Your attack on Wreaths Across America

To: MRFF

From: (name withheld)

SUBJ: Your attack on Wreaths Across America

Date: 9 JAN 2022

I am a Jew. I am a soldier. I am a woman. I am the granddaughter, daughter, stepdaughter, and mother of soldiers—combat veterans all, going back to our Revolutionary War.

I will be buried in a veterans cemetery, and I will be buried under a Star of David. And my soul will be honored and moved if some Christian places a wreath on my grave at Christmastime. A wreath is hardly a Christian symbol—only a seasonal decoration adopted from ancient pagan customs. It’s nice. 

For your part, you are “for” religious freedom like Antifa is “antifascist.” You are anti-religion, anti-anyone’s religion other than yours of atheism and authoritarianism. You are intolerant of any Jew’s or Christian’s free and public exercise of his or her religion.

I’ve read many of your responses to those who have written you on your website about your attack on WAA. You insult, demean and ridicule their deeply held religious beliefs and patriotism, and you deflect from the real issue. Shame on you, and shame especially on the chaplains you have recruited to savage these good people who only wish to show gratitude to those who served with this generous, innocuous symbol of good will.

Our country has very serious issues you could address, including the suppression of public Christian expression, the suppression of free speech, the suppression of other freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution, and the accretion of unconstitutional power by government to the detriment of individual liberty. 

Please, do something worthy with your influence and money.

(name withheld)

North Carolina

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Response from MRFF Board Member John Compere

On Feb 7, 2022, at 8:27 AM, John Compere wrote:

(name withheld),
First, thank you for your past military service.
Secondly & for your information, the religious wreaths you address are advertised as “Christmas” wreaths & sold as “Christmas” wreaths to be placed on or before “Christmas” (rather than more appropriately Veterans Day). “Christmas” is Latin for “Christ’s Mass” which is a Christian ceremonial. To claim they are not Christian symbols is disingenuous.
There are families of deceased military veterans who do not want a religious group to which they do not belong or support profiting, promoting its religion & marketing its religious wreaths by presumptuously putting them on the graves on their deceased loved ones without permission. Those families consider these uninvited & unwanted intrusions on the personal burial sites of their deceased family members.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation represents, when requested, the religious freedom right of those families to object & prevent what they believe are thoughtless trespasses on the graves of their deceased veterans. We do so because we respect those families’ wishes & the religious wreath group does not (more wreaths laid = more profits made). Religious freedom is a secular shield of protection & never a sectarian sword of privilege.
Your self-righteous sermonizing is morally misplaced. It is recommended you become better informed & consider the wisdom of Philosopher John Stuart Mill who advised one “…who knows only his (her) side of the case knows little of that.”
Brigadier General John Compere, US Army (Retired)Disabled American Veteran (Vietnam Era)Board Member, Military Religious Freedom Foundation (composed of 85% Christians)

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Response from MRFF Supporter Rabbi Joel Schwartzman

On Feb 7, 2022, at 9:35 AM, Rabbi Joel Schwartzman wrote:

Dear (name withheld):

I shall take a few moments to respond to your email to Mikey Weinstein and the MRFF.  I do this as a rabbi who has not been coerced in any way, but to share my take on what you are saying below.  In military style that I learned through my near quarter century of active duty service, I intend to comment on what you have written line by line or paragraph by paragraph.  So, let’s begin:

From: (name withheld)

SUBJ: Your attack on Wreaths Across America

Date: 9 JAN 2022

I am a Jew. I am a soldier. I am a woman. I am the granddaughter, daughter, stepdaughter, and mother of soldiers—combat veterans all, going back to our Revolutionary War. You seem to have quite the Jewish and military background and yiches, Nice. Mazel tov.

I will be buried in a veterans cemetery, and I will be buried under a Star of David. And my soul will be honored and moved if some Christian places a wreath on my grave at Christmastime. This is certainly within your rights.  I, personally, wouldn’t appreciate someone laying anything on my grave, and as for your understanding of what these wreaths truly represent, this is the place where you and I part company.  I understand the wreath at Christmas time, given its coloration and association over time is absolutely a Christian symbol.  Your characterization of same is simply a choice you have made with which most non-Christians and many scholars would differ.  That you choose to see these objects as you do is the crux of where the MFRR, Mikey and I take exception.  As such, we see the laying of these wreath willy-nilly over all graves at a federally operated cemetery as chutzpah of the highest order.  My response, even before I realized the money-maker this actually is for the project organizer (they bought these wreaths from a business they themselves owned and operated!), was to be appalled over an unwanted, unrequested, unwarranted act on graves such as my uncle’s, a WWII vet who became a rabbi and is buried now in Florida.  A wreath is hardly a Christian symbol—only a seasonal decoration adopted from ancient pagan customs. It’s nice. Yes, for you, it is nice.  For me and hundreds if not thousands of others it is a statement of unmitigated religious usurpation of our rights, sensibilities and religious understandings if not beliefs.

For your part, you are “for” religious freedom like Antifa is “antifascist.” You are anti-religion, anti-anyone’s religion other than yours of atheism and authoritarianism. You are intolerant of any Jew’s or Christian’s free and public exercise of his or her religion.  I would very much like you to cite specifics for your accusations herein, beyond this wreath business.  If anything, Mikey and the MRFF have helped to preserve and defend the First Amendment, Constitutional rights of their clients, enabling them to practice and observe their religious heritages without…and this is where you steer off course…without they’re having to bow to coercion, intimidation and harassment from their superiors or other co-military or civilian actors.  Nowhere, for example, does anyone of us tell you that you can’t or shouldn’t have a wreath (Christmas or otherwise) placed on your grave, although Jewish custom would have stones placed on your marker rather than wreaths.  But, hey, as a Jew…other than an Orthodox Jew…you are certainly free to have anything placed on your grave. That is your choice entirely.  What we are claiming, however, is that this is an offence to many of us who didn’t ask for or want this intrusion.  We DON’T agree to having our graves so violated and object vehemently to what we see as a symbol, not of kindness or altruism but of a type of supersessionism that has simply assumed an authority to which it has no right.  This isn’t religious freedom; rather it is religious over-reach.

I’ve read many of your responses to those who have written you on your website about your attack on WAA. You insult, demean and ridicule their deeply held religious beliefs and patriotism, and you deflect from the real issue. Shame on you, and shame especially on the chaplains you have recruited to savage these good people who only wish to show gratitude to those who served with this generous, innocuous symbol of good will. I absolutely reject any notion of shame for defending MY religious beliefs.  That I describe this whole business of wreath laying as a profit making over-reach is my truth and is based on facts as I know them.  No one has twisted my arm to have me say so, and frankly, I take exception to the accusation that I have been ”recruited to savage these ‘good people and their allegedly “innocuous” symbol of good will…which I find to be antithetical to my beliefs, understandings and heritage.  My father (z”l) having been a rabbi would have had a wreath in our home or on our front door or, now, on his grave as much as he would have had pork in our home!  As I stated above, you are entitled to see this whole business as you do; but you cannot tell me how I should perceive it because, very simply put, this isn’t anything that I as a Jew and a rabbi would accept or countenance.

Our country has very serious issues you could address, including the suppression of public Christian expression, the suppression of free speech, the suppression of other freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution, and the accretion of unconstitutional power by government to the detriment of individual liberty. I truly believe that you have misunderstood the purposes and directions of the MRFF.  If anything, it asserts and defends the rights…your rights…to free speech and religious practice or the freedom FROM religious practice.  I frankly do not understand where the MRFF has done anything to limit your freedoms to do or say what you will.  That we disagree with your positions and are willing to engage in a debate over your interpretations to which you are entitled but which, in much of what you have written here,  are wrong is precisely what we are about.  Again, it would help if you were to be more specific in the criticisms you are projecting.  But, given the fact that Christians freely express themselves in this country on a minute by minute basis; given the fact that there are any number of  Christian  and non-Christian  organizations including the MRFF that stand up to the suppression of religious free speech and rights, I don’t worry about the diminution of religious rights in this country.  If, in fact, you have followed the unfolding Religious Freedom Restoration Act, you would have seen that religious freedoms have been widely expanded in this country over the past decade, ever since the Hobby-Lobby decision in 2014, to the point where the wall that traditionally has separated Church and State has been crumbling in favor of Christian claims to rights that threaten to swamp the SCOTUS’s agenda and drown the entire legal system.  I don’t think that you need to worry about the freedoms that Christians in this country enjoy, or that the MRFF threatens them.  What the MRFF does do is to try to contain the harms that Christians and others can cause those who do not believe as they do or wish to be cowed into giving up their freedoms to believe and worship as they do because of a threat their careers and general wellbeing.

In the future, should you wish to know more about the cases that the MRFF takes on daily, you might ask Mikey to have some sent to you, sanitized as it were so that the clients’ identities aren’t compromised.  You say that you have read about the “WAA.”  I think that based on this case alone which comprises the “December Dilemma” in a big way and which made it super-charged and generally a battle-cry for bigots and Jew-haters, you could have gotten a false impression of the work of the MRFF.  I think that having access to some other of our “projects’ might change your mind…if you get past the anger of your email and actually engage with the MRFF and its critical work to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Be well. 

Ch, Col, USAF (Ret.) Joel R. Schwartzman

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Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member James Currie

(name withheld):

I have been asked by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) to respond to your recent email, and I am glad to do so. It’s almost hard to know where to begin, as your screed is so full of misinformation and hatred as to be practically indecipherable by a reasonable person. But I’ll try.

First of all, I do not know of any other organization that is as invested in religious freedom for members of the US military as is MRFF. It has successfully represented literally tens of thousands of servicemembers—ninety-five percent of whom identify as Christian—who have run up against members of their chain of command who have attempted to impose their personal religious beliefs on them.  Entirely too many religious servicemembers have decided that their oath to support and defend the Constitution does not apply when it comes to the First Amendment, which, as you may recall, protects against our government or its agents espousing any particular religion or attempting to impose it on others.

I am a historian, (name withheld), so I always like to return to primary sources whenever possible to ascertain what our founding documents actually mean. One of my favorites among our Founders was President Thomas Jefferson, who was quite well acquainted with the two men most responsible for the First Amendment: James Madison and George Mason. Jefferson knew both of these men and he knew what the words of the First Amendment meant for our new country. His explanation of this amendment was best expressed in a letter he sent to the Baptist congregation of Danbury, CT, on January 1, 1802, just over 220 years ago. Here’s what 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.”

Is this completely clear to you? In this letter Jefferson refers to a “wall of separation” between church and state, a wall that MRFF strives to defend each and every day. Individuals like you, (name withheld), do not seem to understand this wall of separation and because of your own religious beliefs would breach that wall and destroy it, thus changing one of the fundamental tenets on which our country was built. Many others of us—including those of us who support the MRFF and its work—believe that this wall is vital to the maintenance of our country as it has existed since its incorporation under the Constitution. Because of it we are largely free from the deadly religious strife which has plagued so many countries throughout their history.

As to the wreath about which you wax so virulently, the evergreen wreath has been recognized for 200 years in its Christmas-time incarnation as a symbol of the Advent. That means it is a Christian symbol, and there is no denying its status as such. Even the folks who run Wreaths Across America recognize the Christian symbology in their wreaths, as they direct the wreath-laying volunteers to skip those graves that are marked with tombstones inscribed with non-Christian markings. You may not realize it, (name withheld), but the Veterans Affairs Department allows any one of seventy-nine distinct symbols to be engraved on tombstones in VA cemeteries. Some of these symbols represent various forms of Christianity, but many others do not. The veterans who have chosen to be buried under these non-Christian symbols deserve, the MRFF believes, the same respect that you would give to those who have chosen a Christian symbol for their tombstone.

You allege that the United States has “very serious issues” such as “the suppression of public Christian expression.” I am completely unaware of the suppression of “public Christian expression” except where that expression is made in violation of the First Amendment to our Constitution. I am confident that outspokenly Christian individuals such as yourself would be the first to complain if Jews or Muslims or Hindus or atheists were to secure permission to go amongst the tombstones at Arlington National Cemetery and place their own particular religious symbols on all the graves there, including those that are identified as Christian. You and others of your ilk would be screaming to the rooftops that placing such symbols on Christian graves is wrong—and you would be correct, just as is the placing of Christian symbols on the graves at Arlington and other government-run cemeteries.

That “wall of separation” of which President Jefferson spoke so eloquently is what makes our great country different from places where religious leaders are in charge. These countries are called “theocracies,” and they are often characterized by religious suppression and even by the torture and killing of religious minorities. We have seen what happens when religious leaders are able to impose their will on governments. Our Constitution, and specifically the First Amendment to our Constitution, prevents the establishment of a theocracy in our country, despite the desires of certain fanatics who would prefer that we have one—so long as they can control the nature of the theocracy.

No, (name withheld), MRFF has nothing to be ashamed of or to back away from. It proudly strives to uphold the separation of church and state in our country and to fight for the freedom of conscience of all who serve in uniform, even as it contends with people like yourself who obviously did not fully understand that oath they took when they joined our military. You clearly need a better understanding of our country’s history as a non-theocratic republic, and I suggest that you gain such before you draft any more letters or emails on this subject.

Col. James T. Currie, USA (Ret.), Ph.D.Board of Advisors, Military Religious Freedom Foundation

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Response from MRFF Supporter Mike Challman

On Feb 7, 2022, at 5:52 PM, Mike Challman wrote:

Good Day, (name withheld) – 
As you certainly know by now, Mikey is good about sharing communication that he receives, both positive and critical, with some of us who support the efforts of the MRFF.  In my case, I am involved in two ways. First, by providing financial support to the mission. Second, by responding to emails where I think my point-of-view might be helpful.  Your email is one that caught my eye, and so I’m hopeful that you are open to considering my perspective.
First and foremost, thank you for your service and that of your family.  Similar to you, there is a lot of military service in my family.  I’m an Air Force veteran, son of an Army veteran, brother of an Air Force veteran, uncle of a current soldier, and father of a current guardian (USSF).  
I am also a lifelong, active, and devout Christian.
Given the importance of religion in my own life, I must push back against your misconception that the MRFF is “anti-religion” in any way.  Over the years that I have offered my support to the MRFF, I have always appreciated the regard in which this organization holds religious freedom.  Where some people seem to get it wrong about our values is that we do not support religious (or non-religious) supremacy, nor do we support the imposition of any religious belief (including non-belief) upon the Constitutional rights of military members…. even if the intentions are well-meant. 
With regard to the laying of Christmas wreaths (and that is what they are), the best intentions are no still defense if the gesture is considered intrusive by the family of the service member.  I have volunteered to lay wreaths at the National Cemetery near me, but I never laid a wreath on a non-Christian grave. It was clearly a religious-themed event every time I did it, from the moment of the opening prayer and welcoming comments. 
Regarding your belief that we are “intolerant of any Jew’s or Christian’s free and public exercise of his or her religion”,  I am at a complete loss about what you mean. The MRFF has never done such a thing, EXCEPT where that “free and public exercise” encroaches on someone else’s Constitutional rights. Because at that point it’s not exercise, it’s imposition. 
Happy to discuss with you further, if you are so inclined. 
Peace,
Mike Challman Veteran, Blue Star Dad, Christian, MRFF Supporter

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General, I see that you were a JAG officer. Your highest decoration is the MSM, which I also wear. Everything below your ARCOM, which I also wear, is just a participation ribbon. Maybe if you ask nicely, you could get the Army’s newest decoration for participating in President Biden’s inauguration. I do give you points for your jump wings, which I also wear.

How is that you were wounded? I don’t see a Purple Heart on your rack.
(name withheld)

p.s. I am aware of the root words of “Christmas.” I speak some Greek–had to learn it for my doctoral studies. I lived and studied in Greece for five years. The “Christ” in “Christmas” is not Latin. The word derives from old English that traces to the Greek translation from Hebrew. No Latin in its etymology.

Some of my best friends are Christians. I don’t have any secular humanist friends, but I do know some. They’re bitter, judgmental and unpleasant people who are always looking to take offense. 

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Response from MRFF Board Member John Compere

On Feb 8, 2022, at 8:14 PM, John Compere wrote:

You missed the point regarding the Christian Christmas wreaths – “Christmas” means “Christ’s Mass” which is a Christian ceremonial. The Latin etymology is in “mass” from Vulgar Latin “messa” and Late Latin “missa”.

“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers.” – SOCRATES

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Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell

On Feb 8, 2022, at 8:34 PM, Mike wrote:

Dear (name withheld),

If you’ve actually read many of our responses to those who attack and demean Mikey and the MRFF, I will assume you may have come across some of mine.
However, please understand that neither Mikey, nor I, nor anyone else here demeans and ridicules “deeply held religious beliefs and patriotism.” We honor both. However, we do quite often answer in kind when attacked and slandered, and I certainly accept responsibility for having ridiculed some of the more egregious examples of antii-Semitic garbage and fat-headed nonsense that is casually flung in our direction from people claiming to be acting out of what they apparently consider patriotic and/or deeply held religious conviction.
You and I may disagree about that, but that’s life. We certainly disagree about a number of things.
Let me start by  clarifying our position. If you, being Jewish, would welcome the placement of a Christmas wreath on your grave, we would have no problem with that. Our position was always that it is inappropriate for the people acting on behalf of Wreaths Across America to assume that everyone would welcome such an adornment without first checking to find out if that is in fact the case. 
You see, not all people share your view that the wreaths have no religious significance and are simply a “nice” gesture. Some do not want them, period. Others do not want them because they see the blanketing of veterans’ graves as an attempt to “Christianize” America. And they are particularly concerned when it is done in government-controlled cemeteries because that may infer government support for one religious view over others. Some see their placement as fine for those who want them but would; rather not have them on their own relative’s graves because she or he (or they) are of another faith or belief system and do not want to have their belief ignored and/or disrespected.
You see, it’s a question of assuming everyone wants one when in fact some do not. And those who do not don’t want to be ignored or disrespected, so they come to us. We strive to see to it that all involved are considered, that all people’s permission should be sought. And when we do so, we are attacked, by you and others, as an anti-religion or, more specifically, an anti-Christian organization, which we are not.

Let’s ignore the fact that Wreaths Across America is a profit-making organization with a pro-Christian agenda and move on.
You expose your own bias, I think, when you attempt to challenge our pro-religious freedom position by comparing us, rather crudely, with antifa and assert that antifa is not antifascist.  Though I carry no brief for antifa, you’re wrong on both counts.
You assert, wrongly, that we are anti-religion and are, in fact, atheists and authoritarians. That’s simply false. The staff, supporters and clients of the MRFF enjoy a broad cross-section of belief systems, about 95% of them Christian.

You also suggest that we are “intolerant of any Jew’s or Christian’s free and public exercise of his or her religion”. That’s just silly, but it has to be clarified. We are talking about the women and men in the military, please remember. And in the military one’s religious expressions, according to both law and regulation, are subject to consideration of “time, place and manner.”

As you should know, because of the separation of church and state, the U.S. Government does not and may not prefer, promote, promulgate or appear to do so on behalf of any one religion over others. So an officer or one in authority over subordinates may not in any way impose a religious belief or non-belief on those in her/his charge. Thus there are, in the military, constraints on the “free and public exercise of his or her religion.”
You apparently recognize what you characterize as WAA’s “deeply held religious beliefs and patriotism.” That’s fine, but, as mentioned above, when they express those deeply held beliefs gratuitously, they do so at the risk of offending, whether intended or not, those who don’t share their belief system. There is a way, certainly, to show their “gratitude to those who have served” while at the same time being sensitive to the beliefs of others.
As for the rest, you’ve spoken here quite strongly and you are, in many respects, far off base. I hope, for example, you have the integrity to regret your inexcusable shaming of chaplains who understand how fine the line can sometimes be between passionate religious fervor and utter bigotry, who care enough about the true expression of faith to stand up and defend it, even in the face of those who insist that their version of Christianity is the only one and true belief and all others are the spawn of demons
As to the other serious issues our country faces, we as individuals do what we can. The fact that the “suppression of Christian expression” tops your list says a lot about what spurred you to write.
Mike Farrell (MRFF Board of Advisors)

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Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Lawrence Wilkerson

On Feb 13, 2022, at 11:05 AM, Wilkerlb wrote:

(name withheld),
As an advisory board member of the MRFF, I was asked by the Founder and President of the group, Mikey Weinstein, if I would respond to the subject email.  I told him I would and my response is below (and attached).  I would have hand-written a letter and mailed it to you if I had had your address.  Quite frankly, I don’t actually know that this email will get to you because so many people who communicate with MRFF by email use spurious or camouflaged email addresses to which we cannot successfully respond.  Your email, however, appeared genuine, so I am responding to it.
You will note that I used your own email to intersperse my comments — in boldface — among your paragraphs.  I did this so that it would be quite easy to see to which particular comments of yours I am responding.  
I want to thank you for taking the time to write to the MRFF and express your views and I hope you will take my comments for what they are intended — to respond directly to your several points most in error with regard to our organization, its role and mission, and its overall intent. 
Lawrence Wilkerson Colonel, USA (Ret)

To: MRFF From: (name withheld) SUBJ: Your attack on Wreaths Across America Date: 9 JAN 2022 I am a Jew. I am a soldier. I am a woman. I am the granddaughter, daughter, stepdaughter, and mother of soldiers—combat veterans all, going back to our Revolutionary War. I will be buried in a veterans cemetery, and I will be buried under a Star of David. And my soul will be honored and moved if some Christian places a wreath on my grave at Christmastime. A wreath is hardly a Christian symbol—only a seasonal decoration adopted from ancient pagan customs. It’s nice.  THESE FIRST TWO PARAGRAPHS DETRACT FROM WHAT APPEARS TO BE YOUR OVERALL OPENING ARGUMENT.  THEY DO SO BECAUSE THEY APPEAR MORE AIMED AT BRAGGING RIGHTS THAN ANY MEANINGFUL POINTS AND THE SECOND PARAGRAPH ACTUALLY DEMEANS YOU — NOT BECAUSE YOU FEEL DIFFERENTLY FROM ALMOST EVERY OTHER JEW FROM WHOM MRFF HAS HEARD ON THESE ISSUES BUT BECAUSE YOU STATE WHAT YOU SAY AS IF ALL THOSE OTHER JEWS ARE WRONG — OR WORSE, STUPID — TO FEEL THE WAY THEY DO.  AND YOUR CHARACTERIZATION OF THESE PARTICULAR WREATHS AS NOT CHRISTIAN IS PLAINLY CONTRADICTED BY “…A WREATH ON MY GRAVE AT CHRISTMASTIME.”  IF THEY ARE NOT CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS TODAY, NOT EONS AGO, WHY ARE THEY PLACED ON THE GRAVES ONLY AT CHRISTMASTIME (NOTE THE “CHRIST” IN CHRISTMAS?). MOREOVER, ONE OF THE POINTS MADE BY THE MRFF IS THE BLATANT PRACTICE OF THE WREATH-PLACERS OF BUYING THE WREATHS FROM THEMSELVES WHILEPROPAGANDIZING OTHERWISE.  THIS IS TRULY A HEINOUS PRACTICE, SETTING RELIGION ASIDE ALTOGETHER. For your part, you are “for” religious freedom like Antifa is “antifascist.” You are anti-religion, anti-anyone’s religion other than yours of atheism and authoritarianism. You are intolerant of any Jew’s or Christian’s free and public exercise of his or her religion. NOW IN THIS PARAGRAPH YOU REALLY DO HARM YOUR ABILITY TO BE PERSUASIVE.  FIRST, YOU MAKE BLATANTLY UNTRUE STATEMENTS.  THE MRFF IS NOT ANTI-RELIGION; IT IS ANTI-BAD RELIGIONS, LIKE THOSE THAT ARE INTOLERANT OF ANY BELIEFS BUT THEIR OWN.  SECOND, THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THE MRFF IS ADVOCACY OF ALL TOLERANT RELIGIONS, TOLERANT AGNOSTICISM, AND TOLERANT ATHEISM, JUST AS THE U.S. CONSTITUTION PROVIDES FOR.  ANY SECT OR BELIEF THAT PREACHES OR ADVOCATES THAT IT ALONE IS THE TRUE BELIEF OR RELIGION AND MILITATES FOR OR PROSELYTIZES OTHERS IN THAT REGARD, IS WRONG.  THAT IS MRFF’S RAISON D’ETRE.  I’ve read many of your responses to those who have written you on your website about your attack on WAA. You insult, demean and ridicule their deeply held religious beliefs and patriotism, and you deflect from the real issue. Shame on you, and shame especially on the chaplains you have recruited to savage these good people who only wish to show gratitude to those who served with this generous, innocuous symbol of good will. HERE IT IS YOU WHO IS DEFLECTING FROM THE REAL ISSUE: TOLERANCE FOR ALL RELIGIONS OR FOR THOSE WHO LACK SUCH BELIEFS, AND AN INTOLERANCE FOR PREDATORY CAPITALISTS WHO RIP OFF THE TAXPAYER OR OTHERS FOR PROFIT USING RELIGION — ANY RELIGION — AS THEIR COVER AND THEIR ENTICEMENT.  AND THE MRFF DOES NOT RECRUIT CHAPLAINS;QUITE THE CONTRARY.  CHAPLAINS WHO BELIEVE IN THE CODE OF CHAPLAINS, WHO BELIEVE IN THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND WHO UNDERSTAND THEIR PURPOSE IS TO HELP ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL WHO ARE IN NEED AND NOT JUST THOSE WHO BELIEVE THE WAY THEY DO, FLOCK TO MRFF’S BANNERS BECAUSE THEY SUPPORT WHAT MRFF DOES.  Our country has very serious issues you could address, including the suppression of public Christian expression, the suppression of free speech, the suppression of other freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution, and the accretion of unconstitutional power by government to the detriment of individual liberty.  I SEE NO ONE SUPPRESSING CHRISTAIN EXPRESSION — EXCEPT WHERE THE CONSTITUTION DEMANDS SUCH ACTION, AS IN WHEN A DOMINIONIST CHRISTIAN, FOR EXAMPLE, USES HIS OR HER MILITARY RANK TO PUNISH A SUBORDINATE BECAUSE HE OR SHE WON’T CONVERT TO DOMINIONIST WAYS.  THEN SOMEONE MUST STEP IN AND “SUPPRESS” THAT HIGHER-RANKING DOMINIONIST IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE SUBORDINATE MAN OR WOMAN AND TO PRESERVE THE GOOD ORDER AND DISCIPLINE OF THE MILITARY.  AS TO YOUR OTHER “SUPPRESSIONS”, THEY SEEM TO MARK YOU MORE AS AN AUTHORITARIAN THAN A BELIEVER IN EVERYONE’S FREEDOM.   I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REMIND YOU OF SOME VERY WISE WORDS: “THERE IS NOTHING MORE DANGEROUS THAN A PERSON WHO BELIEVES HE OR SHE IS FREE AND ISN’T.”  YOU SEEM DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO BEING A PRISONER OF YOUR OWN BELIEFS. Please, do something worthy with your influence and money. MRFF IS DOING JUST THAT.

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