.
(name withheld)

 

But the day is coming that you will bow your knee and confess that Jesus is Lord and on that day you will either do so with joy in your heart or you’ll be staining your pants with fear for the knowledge of what you rejected.

(name withheld)


 

Good Day, (name withheld) –

Thanks for your email to the MRFF. You may have already heard from one or more of my colleagues, as it’s important to us that we offer some individual responses to those who take the time to write to us and express their thoughts. Like you, I am a veteran of similar vintage — I was on active duty from 1985 to 1990 and then a reservist for a year or two following. And like you, I am an active and devoted Christian.
When I first learned about the MRFF several years ago, my opinion was not so different from your own. In my case, most of what I had heard about the organization came from various conservative media outlets, and I initially assumed that the MRFF stood opposed to all people of faith, and especially to Christians like me. It was only when I looked deeper into the issues in which the MRFF gets involved, and sought more direct information about the particular stance that the organization takes on those issues, did I learn that my impression the MRFF was simply wrong. In fact, by the time I had finished my research and investigation, I was convinced of two things – (1) that the efforts of the MRFF are appropriate, necessary, and important; and (2) that I need to be involved if I still believe what I had sworn in my commissioning oath about the importance of supporting and defending the Constitution.
So with that backdrop, I’d like to address some specific objections that you raise in your email. Several times, you express concern that the goal of the MRFF is to deny the right of military members “to believe freely in Jesus” and to deny them the “right to believe and hold his faith in his/her religion”. Similarly, you worry that the efforts of the MRFF represent “organized hate of Jesus” and a “vile hatred toward Jesus”.
With all due respect, none of those perspectives is correct. The MRFF has never challenged or opposed the right of any military member to believe and hold any particular religious belief. And given that the vast majority of MRFF supporters and clients are people of faith, mostly Christians, the notion that we “hate” Jesus is just silly. And I can say with complete confidence that the MRFF has never challenged or opposed the right of any military member to express or proclaim his faith in an appropriate time, place, and manner.
Those final four words — APPROPRIATE TIME, PLACE, MANNER — hold the key both to the mission of the MRFF and, more broadly, to a correct application of Constitutional protections in a hierarchical environment like US military.
You say that “a soldier has every right of a citizen period”.  I’m very surprised to hear that sentiment from a fellow veteran; I’d think that you know as well as I do that when we enter the military, we surrender a number of privileges that are enjoyed by our civilian counterparts. That doesn’t mean that we surrender all of our rights… but it does mean that what may be an absolute right for a civilian is not necessarily shared in the same manner by a military member. For example, military members cannot speak freely on any topic, even though the Constitution provides a protection to “free speech”. Military members cannot assemble anytime/anywhere if such an assembly would be contrary to good military order and discipline, even though the Constitution provides a protection to “peaceable assembly”.
With respect to religious beliefs, it is incumbent upon anyone in a military leadership position (which in practical terms is virtually everyone above E1) to ensure that they don’t use their position or the color of their authority to promote a personal religious belief to subordinates, because doing so would infringe on the Constitutional rights of those subordinates. In my opinion, it also negatively impacts good order and discipline by adding to the military culture a religious component. Simply put, the mission of the military is not, and has never been, one of religious proselytization.
Therefore, any military member who desires to express his personal religious beliefs in an APPROPRIATE TIME, PLACE, and MANNER will hear no objection from the MRFF. But a military leader who abuses his authority by preaching to a captive audience of subordinates will always be opposed by the MRFF, and should be opposed by any American who respects and supports Constitutional protections for all military members.
Hope this perspective helps. I’d be happy to continue this dialogue if you have further comments.
Peace,
Mike Challman
Christian, USAF veteran, MRFF supporter

Dear (name withheld) –

 

I am writing in response to your May 16, 2016 email to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (“MRFF”).  You are clearly confused about our mission and work.  I hope I can clarify things for you.

 

We at MRFF fight for the religious freedom of every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, cadet, and veteran.  Contrary to your claim that we destroy the First Amendment, we work tirelessly to protect and defend it for all the brave men and women in uniform who sacrifice so much to protect our rights.  In fact, over 96% of our clients are Christians who have suffered religious discrimination and persecution!

 

We have no problem with service members believing in Jesus Christ and sharing their belief with others – again, our mission is to protect that right.  However, the Establishment Clause of the Constitution mandates that such sharing of religious beliefs take place in the proper time, place, and manner.  While service members may share their beliefs with other service members, they are not permitted to harass their peers, force their beliefs upon subordinates, wrongfully coerce other service members, or retaliate against those who do not share their beliefs and/or report First Amendment violations.  Further, military superiors may not favor those who share their beliefs, require those under their command to participate in any sort of religious activity, or otherwise rely on religious beliefs to either advance or hinder another’s career.

 

Nobody at MRFF hates Jesus or Christianity.  It is ignorant to believe that defending the religious freedom of non-Christians somehow requires hatred toward Christianity.  You claim that “a soldier has every right of a citizen,” but you plainly care only about the right to share YOUR religious beliefs.  Anyone who does not agree with you must either “confess that Jesus is Lord” or “[stain their] pants with fear.”  You care nothing about the First Amendment unless you can use it to judge others.

 

Thank you for your service.

 

Blessed be,

 

Tobanna Barker

MRFF Legal Affairs Coordinator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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One Comment

  1. Paula May 17, 2016 at 10:08 pm

    “The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is the sole nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the Constitutional guarantee of both freedom of religion and freedom from religion, to which they and all Americans are entitled. Fighting for our servicemembers’ rights, so they can fight for ours.”

    This is not difficult to find; it is on the same page where lie our comments. But it appears to be very difficult if not impossible for you to read because it does not fit your narrative, your screed regarding the MRFF. I am sure you would prefer it said something like “god-hating demons with blood dripping off their fangs who are throwing xtians into the depths of hell because they believe the wrong thing and must be persecuted!!! They hate us and want us to suffer!!!”

    That is most certainly a much more powerful statement, and it doubtless matches more closely your ranting. However, it is the product of your “sick and perverted mind” (your words–remember?) It does not exist anywhere else. Nowhere. Nowhere. At. All.

    I find it sad for you to feel you must stand in front of your god and speak for it. Obviously yours is a truly impotent god. It’s really a wonder that the universe got created at all….

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