Wreath controversy

From: (name withheld)
Date: December 12, 2021 at 5:55:15 PM MST
To:[email protected]
Subject:Wreath controversy

 In a statement you said that placing wreaths on veterans graves everywhere is unconstitutional. To which I have to say that I think you are confused to what separation of church and state actually means. Our founding fathers had NO ISSUES with religious displays in public spaces or even Government spaces. What they were against was having a Government sponsored religion like the Church of England that was intertwined with the crown. Members of the church could also hold Government offices, the King being the head of the Government AND the head of the Church of England gave him unchecked power being the best example. Having a state sponsored Church of America where an individual could hold office as well as a public office like congressmen, Senator, Judge, or even President is what the founding fathers wanted to avoid. Your claim and the claims of people like you that wreaths, nativity scenes, crosses, etc. etc. displayed in Government buildings or on Government property is somehow unconstitutional is either deliberately obtuse to support your personal beliefs or just ignorance of the constitution. Please understand that I respect you sir and this is in no way intended as a personal attack. It is simply my opinion which means it is not necessarily right or wrong but just my opinion.
Thank you

(name withheld)

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Response by MRFF Advisory Board Member James Currie

Dear (name withheld):

I have been asked by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to respond to your recent email. In short, you are mistaken about what our Constitution means and what the drafters of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution meant by the language they chose.

If the men who drafted the First Amendment had simply wanted to prevent the establishment of a national religion or church, such as they had (and still have) in England, that’s undoubtedly what they would have written. The First Amendment in that instance would have said something like, “Congress shall not establish a national religion or church.” But, that’s not what they drafted when the first Congress met in 1789. What they wrote was much more comprehensive: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” These words provide a much greater check on government involvement with religion in our country than simply a prohibition on the establishment of a national church or religion, though the amendment certainly forbids that that, too. President Thomas Jefferson, who knew all of the Founders and knew what and how they thought about religion, wrote the following in January 1802:

“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people [meaning the First Amendment] which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.” The wall of separation that Jefferson referenced still stands today, though there are constant attempts to undermine it.

Believe me, (name withheld), MRFF is not ignorant of the meaning of the Constitution. To the contrary, it takes the Constitution very seriously, devoting its very existence to upholding it against every attack.  Many of us who are affiliated with the MRFF have served in the military and took a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution. We took that oath very seriously.

Your contention that “wreaths, nativity scenes, crosses, etc. etc. displayed in Government buildings or on Government property” are somehow harmless and constitutional displays a total lack of understanding of the Constitution. I am guessing that you are quite pleased when these symbols of Christianity are displayed in your home town. But, how would you feel if a Hindu group or a Muslim group were to decide to display their religious symbols in your home town, perhaps taking over the town square and squeezing out your Christian symbols. Would you be quite as charitable toward them? Would you feel that what they were doing was totally constitutional? Well, I can tell you that MRFF would feel the same about such displays as it does about Christian displays: they are fine if they are on private property without involvement by the government. MRFF does not take sides; it defends the Constitution against all infringements that violate the First Amendment. Most of its clients are Christian servicemembers who are offended by the proselytizing of some higher-level commander who thinks that everyone should practice the same religion that he/she does. Such actions on the part of military commanders are blatantly unconstitutional and are contrary to military regulations, and they are contested by MRFF.

Likewise, it is unconstitutional when a private group is allowed to go into a U.S. Government cemetery and place on the veterans’ graves there a symbol of religion. Doing such is simply not allowed by the First Amendment. If it were Muslims placing their symbols on veterans’ graves, I suspect that you would not be as sanguine about it as you are when it is Christians doing it, using their own well-established symbols, such as Christmas wreaths.

I am afraid, Mr. Smith, that the Constitutional ignorance being displayed here is not by MRFF. It is your own, and we hope that you will go back and read some constitutional law and see what we mean.

Col. James T. Currie, USA (Ret.), Ph.D.

Board of Advisors, Military Religious Freedom Foundation

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Response from MRFF Board Member John Compere

On Dec 12, 2021, at 6:40 PM, John Compere wrote:

(name withheld),
Thank you for the civility of your communication.
Please be advised some families of deceased military veterans do not want a religious group to which they do not belong or adhere profiting, promoting its version of religion & marketing its religious organization by presumptuously putting its religious wreaths on the graves on their deceased loved ones without permission. Those families consider it uninvited & unwanted intrusions on the personal burial site of their deceased family members.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (composed of 85% Christians) represents, when requested, the religious freedom right of those families to object & prevent what they believe to be thoughtless trespasses on the graves of their deceased military veterans. We do so because we respect & support the wishes of those military families. Unfortunately, their wishes are not taken into consideration by the religious organization responsible for laying the religious wreaths. Religious freedom is intended to be a shield of protection & not a sword of privilege.

For more complete information, please see militaryreligiousfreedom.org.
Most Sincerely,Brigadier General John Compere, US Army (Retired)Disabled American Veteran (Vietnam Era)Board Member, Military Religious Freedom Foundation

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Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell

On Dec 13, 2021, at 1:33 AM, Mike wrote:
Thanks, (name withheld), for attempting to be civil about this discussion.
If there is confusion about the meaning behind the separation of church and state, I don’t believe it’s on the part of the MRFF. The law clearly maintains that no government entity can promote or appear to promote one faith or belief system over others.
The issue in the federal government’s veterans’ cemeteries is the placement of Christmas wreaths on all veterans’ gravesites by an organization with a Christian agenda. It is the responsibility of the organization to do the necessary research to find out from the veteran’s families which one would welcome the placement of a wreath and which would not. To assume that they are free to lay one on every grave, whether welcomed or not, may well be an insult to non-Christians, both the veteran in question and her or his family.In any case, it is grossly inappropriate.
This type of unthinking action, and we’re not at all sure it’s unthinking, is at best a rude and insulting imposition. At worst, it is a demonstration of pro-Christian zealotry. Both could be avoided by having the organization in question do the appropriate research before distributing the wreaths.
Best,
Mike Farrell (MRFF Board of Advisors)

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