Wreaths across America
From: (name withheld)
Subject: Wreaths across America
Date: December 13, 2024 at 3:57:39 PM MST
Have you people totally lost your minds?? Have you nothing better to do than to protest one of the few things we vets can do to remember and honor our brethren? This ceremony carries no religious connotation to it as far as I am concerned. I am an agnostic. I have no religious affiliation – but I do honor these fallen American hero’s each year and will continue to do so – I might even place two wreaths on the graves of those bearing the Star of David! In the meantime – get a life!
(name withheld)
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Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell
From: Mike
Subject: Wreaths
Date: December 13, 2024 at 5:02:57 PM MST
To: [email protected],Hi (name withheld),
No, we haven’t lost our minds. Nor are we interested in losing our freedom to believe as we choose.
If you can’t think of a better way to “remember and honor our brethren” than to lay a Christian wreath on their graves on the assumption that their particular form of belief doesn’t matter, then you’re in bigger trouble than you may realize. And you might think just a bit about your use of the word ‘brethren’.When, exactly, did the laying of Christian wreaths on the graves of the fallen lose its “religious connotation”? The fact that you claim it has no meaning to you is contradicted by your reaction to our concern.
You, despite your proclaimed agnosticism, would clearly rather bitch and moan about our position than try to understand that families of other belief systems don’t enjoy having their lost loved one’s graves marked by thoughtless people who assume there is only one meaningful way to believe.
If, as you say, you will continue to honor the fallen American heroes you claim to care so much about, you might consider being a bit more thoughtful about who they were and what and how they may have believed.
To be clear, your threat to “place two wreaths on the graves of those bearing the Star of David” exposes you as being not an agnostic but a bigot.
Mike Farrell MRFF Board of Advisors__________________________________________________
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member James Curry
Dear (name withheld)
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has asked me to respond to your recent email. I am a historian, so I looked up the history of the Christmas wreath and learned that:
“Wreaths originally served as Christmas tree ornaments, and not as the standalone decorations we’re familiar with today. They were formed into a wheel-like shape partially for convenience’s sake — it was simple to hang a circle onto the branches of a tree — but the shape was also significant as a representation of divine perfection. It symbolized eternity, as the shape has no end. Together, the circular shape and the evergreen material make the wreath a representation of eternal life. It is also a representation of faith, as Christians in Europe often placed a candle on the wreath during Advent to symbolize the light that Jesus brought into the world. A German Lutheran pastor named Johann Hinrich Wichern is often given credit for turning the wreath into a symbol of the Advent, and lighting candles of various sizes and colors in a circle as Christmas approached.”
Your interpretation of the Christmas wreath as a non-sectarian symbol with no religious connotation is several hundred years out of date. It started that way, just as the Christmas tree began as a pagan symbol, but meanings change, and the meaning of the Christmas wreath changed quite some time ago. You might also not understand that the “Wreaths Across America” movement was started by—here it comes—a commercial wreath maker who wanted an outlet for his goods. It worked out really well for him, and the folks who go around putting wreaths on veterans’ graves are not at all careful about where they place the wreaths, not even ascertaining whether the veteran would want a Christmas wreath placed on his/her grave. We at MRFF have much photographic proof of wreath-layers placing these Christian symbols on the graves that are identifiably Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Agnostic or Atheist.
You write in your email that you are an agnostic. Maybe you are, maybe not, but you display a total disregard for other people’s religious beliefs, as you state that you might place Christian wreaths on identifiably-Jewish veterans’ graves. What this statement tells me is that you are a total phony who does not respect anyone’s religious beliefs. I also doubt that you are a veteran, for most veterans I have known are much more respectful of the religious beliefs of others, though there certainly is a percentage who are just as hypocritical as you appear to be.
I will close my response by posing the following to you: If some group were to decide to place Jewish symbols on the graves at Arlington National Cemetery or some other military cemetery, how would you feel? What if they were Muslim symbols? Or Hindu symbols? Or Confucian symbols? Or the symbols of any of the 4000+ non-Christian religions that exist in our world today? Would that make you feel any better about someone “honoring” our veterans? You might want to think it through, (name withheld)
Col. James T. Currie, USA (Ret.), Ph.D.
Board of Advisors, Military Religious Freedom Foundation
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Jim and Mike
Please accept my apology regarding placing wreaths on Jewish graves. It was a snarky remark on my part. I will take particular care to not do that tomorrow and to explain your position to others that I see doing so. While I completely disagree with your efforts on this issue, hopefully we can agree to disagree respectfully. (Name Withheld)
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Jim
Army helicopter pilot: Vietnam
Distinguished Flying Cross
Bronze Star
34 Air Medals
Ohio Military Hall of Fame
Hope this dispels your concerns about me being a veteran
I’ll be at the Marietta National cemetery tomorrow. Hope to see you there
(name withheld)
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Response from MRFF Supporter Mike Challman
Good evening, (name withheld)-
Mikey Weinstein shared your email with me and asked if I would be interested in replying to you. I’m a longtime supporter and volunteer for the MRFF, as well as an Air Force veteran AND a lifelong, active and devout Christian.
I’ve also participated in Wreaths Across America in the past.
The MRFF absolutely supports the remembrance and honor of all of our military brethren. As you probably know, there are many veterans such as myself at MRFF, and our key mission is to support military members. That means our efforts are on behalf of ALL current and former military members – Christian AND non-Christian, believer AND non-believer. EVERY American who has served our country deserves our respect and gratitude regardless of their faith tradition, including those with no religious affiliation.
Despite your insistence that the Wreath program has no religious connotation, that is simply incorrect. Some years ago, I participated in the event at Washington Crossing National Cemetery in eastern PA. It was without question a Christian event, with Christmas music playing, people praying and, of course, CHRISTMAS WREATHS being placed on every single grave. There was no discussion about what that would mean for those whose grave indicated a non-Christian faith – in fact it was quite the opposite. The event was described by the on-site organizers as an “opportunity to share Christ’s love.” Is every Wreath event at every cemetery that explicit? I honestly don’t know (but I suspect it’s more the rule than the exception) and I would respectfully suggest that even ONE event like that is one too many. Frankly, that’s why I never did it again.
As I said at the outset, I’m a lifelong, active and devout Christian. I live my faith and I am proud of that. I am equally proud of my brothers and sisters in arms who swore to support and defend the US Constitution. Many of them are NOT Christian and I think it’s incredibly arrogant for any Christian to ignore that diversity and simply “carpet bomb” a military cemetery with Christian symbology.
We can, and should, honor and respect everyone’s service WITHOUT demeaning or trampling on the beliefs of others. To do less is a disgrace and a stain on the memory of Americans who deserve much, much better from all of us.
Happy to discuss further if you’d like.
Peace,
Mike Challman
Christian, Veteran, Blue Star Dad
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Response from MRFF Supporter Rabi Joel Schwartzman
Sir:
This time of year brings religious sensitivities to the fore. The wreath project has electrified and disturbed many of us. First of all, I believe that placing wreaths on graves whose loved ones don’t want them is a violation of their Constitutional, First Amendment rights. This is federal property, not private cemeteries.
As a rabbi whose repose will someday be in Arlington National Cemetery, I fervently hope that my grave will never be so sullied by any wreaths. My relatives may light yahrzeit candles and place stones on my headstone because these are legitimate, time honored Jewish customs, but never, ever, would they want or tolerate a wreath. It just isn’t a Jewish thing. It isn’t any part of Jewish practice. It would be a desecration in the eyes of my family.
It would be far better were this operation to require permissions for this reputed money making project that insults and even denigrates many non-Christian families and their loved ones who fought for this county. What we are asking for at the bottom line is a little respect for our beliefs, customs and sensitivities.
Rabbi Joel R. Schwartzman
Ch, Col (Ret), USAF
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