Your e-mail to Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation Inbox x

Dear Mr. Weinstein,

Quite a nice scam you have going here. Kudos for inventing a problem that does not exist, creating a non-profit to “fix it”, and soliciting $$$ from low-information sheeples. It is revolting and a sad commentary on our society that you are apparently succeeding.

The quote featured on your headline banner “When one proudly dons a US military uniform, there is only one religious symbol: the American flag. There is only one religious scripture: the American Constitution. Finally there is only one religious faith: American patriotism” is moronic on all levels. What blather! Our founders would be aghast that you distort the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and equate belief in this country to a religious experience.

This is precisely what Islamists do and enforce. As a Jew, I find your misguided crusade an enormous embarassment.

Finally, do you really call yourself “Mickey”? Most kids grow out of the cute adolescent nickname by age 10 and adopt the more mature “Mike” or “Michael”.

Grow up, get a real job and contribute something meaningful to society. This ain’t it.

Regards

(name withheld)

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Dear (name withheld),

My name is Akiva Miller. I’m a disabled U.S. Veteran, an Orthodox Jew and I volunteer my time as the Director of Veterans Affairs for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. I would like to address a few issues I have with your comments.

You start out by asserting the Mr. Weinstein has created “a problem that doesn’t exist.” This of course is a lie – a lie founded either on ignorance or malevolence. Perhaps you’re just one more of those “sheeple” you mention; I like to refer to them as parrots. People like you park your butts in front of the television, sit and watch Fox News and then parrot everything you’ve heard. Why? Because you’re incapable of original, rational thought.

I’ve encountered far too many people like you: intellectual invalids who get all their information from newsmax.com, breitbart.com, that infamous drug addict, Rush Limbaugh, and Faux News. After a day filled with distortions, bigotry and outright lies, that’s all you know.

The reality here is that the problem not only exists within the U.S. Military and Department of Veterans Affairs, but that the problem is systemic. Religious coercion by Fundamentalist Christians is a cancer that is not only eating away at our readiness, but unit cohesion and the delivery of services to our veterans. How do I know this? Because not only have I heard about it from countless service-members and veterans, I’ve experienced it myself.

You claim to be a Jew, Mr. Vernet; is it okay with you that your fellow Jews are forced to attend Christian prayers and bible studies against their will? Is it okay with you that they are routinely called “Christ Killers” and worse? Is it okay with you that they are denied access to their religious services, including High Holy Day services? Is it okay with you that they’re denied advancement by superior officers because they refuse to “accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior?” Is it okay with you that Jewish veterans regularly face religious discrimination and when they dare complain their medical care is cut off? Is all of this okay with you, or are you not really a Jew?

Could it be that you’re actually a Fundamentalist Christian posing as a Jew? Because any G-d fearing Jew I know would be incensed to learn that his government was engaging in such conduct. I have witnessed and experienced this sort of thing first hand. You can try to tell me it doesn’t happen but having experienced it firsthand I know you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. Again, you’re just one more ignoramus parroting what you’ve heard; and by the way, that makes you complicit.

Any G-d fearing Jew would know that the very most important mitzvah a Jew can perform is rescuing a wrongly imprisoned fellow Jew. That is precisely what Mr. Weinstein is doing; that’s what makes him a true mensch and that’s why I both support him and volunteer my time for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Mr. Weinstein and the many volunteers with the MRFF work tirelessly to defend service members’ and veterans’ right to the free exercise of their religion (regardless of their religious beliefs or no belief at all) as well as the right to be free from the religious oppression and/or coercion of others. The fact is that well in excess of 95% of our clients are Christians who face oppression at the hands of Fundamentalist Christians who illicitly assert they’re not “Christian enough.” In addition to Christians, we of course represent Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Agnostics, Atheists, Pagans and others as well, all of whom are serving or have served this nation honorably in the Armed Forces. Our efforts are in the spirit of Thomas Jefferson’s words, “No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him.” If your argument is really that we have invented this problem, I am left to conclude that you yourself are an advocate for tyranny, including tyranny against your own people. Shame on you.

I am not even going to take the time to address your inane and childish mocking of the banner on the Foundation’s website; your statements only serve to demonstrate clearly your intellectual paucity.

Regarding your decision to make fun of Mikey’s name – this too makes me think you’re not really Jewish. This is something of a Jewish tradition – using nicknames like this. I have a rabbi friend whose name is Matthias who has gone by the nickname Motti from his childhood, he’s the learned rabbi of the congregation where I am a member – would you mock his nickname too? How about my dear friend, another rabbi name Avraham; he has gone by the nickname Avremel for as long as I’ve known him. Do you think he’s being childish too? The fact is, Frank, until today I hadn’t ever hear a grown man mock another person’s name. Sure, I saw that kind of juvenile behavior on the grade school playground all of the time; but one would hope that as an adult you would have outgrown that sort of infantile conduct. Honestly, I’m actually embarrassed for you.

And finally, you would tell Mr. Weinstein to get a real job. Okay, now I’m actually laughing. Mr. Weinstein was an honors graduate of the Air Force Academy and served honorably as a JAG, ultimately serving in the White House until President Reagan formally hired him away from the Air Force. Mr. Weinstein then served as counsel to the President. Following his tenure in the Reagan White House, Mr. Weinstein worked as lead counsel for Ross Perot. After several years working for Mr. Perot, Mr. Weinstein left to found and run the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Mr. Weinstein operates the Foundation on a shoestring budget, having invested not only his tireless efforts and passion, but his life savings in this righteous work. And now you would tell him to get a real job. It’s laughable. I doubt you’ve ever even served a day in the military. You’re like the armchair quarterback who thinks you know more about how to run an NFL team than Bill Belichick, despite the fact that you’ve never played a game of organized football in your life.

In conclusion I suggest, if you are a Jew (and I have serious doubts), you get together with your rabbi and discuss with him why it is you think it’s okay for Fundamentalist Christians to oppress your fellow Jews. Of course if you possessed even a scrap of humanity you would care about the oppression of all people, regardless of their religious persuasion; but I’m trying to be realistic here since it’s obvious that you are both morally and intellectual vacuous, not to mention juvenile – you’re the sort of person who cheered in history class when you read about the Inquisition. I suppose you think the pogroms that plagued Eastern Europe before (and even after) the Holocaust were all in good fun too.

Do yourself a favor and get some professional assistance – seriously. Also, if you are in fact a Jew (and I seriously doubt it), see a rabbi and discuss with him your issues with self-loathing. Keep in mind that Holocaust survivors have a name for people like you: collaborator.

Sincerely,

Akiva David Miller

Director of Veterans Affairs

Military Religious Freedom Foundation