MRFF’s Bd. Member John Compere, Sr. Research Dir. Chris Rodda, and Ad. Bd. Member James T. Currie respond to “An old Soldier who believes in God and country” admonishing MRFF for not promoting American Legion
From: (e-mail address withheld)
Subject: The American Legion
Date: March 9, 2025 at 8:15:00 PM MDT
To: Mikey Weinstein <[email protected]>
Mister Weinstein
This week is the 106th birthday of a great veterans organization The American Legion. Your little organization has less then a hundred thousand clients, the American Legion has 1.6 MILLION members worldwide. The Legion has done many great things for our veterans and communities from sponsoring Boy Scouts and Boys State to youth baseball. They helped found the Department of Veterans Affairs and drafted a flag code. They contributed huge sums to the Vietnam and World War II memorials. In addition the Legion offers free advice to VA claims and a support group for service families.
Instead of bragging about getting a Bible verse taken off a facebook page and posting those “fan” letters why don’t you post something honoring a truly fine organization that cares about veterans and has done so much to help them.
An old Soldier who believes in God and country
Response from MRFF Board Member John Compere
On Mar 10, 2025, at 9:03 AM, John Compere wrote:
Mr. (name withheld),
This will acknowledge receipt of another cynical email from you. This time you are criticizing the Military Religious Freedom Foundation for not publicizing and honoring the American Legion. As you well know, the purpose of the Foundation is not to publicize and honor veteran organizations for the good work that they do.
We are an American non-profit civil rights organization dedicated to protecting the religious freedom of military men and women, including veterans. We are composed of 1,100 volunteer and paid staff (84% Christians) and have represented over 93,000 military clients (95% Christians), including veterans, who requested their right to religious freedom guaranteed them under the United States Constitution be protected. We have been nominated 7 times for the Nobel Peace Prize for representing the religious freedom of all faiths and beliefs of military members, including veterans, when requested to do so by them. Be assured we will continue to serve them with pride and patriotism despite criticism from those, like you, who do not care about the right to religious freedom of our American military men and women, including veterans.
For your information, attached is my article honoring our veterans which was published on the Foundation website on Veterans Day 2024.
John Compere
Brigadier General, US Army (Retired)
Disabled American Veteran (Vietnam Era)
Board Member, Military Religious Freedom Foundation
Response from MRFF Senior Research Director Chris Rodda
On Mar 10, 2025, at 11:07 AM, Chris Rodda <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear old soldier who doesn’t like us and apparently has way too much time on their hands …
I’m responding to your latest tiresome e-mail because I did, in fact, write a piece about the American Legion a number of years ago.
Enjoy!
“Apparently, the American Legion Hates Jesus”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/apparently-the-american-l_b_11073100
Chris Rodda
Senior Research Director
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
Response from “Old soldier” to MRFF Senior Research Director Chris Rodda
Your “piece” didn’t mention any of the good work the Legion does to help veterans. All it talked about was taking Bibles off POW/MIA tables
Your right about one thing I don’t like you
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member James T. Currie
Dear Mr. (name withheld):
I have been asked by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) to respond to your recent email. I gladly do so, as I, too, am an “old Soldier,” as you claim to be. The difference between us is that I actually understood the Oath of Office I repeated so many times during my thirty-year Army career, while you apparently just raised your hand and repeated what to you were just meaningless nothings. As you are a self-described “old Soldier,” it would seem appropriate that you would take pride in upholding the tenets of that Oath of Office you took when you joined the US Army and re-took whenever you were promoted or re-enlisted. Perhaps raising your right hand and swearing to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” meant nothing to you. Luckily for almost 100,000 military servicemembers who have come to the MRFF and asked for help in securing their Constitutionally-guaranteed rights to a government which “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” there is an organization like MRFF which represents them and supports the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the most intellectual among our country’s Founders, best expressed the meaning of the First Amendment in his letter to the Baptist congregation of Danbury, CT, in a letter he sent to them on 1 January 1802. Here’s what President Jefferson wrote:
“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.”
Do you understand, Mr. (name withheld), what Jefferson meant by a “wall of separation” established by the First Amendment to the Constitution? You swore—perhaps many times during your military career–to uphold that Constitution, including the First Amendment to it. That’s what MRFF strives to do: to uphold the Constitution.
The fact that the American Legion is celebrating its 106th birthday and has over one million members is totally irrelevant to upholding and supporting the Constitution. Your assertion that you “believe in God and country” is also irrelevant to upholding and supporting and defending the Constitution. What is relevant is that those men who drafted the original Constitution and the First Amendment thereto were determined to avoid the sectarianism and religious wars that had plagued Europe for so long. We at MRFF are grateful that they were so smart and that their guarantees against government involvement in religion were placed in our Constitution.
Col. James T. Currie, USA (Ret.), Ph.D.
Board of Advisors, Military Religious Freedom Foundation
Recent Posts
- March 12, 2025 | 1 comment
At age 83, I qualify as an old sailor. I was also a member of the American Legion. Thankfully in the 1960’s no one in the organization was pushing the religion buttons as people are today.
I swore an oath to our Constitution many times during my Navy career.
First Amendment is clear: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
I respect everyone’s choice of religion just as I want everyone to respect mine. As many people feel, I despise those who try to destroy the values and beliefs of our military and civil service employees. Had I been a visitor to my nearby VA Clinic and seen the same trash, my action would have been identical.
MRFF is one of the best support organizations on planet earth. From my perspective, Mikey resolves conundrums quickly and the established KISS routine is much more effective than lawsuits.
During boot camp in 1961, the Navy made accommodations for those with other beliefs to attend local services in San Diego on appropriate days and times, including transportation if needed. If anyone felt the need to see a Chaplin, it happened the same day if possible.
In the civilian world I refused to support corporate PACs (Political Action Committees.) When one was scheduled, I simply informed my engineering department and never said go or don’t. One day my boss was gone and I was acting director. The HR manager burst into my office asking why no one was at the presentation. I simply said that I’d passed on the schedule and that politics was a personal choice. He tried to threaten me by telling me that a plant manager had been fired for this. He left frustrated and never was a rebuke experienced.
Thank you, John Compere
Thank you, Chris Rodda
Thank you, James T. Currie
Bob Mhoon
for representing me and countless other sensible veterans of my persuasion who have “been there”