You should be ashamed.

“MIKEY”,

There is NO SUCH THING AS “FREEDOM FROM RELIGION.” Here in America our religious rights are protected. Our Freedom OF RELIGION is protected from Liars and deceivers like you. You intentionally mislead and knowingly lie to our service members & you should be ashamed of yourself.

As soon as the American civilian world gets a whiff of your stench, game over for you pal. You are in the tiny minority of ppl that have no faith in God, and the FAITHFUL will shut you down.
You have a right to your beliefs, but you shouldnt be lying and misleading everybody & you should be protecting Religious rights. They promote high- morale and good morals and values. Again, shame on you sir.

Best Regards,

(name withheld)

Dear (name withheld);

I was copied your note to ‘Mikey’ and felt it deserved a reply. Pardon my anonymity… just a precaution since those who write Mikey are, more often than not, unbalanced & capable of causing problems.

You write (not an original thought, by the way, as it’s frequently asserted by those who wish it were so) that “there is NO SUCH THING AS “FREEDOM FROM RELIGION” as though shouting in in ‘ALL CAPS’ makes it so as regards the issues you criticize Mikey for defending. It’s not, and never was.

It is indeed true that you have the freedom to try to talk to me, person to person, about your religious beliefs but not force them on me as you imply by stating ‘…the FAITHFUL will shut you down’ – what? Is that a threat of violent suppression akin to what Christians suffer in Iraq or Pakistan where there is a state religion and no constitutional protections from it? That freedom only exists in the private sphere, in which I am also entitled to take actions to prevent unwanted interference from bothersome individuals.

But, if you were elected President, you would be Constitutionally prohibited from forcing your faith on me or anyone else. Section 4, Article V, Clause 3 states: “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States…” and the 1st Amendment specifically states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”. While I understand that ‘concrete thinking’ and thought rigidity are hallmarks of the right-wing, fundamentalist mentality (as evidenced by adherence to the concept of the inerrancy of the so-called ‘sacred’ texts while other, no less religious authorities discuss nuances) these two statements essentially create a ‘wall’ between church & state. I understand that, in your rigid though frames, the failure to specifically state “there shall be a wall between the church and the state” seems to leave the issue open, the best legal minds for the last 300 years disagree… sorry.

What you criticize Mikey for is protecting that wall from people (perhaps like yourself) who’d violate our Constitution by establishing a ‘state religion’ with the threat of ‘shut[ing] down’ dissenters – as you threaten to do to Mikey. You make ad hominem accusations against Mikey of ‘knowingly mislead[ing] and knowingly [lying]’ as though the statements prove themselves. Are you so dismissive of your own religious ideals that the commandment to not bear false witness means nothing to you? Have you considered the biblical injunction of Ephesians verses 17-32? Or, do your own narcissistic and autocratic needs outweigh the religious precepts you falsely state you adhere to?

Lastly, while you may feel that Mikey ‘is in the minority’ but, considering that the vast majority (96%) of his clients are Christians (of various denominations) who are being oppressed by Domionists (perhaps like you) and that believers of your ilk constitute only ~25% of U.S. Christians (the remainder supporting church-state separation) it is highly unlikely that Mikey’s ‘game is over’. And if the lies & misrepresentations you voice in your comments are any clue, your ‘good morals & values’ are also figments of your own narcissistic delusions.

Seems to me, it’s time you had a little ‘come to Jesus’ session with reality.

Best Regards,

Marhalldoc.

Dear (name withheld),

Forgive me, but your ignorance is showing.

Freedom of religion does not, as you suggest, mean one must make a choice of religions. It means one is free to think as she or he chooses, free to think and free to have faith in God, in many gods or in no God at all but choose only to believe in the reality of life as he or she understands it.

You are correct that your religious rights are protected in this country, but that includes protecting the rights of those who choose to have no religion. What you apparently don’t understand is that the men and women in our military are subject to their superiors and sometimes those superiors believe very fervently in a specific religion. When they do, they can believe that those beneath them must believe as they do. This, as I’m sure you understand, cannot be tolerated.

This constraint was put in place by our founders, whose understanding that America must be free of religious oppression gave birth to the idea of freedom of religion, which includes by definition the concept of freedom from religion.

What you further fail to realize is that the MRFF is protecting the right of freedom of religion in men and women in the military by making clear that the separation of church and state must be honored. No part of the government can promote or proselytize one religion over another. We are not opposed to any religion, we just do not want one religion promoted over others.

We do not lie or deceive, as you suggest, nor are we trying to mislead anyone. On the contrary, we are insisting that every person’s right must be honored, not just those of a certain faith.

The American people have a pretty good understanding and appreciation of our work, thanks very much, and we seem to be getting along pretty well, except, of course, for the few people like yourself who seem intent on misunderstanding our work and becoming defensive (and, as in your case, quite offensive). Since the vast majority of our members/supporters are Christians, and some of them clergy, your notion that we are “in the tiny minority of ppl that have no faith in God” is as off base as is the general thesis of your sadly misguided assault.

With a little thoughtful consideration I hope you can overcome your embarrassment, take a minute to learn about what the MRFF is actually doing and even, perhaps, apologize for your ill-chosen words.

Best,

Mike Farrell
(MRFF Advisory Board)

We will continue exposing you liars & deceivers. Regardless of you scare & bullying tactics. God bless you sir. Repent.

(name withheld)

Well, (name withheld), I feel a need to apologize. I suggested earlier that yours was a position of ignorance, meaning that you simply didn’t have the facts. I hoped that by providing a few pertinent facts it would life the veil and allow you to see that you had either been misinformed or had somehow misconstrued the reality of what the MRFF is doing.

It’s now clear that it is my misunderstanding and I’m sorry for that. What I had assumed to be simple ignorance of the facts is clearly willful ignorance on your part, which makes me sad. Personally, I think I prefer abject stupidity to willful ignorance, but it’s your choice so I guess it’s yours to live with.

Best anyway,

Mike Farrell