You just blew it, big time
From: (name withheld)
Subject: You just blew it, big time
Date: December 14, 2021 at 12:41:41 PM MST
To: [email protected]
Sir,
While I applaud your fight for religious freedom your fight against the grave site wreaths without permission set back your voice and argument for a decade. Do you have permission to not put the wreaths? I did not think so.
(name withheld)
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Martin France
On Dec 14, 2021, at 9:25 PM, Martin France wrote:
(name withheld), I think my response to an earlier email this evening should better explain our position to you. Let me know if you have any questions. And please, next time, read your note before you send it. I aren’t your English sure I under get. Sincerely, Marty
PS – nice use of your company’s work email. You realize that since it’s not related to your business, the confidentiality warning is totally meaningless. ___________
Dear (name withheld),No one GAVE Wreaths Across America and their volunteers the RIGHT to presume that every dead service member and their survivors want a Christian symbol on their graves. If Christmas is a Christian holiday, then how can a “Christmas wreath” (your own words) NOT be a Christian symbol. We are not pushing our anti-Christian beliefs on anyone because we don’t have “anti-Christian beliefs.” We believe in the Constitution and the Establishment Clause. We BELIEVE that the anti-American and anti-Constitutional action here is on the part of WAA and its volunteers that are PUSHING their Christian beliefs on the graves of those who can do nothing to stop them.We do not doubt that some are blindly doing this out of love and a sense of goodwill. And, if the survivors of those buried in these cemeteries agreed to have their loved-ones’ graves decorated with a Christmas Wreath, then we wouldn’t be involved in this. We’d let it happen and endorse the accountability it would reflect.But, we cannot stand idly by when a group just decides for themselves that EVERY grave in the cemetery needs a Christian symbol on their grave for a CHRISTIAN holiday–when not all of those buried there are Christians or even religious.Think of some symbol with which you or one of your loved ones might not like associated with them, but is still a symbol held in some level of respect or honor by others. Could be a confederate flag, a rainbow flag, a green Muslim flag or Star of David, a wiccan black hat, a Klan-adorned or labeled cross, a Buddhist string of flags, or a Swastika. Every one of these symbols have their supporters–like it or not. And every one of these have been used at some time to adorn a grave in order to honor the person buried there.Now, ask yourself this: If a group adorned EVERY grave in a cemetery that includes members of my family with this symbol out of a sense honor and goodwill, would you be okay with that? If your dad was straight, but his grave had a rainbow flag? If your best friend was Jewish, but a Klan cross was put on their grave, or if your Black friend’s son’s grave was adorned with the “Stars and Bars.” How would you feel? Wreaths may make for a pretty photo, but I think rainbow flags would, too. Don’t you?All that we ask is that the wreath-layers ASK and not ASSUME. We are not all Christians. We do not all celebrate Christmas. We don’t ALL want strangers to decorate the graves of our family members because we see that as a personal, family decision.What a presumptuous bigot you are
.Sincerely,Marty France, PhDBrigadier General, USAF (Retired)MRFF Advisory Board Member
From: (name withheld)
Subject: Wreaths
Date: December 14, 2021 at 5:42:10 PM MST
To: [email protected]
No one has given you “consent” to speak for the rest of us. The Wreaths Across America effort is a beautiful tribute to our service members, including my family members. Please don’t presume to push your anti-Christian views on the rest of us. The only thing “Christian” about placing Christmas wreaths on service members’ graves is the expression of love and compassion that it takes to give that gift to the nation.
What a sad scrooge you are.
(name withheld)