Were you people dropped on your heads when you were babies, or did your moms not breast feed you enough? I’m actually embarrassed to be your fellow American. What a shame you people are. I imagine our founding fathers would love to take you to task. Your United States citizenship should be revoked. This world, and especially, our civilization is crumbling before us, because of people like you. Please stop your foolishness.
(name withheld)
Response from MRFF Founder and President
…sorry, little fella but we’re not too sure what has you apparently all butt hurt??!!….maybe you can clear that up for us, eh, skippy?!….Mikey Weinstein…MRFF
Response from MRFF Board Member John Compere
On Dec 31, 2019, at 6:33 PM, John Compere wrote:
(name withheld), for your information, the US Constitution, American law & US Armed Forces regulations prohibit our government, which includes the military, from promoting or endorsing a religion on military installations except at military chapels. It should surprise no intelligent adult that military exchanges, a part of the US Department of Defense, are required to obey the laws & regulations.Your clueless condemnation is morally misdirected. It would be more credibly directed at those who disrespect & disregard our laws rather than at those of us who respect & request compliance with them.Brigadier General John Compere, US Army (Retired)Disabled American Veteran (Vietnam Era)Board Member, Military Religious Freedom Foundation (80% Christians)
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Martin France
On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 6:57 PM Martin France wrote:
(name withheld), yours will be the LAST inane email to which I respond for the MRFF in 2019!!! Yeah! Pop the cork, baby!
As a member of the advisory board for the MRFF, I do this routinely and have probably responded to about 100 emails similar to yours–though usually with much worse grammar. Happily, yours is, as usual, devoid of any rational argument or evidence, so it’s not all that challenging.First off, I wasn’t breastfed. I regret that, I think. But hell, I can’t really remember. I do have a strange desire to drink Carnation evaporated milk straight from the can, though. My mom still loved me–I’m sure of that. Anyway, thanks for dredging up an emotional scar as 2019 ends. ;-PNext, I don’t think that’s really a shame nor are the people associated with the MRFF a “shame.” Instead, we are over 60,000 clients, staff, and volunteers that work assiduously (look that one up and try to use it in a sentence in 2020) to protect the rights of ALL service members to worship as they desire (or to not do so) and to be treated with respect by all others in the military. We strive to make sure that no superior officer discriminates against a subordinate for their religious views–and, yes, that means we defend Christians treated poorly by Atheists with as much enthusiasm as we would if the opposite occurred. (Guess the direction in which this overwhelming occurs though)Civilization is crumbling because of us? Really? Is your religion (whatever that is) so weak that your prayers and god(s) can’t protect you and “your civilization” from those that support and defend the U.S. Constitution? Personally, I spent over 40 years in uniform defending that document and my guess is that that’s a few weeks (as least) more than you did. Did you ever serve? I did, alongside Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Hindus, Agnostics, Catholics, Mormons, and a few Pagans–and probably people from other perspectives, but I just didn’t bother to ask their religion because IT WAS NONE OF MY FUCKING BUSINESS! If they asked mine, I told them that it was NONE OF YOUR (FUCKING) BUSINESS!So, enjoy your New Year’s Eve in the basement with your cats and internet connection, thinking about who was or wasn’t breastfed and how that correlates with an individual’s religious views or place in your ideal civilization. In the meantime, I’ll be partying at a local brewery (My son’s! How cool is that? He’s a success because I KNOW he was breastfed!), enjoying the company of my friends and family, and thinking about how I can more assiduously address more of these pathetic emails in 2020, realizing that the authors of said emails are usually too ignorant of simple logic to understand my explanations or documents as rational and well-written as the Constitution.I wish you a happy 2020 as you (and all of us) work assiduously towards true enlightenment as well as love and respect for all of our fellow humans. (I haven’t even been drinking YET!)Sincerely,Marty FranceBrigadier General, USAF (Retired)Member, MRFF Advisory Board
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell
On Jan 1, 2020, at 2:13 AM, Mike wrote:
Hi (name withheld),
If you’re actually as confused as you appear I’d be happy to help you better understand, but I fear you actually think you know what you’re talking about. I’m sorry, but you don’t. So save your embarrassment for a more appropriate situation, like when you understand how foolish you sound.
It’s actually the Founders who came up with the radical idea that people should be able to believe as they choose, and the government should do its part in protecting their right to do that by separating itself from any religious affiliation.
You see, we don’t agree with your notion that our civilization is “crumbling before us,” and we’re determined to do our part to see that the nation stays strong by protecting the freedoms the Founders had the good sense to envision.
We’re happy to support your having your own belief system and we believe in the same for everyone. But you see, because of the Founders recognition of the dangers of theocracy, they determined that our government should not endorse, support, propagate or proselytize on behalf of any one religion over the others. They made it clear that freedom of religious or non-religious choice is the right of every American and they protect that right by keeping the government out of the religion business.
So we’re OK with people having their religious faith or not believing in anything. Whatever they choose. But believers can’t promote their religious view in a government institution because doing so implies endorsement. Nor can believers promote a particular belief system in any way that implies official endorsement.
Selling “Jesus candy,” if that’s what has gotten you riled up, is fine if it’s done off site in a private, non-government situation. But it can’t be done on a military base or in a military hospital.
I trust you understand the point, if you’ll think about it.
Mike Farrell
(MRFF Board of Advisors)
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