From: (name withheld)
Subject: Jews and Manchester VA Pow Mia table
Date: May 23, 2019 at 11:06:03 AM MDT
To: Information Weinstein <[email protected]militaryreligiousfreedom.org>
Dear Mr. Weinstein,
My husband family and me live in the general area around Manchester New Hampshire where your antichristian MMFR organization is attacking the Holy Bible at the VA Medical Hospital here.
Our church had its weekly Wednesday evening services last night and everyone was of the same mind about you and your villainy.
We all know that your Jewish and we all agreed that if it had been a jew book on that Pow Mia table you would never have attacked.So be honest about it because you and your org. just hate anything that is Christian. We may not know you personally but most jews we’ve known also hate anything Christian.
Too bad for you. That Bible will stay. Go find another display to put your jew books on and leave us Christians alone with our Lord at the VA.
P.S. And another thing Mr. Weinstein. If you tally up those soldiers who have died in our wars for Memorial day you will easily see that so many more who follow Christ have perished then those who deny him like you Jews do. And the communists and arabs. You should be deported back to israel and loose your citizenship for good.
Good riddance!
(name withheld)
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell
On May 23, 2019, at 12:05 PM, Mike wrote:
(name withheld) –
Are you hiding behind a woman’s name or are you actually a woman? I ask because we get a fair amount of
mail from bigots and faux-Christians, but most of them are men. Most of them are cowards, as well, who use
fake addresses and just spew their fear out into the world because they are so sick of themselves they don’t
know what else to do.
So, if you are in fact a man who is pretending to be a woman, you’re a pathetic wretch who is ashamed of
himself and everything you do is self-indicting. So I certainly don’t want to make you feel any worse than you
already do. That would be piling on.
If, on the other hand, you are actually a woman, I’m surprised. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that your grammar
is so atrocious, but I’ve found that women in general are usually more careful about how they express themselves.
But that’s beside the point.
Let me ask you this. Do you actually consider yourself to be a Christian? I find it hard to believe that someone
who seriously considers herself (I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt here) a Christian could be comfortable in
sending such a completely anti-Christian message. Do you have any idea what Jesus had to say about bigotry and
slander and hatred? Are you deaf to the sermon on the mount?
Do you and the infidels in your pretend-Christian church sit around in your weekly Wednesday services and pump
yourselves up with a feeling of moral righteousness while you cackle over your superiority to those who are not
“saved” like you consider yourselves to be?
What utter garbage. People like you were chased out of the temple by Jesus, don’t you know that? Of course you
don’t, because you delude yourself by thinking this vicious, self-serving pile of ugliness and bigotry you’ve wed
yourself to is a true religion. Well, my dear, so do the members of most cults.
If you have a brain in your head and a smidgen of hope in your tattered soul, I encourage you to pick up the jawbone
of an ass and use it to scare some sense into the circle of would-be cross-burners you’ve been wasting your time
with. And when you come to your senses and decide to actually follow Jesus, the first thing you might do is send
a letter of apology to Mikey Weinstein.
Mike Farrell
(MRFF Board of Advisors)
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member John Compere
On May 23, 2019, at 12:06 PM, John Compere wrote:
(name withheld),
Your hateful & hypocritical anti-Semitic attack on a fellow American & American military veteran you do not even know because he was born of a Jewish mother (like Jesus) reflects only on yourself & reveals a radical religious racist who is a discredit to American Christianity.
For your information, The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (composed of over 80% Christians) opposes fundamentalist Christians putting their religious scripture version in the middle of non-religious POW/MIA memorial remembrance displays in government facilities to publicly proselytize their private religious beliefs because it –
(1) disobeys the US Constitution & American law prohibiting our government from promoting or endorsing a religion, (2) distorts the original & traditional non-religious POW/MIA memorial remembrance purpose by imposing religious scripture, (3) distracts from memorial remembrance by promoting a religion not shared by all POWs, MIAs & military veterans, (4) disrespects millions of Americans who are not fundamentalist Christians, & (5) disregards normal American dinner table settings that do not include a religious scripture version in the middle of them.
Please consider these wise words of George H.W. Bush (President, military hero & Christian gentleman) – “Hate corrodes the container it is carried in.”
Most Sincerely,
Brigadier General John Compere, US Army (Retired)
Disabled American Veteran (Vietnam Era)
Advisory Board Member, Military Religious Freedom Foundation
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Larry Wilkerson
On May 23, 2019, at 1:27 PM, Wilkerlb wrote:
Ms. (name withheld),
Forgive me for writing “(name withheld)” in the salutation but I have nothing else from you to use. Like most people who put their ignorance on display, the connection of that ignorance with identifying features is usually not done. So, I have to use the “Mary TQ”, all that you have given me. But unlike you, I will give you my full name and credentials.
I am a veteran of the United States Army of 31 years. My name is Larry Wilkerson. I served in combat and, originally, I was an enlisted man, having volunteered for military service in 1966. I dedicated much of my life to protecting the freedoms that you have enjoyed as a citizen. After my military service, I continued to serve our country for another five years in a civilian capacity, then I moved to a university to teach younger people about history, government, and politics. That’s where I am today as I write to you.
Let me take a few moments and reveal your lack of knowledge to you.
First, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) is not “an anti-Christian organization”. In fact, more than ninety percent of its more than 60,000 clients are Christians. Yes, there are others as well, Jews, Muslims, atheists, agnostics, and so on. What unites all of these people is a strong belief in the U.S. Constitution. That Constitution prohibits the creation of a state religion or any favoritism of the state for a particular religion. In other words, the Constitution holds that all religions are welcome here, or no religion at all. The state MUST take no sides. When the state does take a side—for Christians, for example—the state is wrong and must be corrected. That is what the Christian Bible at a state-sponsored display does, it takes a side. That is wrong.
Second, I am deeply sorry that “everyone was of the same mind” at your church because that means everyone at that church is ignorant. America does not need so many ignorant people. It is very dangerous to have so many ignorant people. And by the way, a Jewish religious text, or a Muslim religious text, or a text on atheism, would have been just as wrong and just as violative of the Constitution as a Christian Bible–and, no, we at the MRFF would not have been for any of those other texts either.
And that brings me to another crucial point. Your anti-semitism shows very strongly in your email. Anti-semitism is appalling and far worse than just plain ignorance. You need to work on that badly. You can go to jail for that and, frankly, the tens of thousands of deaths in WWII were partly to stop anti-semitism, so you should be deeply ashamed. And by the way, Jewish-Americans fought in proportionate numbers to Christian-Americans in that war, so again you are dead wrong and displaying your ignorance once more.
And “your Lord” does not belong at the VA, because it is a government agency. Chaplains can offer solace and religious counsel there and support for patients and so forth; but there can be no official endorsement of any God or any religion by the VA. As I said, that is forbidden by the Constitution.
Moreover, you must not know many Jewish-Americans. I know hundreds of them. I don’t know a single one, however, who “hate[s] anything Christian.” In fact, some of these people are dear friends and have great respect for my religion. Jesus Christ, after all, was a Jew, as were all of his disciples. Muslims have enormous respect for Jesus Christ and place him among the top prophets of his times.
Finally, your Christianity is as suspect as your knowledge. Jesus Christ wiped the feet of a female prostitute, threw the moneylenders from the Temple, stood for turning the other cheek when offended, and was the very consummation of love. You, on the other hand, are the consummation of ignorance and hate.
I think you are what I call a wanna-be Christian. In your heart you are tortured and racked by doubt and hate. In your heart you are a fearful person who takes out her fear and hate of herself on others.
I feel Christian sorrow for you. I truly do.
Larry W.
Response from MRFF Supporter Quentin Collins
From: Quentin Collins
Subject: Weinstein Letter
Date: May 23, 2019 at 1:50:13 PM MDT
To: (name withheld)
Cc: Mikey Weinstein <[email protected]
Ms (name withheld),
Pardon my informality; but, since you did not provide a last name I will refer to you as (name withheld). So, I read with interest your letter to Mr Weinstein, so be ready for a shock. I am a born again, Christian that has served our Military Members in combat and peace time as a Military Chaplain in two different branches of service (Army and Air Force). I have been wounded in action and received medals for heroism while serving our military in Iraq (47 total months including Afghanistan). I have seen the crazy zealotry of religious fanaticism first hand. Be it Muslim, Jewish or Christian (yes there are people who desire a new Christian Crusade), all have the same goal and that is to upset the world order and have them acquiesce to their definition of they’re specific religion.
Now let’s address the Manchester VA issue. Did you know that the original POW/MIA tables did not have any holy books? The symbolism is very strong with the candle, overturned goblet, plate, rose, ribbon, salt and lemon (and truth be said the yellow ribbon has been added since the 80’s based on a Tony Orlando and Dawn song) being enough to show the missing member. Let me ask you, how much do you really know about the Bible? You said repeatedly that Mr Weinstein should take his “Jew books” someplace else. I guess he needs to take the Bible’s with him since the Old Testament includes the Torah. Additionally, how would you feel if you saw a table with a Quran, a Torah Scroll or a Dianetics Book? Yes there are a large number of Christians in the Military; but, there are members of almost every recognized faith groups (some abhor military service so they are not represented). Did you know that “No Religious Preference” is the largest “Religion” in the Military? I may be asking a lot of questions that are not considered in your church; but, before you attack know your audience. There are over 60,000 clients of MRFF and the overwhelming majority of them are Christians. I serve as an MRFF Advisory Board Member and am among several strong Christians. Do I agree with everything Mr Weinstein does – no, as any intellectually honest person must state there is nobody that agrees with anyone 100% unless they are mindless morons. Oh, and Mr Weinstein cannot be deported as he is a United States Citizen born here – and hopefully a long time from now – die here. He served honorably as an officer in the United States Air Force and even served in a Republican Presidents Administration. So to reconcile, Mikey is not attacking the table, he is asking for inclusion. Yes inclusion of everyone would be identified in the absence of any Holy Books or Writings. I ask you to what end is it to have said Bible on the table if it defeats the very purpose of it being there? It is a solemn reminder of the price of freedom. That freedom allows for us to believe, or not believe, anyway we would like in a society based on preserving this belief “that all men are created equal”.
Respectfully,
Quentin D Collins, US Army Chaplain (Colonel-Retired), PhD, CPC, ELI-MP
Recipient, 2017 Thomas Jefferson Award
It’s people who whine and bitch and moan on the hateful side of issues and refuse to put their names on their hate-filled rants that helped me see that most of Christianity is a fraudulent fake.
People who profess to be be Christian who spew vile slanders are the kinds of people who crucified Jesus and continue to spit on him by doing and saying and believing all the things he tells them not to do, say, and believe.
But these clods are too ignorant and crude to understand that. Their hate is what keeps them going. It makes them feel superior. But feeling superior and being superior are dogs of two different types. On is a mangy mongrel mutt and the other is a showdog.
I know some fine Christians, and they would be shocked and disappointed that fake Christians are on the loose writing garbage. Lucky for the rest of us, that the hate is not contagious.
It’s obvious that these people will never actually be Constitutional advocates, nor real Bible-believing Christians. They will always be a thorn in the side of the person–Jesus– they claim to love.
Those of us who support MRFF are more likely to follow the rule of John Wesley:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you,
To all the people you can,
As long as you ever can.
Seems to me this is what Jesus would ask of his followers. As my rule for life, it keeps me out of the clutches of the low-down, ignorant, and un-Godly wretches who curse the darkness while refusing to turn on the light. I fall short in not having the patience to try to enlighten those who love their own black hearts. It’s too exhausting and useless.
And, IMO, all their churches should be paying entertainment and property taxes to pay for their privilege of sucking up garbage and spewing hate.
Well said, all of you. Some folks just don’t understand that they aren’t the center of the universe and that everyone should bend to their will. So caught up are they in their delusion that they vilify everyone who doesn’t share it. What you said needed to be said. I would hope that the unnamed writer might read and learn, but sadly, when hate is that strong, very little else filters in.
Much respect and all the best to you!
Secularism is for grownups.