Questions to the MRFF?

Published On: February 18, 2022|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|4 Comments|

From: <email address withheld>
Subject: Questions to the MRFF?
Date: February 18, 2022 at 10:12:45 AM MST
To: Information Weinstein <[email protected]>

To Mr. M. Weinstein and the MRFF staff,

Our church is located in close proximity to a large military installation in a blessed and God-Fearing state and we have many congregants who are military.

They complain constantly about how you sir your MRFF organization delight in the constant persecution of Christians especially our love of The Savior.

They say you always try to stop the spread His precious love.

We are told you are a jew and that most of you there are. I’m not saying that that is a bad thing per se.

Given that our Lord Jesus came to save the jews from their just punishment in the eyes of The Lord why do you all attack His followers so savagely?

You should be grateful that He has given you all one last chance not to suffer in Hell for His execution.

After all it is written that the jews killed Him. Read the Bible and study history much “Mikey”?

Why does the MRFF hate Christians and Jesus so much?

Maybe the MRFF jews and atheists should stop their oppression of Jesus and His followers in our military?

Life would be much easier for all involved.

Try love for once Mr. Weinstein and the MRFF. Instead of your jewish pride and hubris.

(name withheld)


Response from MRFF Supporter Rabbi Joel Schwartzman

On Feb 18, 2022, at 11:14 AM, Rabbi Joel Schwartzman wrote:


Dear (name withheld)

Given the fact that you haven’t chosen to identify the community from which you come, I doubt that whoever you might be and whomever you claim to represent is anything remotely legitimate.  That said, there is so little worth responding to in your email that is accurate and there is so much that just about borders on antisemitism, I shall merely make a few points and have done with your “questions”/accusations. You and your “people” sorely misunderstand the role of the MRFF.  If anyone is trying to preserve religion and the expression thereof, it is the MRFF.  What this organization does do is to attempt to restrain the illegal and, I might add, immoral and unwanted proselytization of military members by over-zealous, overbearing and self-righteous folks who seek to impose their religious views and attitudes, often on subordinates who have little power to stop this.  Given the threats to their careers that denying these approaches entail, they ask the MRFF to step in while protecting and preserving their anonymity.  This the MRFF has done and is doing for hundreds if not thousands of military members. Should your flock think that this in any way threatens them or involves their being persecuted, I should advise you to have them seek psychological counseling because the MRFF only pursues cases of religious over-reach, expressions and acts of supersessionism.  Perhaps it is they themselves who are suffering from persecution complexes.  I find your accusations of lack-of-love to be truly sick.  You understand little of Christian love.  How do I know this.  It is apparent in your spelling of the word, “Jew.”  Were you more deeply involved in the Christianity I know and have studied, you would have known this.  Jesus was a Jew…with a capital “J.”  So, the next time you choose to honor us with your screed, please first do your homework.  Also, tell your flock…whatever they are and wherever they are…to relax.  The MRFF is not concerned or involved with hating or subverting Christianity.  As I said above, it is most interested in protecting people of all faiths from people like yourself. Do try to more loving yourself.  It will save you a great deal of grief.  Hatred kills.

 Ch, Col, USAF (Ret.), Joel R. Schwartzman


Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Larry Wilkerson

(name withheld),
I’m responding to your email, a copy of which is appended above.
From that email, it is clear you know a little bit about Christianity but not a great deal about the history of your own country or about other religions which, incidentally, have as much right as any do to be practiced in America — including Judaism.  And the little bit you know about Christianity is a dangerous thing.  You’ve heard perhaps that a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, in this instance a weapon in the hands of those who would exploit people for political purposes?  I just have to feel that you are thusly exploited every day, probably in that “God-fearing state”.  Let’s take your statements above, for examples.
You report that you live among Christians like yourself, i.e., they complain about the MRFF.  I’ve no doubt that is true just based on the number and type of emails MRFF receives from people just like you — people who know very little about Christianity and even less about their country’s history and are being exploited for political purposes.  You and they, if you knew the depth and breadth of Christ’s teachings — not just the verses you particularly like — would know that he was a very tolerant man, that his main lesson was love, and that his philosophy was best expressed by his Sermon on the Mount.  “Blessed are the peacemakers,” for example; not the inciters of hatred or things like anti-Semitism, something you come very close to in your 4th through 7th paragraphs above.  That makes you at root an evil man.  I hope you do realize that.  In fact, Christ would have no room for you unless you repented your evil ways.
Moreover, your statement that the MRFF hates Christians is a patent falsehood — another thing Christ was opposed to, lying — lying out of ignorance, like I suspect you do, or out of a desire to hurt people, which I hope you are not doing.
Most of the MRFF’s tens of thousands of clients are Christians.  It’s just that they are Christians who really know Christ and also something about American history like, in this case, our love of the separation of church and state — which is what MRFF is all about, particularly as that Constitutional separation applies to the U.S. military.
And MRFF is not oppressing its thousands of Christian clients nor any Christian in the military for being a Christian.  What we press some so-called Christians for is their disallowing any other brand of Christianity but their own, or their trying to attack non-Christians, or often both.
And we at MRFF do not find life hard at all.  We find ignorant people frustrating, to be sure, especially when they put forth the name of Christ as their shield and are often politically exploited.  Christ would have nothing to do with them or the politicians who exploit them, other than to tell them to get in a closet and pray for their souls.
And we at MRFF are always trying love.  It is the principal ingredient that motivates us.  We even at root love you.
Lawrence Wilkerson Colonel, US Army (Retired) MRFF Advisory Board Member


Response from MRFF Supporter Mike Challman

Good Day, (name withheld) –

Mikey shared your email with me, and there is enough misunderstanding of the MRFF in it  —  both who we are and what we do  —  that I think it’s worthwhile to respond to you directly.

I am a lifelong, devoted, active Christian.  I am a USAF veteran, and the Dad of a young man who serves in the US military today.  And I am an MRFF supporter.

There is much in your assumptions about the MRFF that is simply wrong.  The MRFF is not waging some sort of war against our Savior and His followers.  You may find it interesting that my first approach to the MRFF was also from the perspective of a critic, based on things I’d heard from other Christians.  To be frank, my going-in posture was inclined toward dismissing Mikey and the MRFF as anti-Christian.  Much to my surprise, after doing a fair amount of research, I arrived at a very different conclusion.

The MRFF is NOT anti-Christian, it is pro-Constitution. 

The bare truth is that neither our nation nor our military is “Christian” per se.  Without question, our citizenry, and our military, does include Christians… and Jews…. and Muslims…. and every other conceivable brand of religious belief… and non-believers.  Every one of these people is covered by the protection of the US Constitution, and this is even more important within the context of our military.  The brave men and women who make up our US Armed Forces sacrifice a lot of personal freedom to do the job they do.  NONE of them sacrifices his or her right to personal religious beliefs.  But NEITHER do they sacrifice their right to be free from unwelcome pressure or promotion of one religious belief (even in our beloved Savior) over another belief or non-belief.  And because of the hierarchical nature of the military, it sometimes happens that lower-ranked members can be subject to that sort of inappropriate pressure, however well-meaning, from a more senior member. 

That is where the MRFF comes in.  We are regularly contacted by military members, often even Christians, who need support in the protection of their Constitutional rights.  And the entirety of the MRFF’s role in these circumstances is to defend those Constitutional rights.  We take no official position (beyond what many of us may personally believe) about the validity of any religious belief or non-belief.  Our entire purpose is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Does this mean that we want to prevent military members from practicing their own personally held beliefs?  Absolutely not.  When I was serving on active duty, I practiced my faith daily in how I approached my work, my relationships, my treatment of others, and on and on.  But never did I force, or even explicitly promote, my personal beliefs to my subordinates.  Because that was my duty as a military officer, and it is the duty of all military leaders.

So, you can rest assured that the MRFF fully supports the Constitutional rights of every Christian military member, just as we do of all military members.

Thanks for the opportunity to share some of my thoughts with you.  If you would like to continue this dialogue, I’d be happy to do so.

Peace

Mike Challman
Christian, Veteran, Blue Star Dad, MRFF Support


Response from MRFF Board Member John Compere

This will acknowledge receipt of your anti-Semitic & anti-American religious ranting which reflects only on yourself & reveals insolence exceeded only by ignorance.For your enlightenment, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is a non-profit civil rights advocacy organization & 7 time Noble Peace Prize nominee (composed of 85% Christians). We represent over 77,000 military men & women (95% of whom are Christians) who requested their right to religious freedom guaranteed them by the US Constitution be protected. We represent military members proudly & patriotically & will continue to do so when requested by them.
For your further enlightenment, the countless versions of American Christianity are foreign imports from Semitic antiquity & branches off the ancient tree of Judaism. Jesus (who, according to the New Testament, was killed by the Romans), his disciples & the New Testament authors were all Jewish. There would be no Christianities without the Jewish faith, culture & people. There is no difference between Jew & Gentile for we all are one (Romans 10:12; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:28). God gives glory, honor & peace for everyone who does good – first for the Jew, then for the Gentile, for God does not show favoritism (Romans 2:10&11). It is recommended that you read your Bible – and more carefully.
“The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reasoning.” – VOLTAIRE (Enlightenment Philosopher)
Brigadier General John Compere, US Army (Retired)Disabled American Veteran (Vietnam Era)Board Member, Military Religious Freedom Foundation


Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell

On Feb 20, 2022, at 10:23 PM, Mike wrote:
(name withheld)
Your message is confusing. It is threaded through with phrases like “they say” and “we are told,” so let me begin by clarifying things a bit. What you indicate here that “they say,” is flatly wrong and what you “are told,” is also wrong. You would be wise to ignore those who speak these words.

In addition, whoever it is that “complain(ed) constantly about how you sir your MRFF organizationdelight in the constant persecution of Christians especially our love of The Savior” is not onlyquite wrong but also doesn’t speak English very well. You suggest this claim came to you from “congregants who are military.” That is a concern to us in two ways. First, it’s troubling that members of the military would make such obviously false claims, and second, that the women and men of the military would display such ignorance. For further example, “They say you always try to stop the spread His precious love” is not a sentence.

Now, having clarified that, let me address your own comments. The founder of the MRFF happens to be Jewish. Upwards of 95% of the leadership, staff, supporters and clients of the MRFF happen to be Christians, Does that have any special meaning to you?
Either those who “told” you “most of those there are” Jewish or you assumed that to be the case. What would be the significance of such a fact if it were so? Though you’re careful to suggest “you’re not saying that” (Jewishness) “is a bad thing, perse,” you do go on to suggest “Jesus came to save the jews from their just punishment,”and that “the Jews killed him.”

Further, you ask “Why does the MRFF (which you wrongly assume to be a Jewish organization) hate Christians and Jesus so much?” And you add “Maybe the MRFF jews and atheists should stop their oppression of Jesus and His followers in our military?”
(name withheld), it’s hard, in reading this message, to not suspect that there may be a smidgen of anti-Jewish sentiment behind it. I don’t know much about the beliefs of those associated with chapelspiritchurches.org, and I don’t want to suggest you are an ignorant, anti-Semitic bigot, per se, but since you asked about Mikey’s reading, which I can assure you is extensive and thorough, let me suggest you consider looking up Anne Lamott, who said “You can safely assume you have made God in your own image when God hates the same people you do.”
Mike Farrell
MRFF Board of Advisors


Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member James Currie

Dear (name withheld):

I am responding to your recent email on behalf of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF). Your email is based on several wrong assumptions. I hope you are open to correcting them.

First of all, the founder of the MRFF is a Jew, and he is an Air Force Academy graduate and a lawyer. He is also a strong believer in the U.S. Constitution, which he took an oath as a military officer to support and defend. That oath, which many of us who support MRFF took, is at the heart of what this non-profit organization does. It defends the right of conscience of members of the U.S. military, which I hope you would agree is of paramount importance in this great country of ours.

MRFF is not opposed to Christianity. Nor is it opposed to Judaism, nor Islam, nor Hinduism, nor to any of the other faiths espoused by members of the United States military. Rather, it believes that everyone in uniform has the right to express their faith—or lack of faith, if that is their preference—without interference from those above them in the military chain of command. The MRFF has taken on the cause of over 70,000 servicemember as of last count, and more than ninety percent of these men and women in uniform described themselves as Christian. So, your assertion that MRFF is anti-Christian is simply not correct.

If I were to offer one simple explanation for the bedrock principle on which the MRFF operates, it is perhaps best expressed by President Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury, CT, Baptists on January 1, 1802. Here’s what Jefferson said in his letter:

“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people [that is, 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.”

Please note that President Jefferson, who knew the men largely responsible for the enactment of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, referred to a “wall of separation” between church and state. That wall has been a primary principle of our republic, and it is the bedrock principle on which the MRFF operates.

Thanks to the First Amendment you are entitled to your personal religious views, but if you were a general or admiral or colonel or captain in one of the military services you would not be allowed to impose those views on the men and women who were assigned under you. That’s part of the strength of our great country, and it is one reason why we have not been visited by the sectarian strife that has plagued so many countries. I hope you will agree that this is a desirable condition for us, and perhaps you will come to embrace the MRFF mission, and not disparage it.

Colonel James T. Currie, USA (Ret.)

Board of Advisors, Military Religious Freedom Foundation

Ordained Elder, Presbyterian Church, USA


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4 Comments

  1. Ironmoped February 18, 2022 at 2:06 pm

    One last chance for the Jews not to suffer in Hell for the execution of Christ? I don’t remember your Bible mentioning that anyone had asked for a “savior,” do you? And he gave us an unwanted savior by knocking up another man’s virgin bride! After having commanded that you should not covet thy neighbor’s wife! Doh! Hate when the creator does that! And, BTW, “You’d better love me………or else!”
    Sounds pretty insecure to me!
    Keep praying! And…. don’t get vaccinated!

  2. Lars Opland February 18, 2022 at 3:52 pm

    Hi Friends,

    Just wanted to observe One inaccurate statement in Brigadier General (Ret.) John Compere’s reply to the anonymous elleged preacher’s typically rabid screed.

    The man who ellegedly authored more chapters of the New Testament than anyone else was Saul of Tarsus (a.k.a. Paul), who claimed at one point to be “of the tribe of Benjamin”, & also claimed to have been trained as a Pharisee, but analysis by some Jewish authors of his works & supposed citations from the Torah indicate the man had little or no such training, cited his “Torah” verses from the Greek-language Septuigent instead, & was in likelyhood a Gentile by birth & an all-around fraud. Not a Jew. Indeed, Saul himself says as much a couple of times when apparently writing in forgetfulness of his assumed alter-ego.

    My favorite book on this topic (though hardly the only one to “go there”) is “The Mythmaker; Paul and the Invention of Christianity” by Hyam Maccoby.

    Another favorite is “James the Brother of Jesus” by Prof. Robert Eisenman.

    Because I read my Bible, cover to cover, long before any of these subsequent studies, James was already one of my favorite Biblical authors…but his “book” is less than two-&-a-half pages long! In truth, all of the Bible that is needed to deliver the message Jesus is supposed to have delivered is encompassed in the “Love Commandment” which so many modern so-called Christians utterly fail to comprehend, even though Jesus supposedly did paraphrase it once…

  3. Jeff February 28, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    Name Withheld’s message to Mikey and the MRFF doesn’t “border” on antisemitism – it is thoroughly filled with antisemitism. It contains classic anti-Jewish tropes/smears often repeated in the hate-filled emails sent to Mikey and MRFF. How sad to see yet more evidence of the failure of the US education system.

  4. A.L. Hern March 8, 2022 at 6:48 pm

    “Why does the MRFF hate Christians and Jesus so much?”

    WHY do you hate Jews, and others who choose not to share your beliefs, so much?

    If you want to take the true measure of someone, determine on what his sense of self-worth rests. When it rests on seeing others as inferior and demonizing them, which is never anything other than an expedient form of exalting oneself, it paints a very clear picture on the individual, and nothing so condemns someone more eloquently than their own words and actions.

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