Your recent AZ VA proselytizing case

From: MRFF Supporter
Date: August 22, 2022 at 9:50:09 AM MDT
To: Mikey Weinstein <[email protected]>
Subject:Your recent AZ VA proselytizing case

Thanks for your recent intervention for Gary Rinsem in his complaint against the Phoenix VA. I think that this is one of the most significant cases you have handled because it distinguishes the notion of “religious abuse” from what right-wingers might call a whining libtard complaint and elevates it to the same level as sexual abuse or child abuse.

You have rightly focused on the things that make this a clear-cut case and its commonalities with all the other “X abuse” cases:

1. Specific unwanted behavior on the part of the abuser that can range from annoying through alarming to life-threatening.
2. An imbalance of power between the abuser and the one abused. Again, it can range from small (e.g., a group alpha-member behaving badly, as in “she’s just not one of the guys” or “My older brother’s pickin’ on me” or “No shit, you’re a jew/baptist/atheist?” to egregious, as in this case of an MD vs. a patient who is seriously ill.
3. It has, to a lesser or greater extent, the support of an institution, with lesser or greater institutional clout. I don’t need to give you examples; they are your daily bread. I especially like your strategic use of the copies-to list.
   
4. There is also likely to be a small to large group of others who have also been abused by this abuser.

You can picture the underlined variations listed above as five “VU meters” like those on audio equipment. I picture them as ranging from 1-10.

MRFF has done an exceptional job of identifying behavior where one or more of these VU meters is close to pegged at 10 and of using the appropriate amount and type of push-back to get the problem fixed. I’m also guessing that sometimes you have to prioritize your cases since there are also only 24 hours in a day (though sometimes I think that you have extra hours available).

I contribute to MRFF as well as the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and the ACLU. I am a self-identified atheist although I don’t consider myself to be doctrinaire; for example, (some) C.S.Lewis works are among my favorites.

Thanks again,

MRFF Supporter

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