Your atheistic reaction to an Air Force General stating his faith

Published On: May 21, 2015|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|Comments Off on Your atheistic reaction to an Air Force General stating his faith|

Accessibility Notice

This post was created on the previous version of the MRFF website, and may not be fully accessible to users of assistive technology. If you need help accessing this content, please reach out via email.

Dear atheistic citizen,

The U.S. Constitution “guarantees” all citizens the right to freedom of religion. In case you did not know this, that includes members of the military, even Generals. It also includes and protects your right to believe in nothing or whatever your personal belief is. I sincerely hope and pray he is NOT disciplined for exercising his freedom. Maybe it is time for us to attack you on every front we can so you can see what your action feels like.

(name withheld)

 

Hi (name withheld),
You’ve addressed this message by using a term that says much about your assumptions and, like most of what you’ve said here, is wrong.

As we are well aware, you are correct about the constitutionally guaranteed right of citizens to believe as they choose and speak openly about it. You’re quite wrong, however, about that right extending to members of the military.

You see, because the military is part of our government, people speaking for and/or on behalf of the government, and particularly those in the military because of its hierarchical structure, are not free to endorse one belief system over another except in private or unofficial circumstances. It’s a matter of place, time and manner.

Because of the First Amendment and its analysis over years of legal action, it has been determined that those in positions of authority due to rank or station must avoid proselytizing, promoting, or appearing to promote any belief system. That being the case, we would call for consequences for an officer promoting any faith or belief system, including atheism.

Since you find yourself feeling so defensive, or possibly being on such thin ice in terms of your own religious beliefs that you want to consider attacking us, as you have mentioned here, I can only suggest that you might want to investigate your own belief system more carefully. I should think there would be some wisdom or solace in it for you.

Mike Farrell

(MRFF Board of Advisors)

 

Dear theistic citizen,
I know how the First Amendment works, thank you. You seem a bit confused over what “freedom” means, so I’m going to enlighten you.
What freedom IS:
You can do something on your own and nobody can rightfully to stop you
What freedom ISN’T:
You can do something and get a government paycheck for it
Government gives you a captive audience to do it
You get a government microphone, or stage, or uniform to promote your views
You enjoy special government endorsement or approval
Come back and play again when you know what the words you use actually mean. And keep your impotent threats to yourself next time.
Dustin Chalker
MRFF Atheist Affairs Advisor

 

 

Hey Mike,

I, like the General, am very secure in my relationship with God.

I would like to state one premise. This is not from the Bible or the Torah or the Koran or any other book but from my mind and heart. If my beliefs and faith is wrong, what have I lost? I have lived a good life and have believed in a power greater than myself. I have not been a problem to society. I have not killed anyone or robbed anyone. I have helped others along the way and at the risk of sounding a little conceited I think most people I have met along the journey have felt they were better off for known me. But it is not me that is the good but the spirit that lives in me that they like. When I die, as we all do, I believe there is a place prepared for me with God in heaven.

Now let us consider if I am wrong. Then I will die and that is the end. Period. Nothing lost and nothing gained.

With your faith in nothing, you have nothing to gain or lose in life or death. Life is meaningless and death is the end.  I will not address what kind of life you have led because I do not know you but I can say in my mind you have led a very empty life and for that I am sorry for you. I believe you will encounter many chances to learn the truth. The question is, will you be able to accept it?

If there is a heaven and a hell, I know where I am going. Do You?

(name withheld)

 

Hi (name withheld),

I’m happy for you in your belief. The only thing that troubles me about it is the stink of presumed superiority that floods through with your words.

As noted in my response to your original message, you began with an incorrect assumption. You’ve chosen to not only fail to recognize that, you’ve multiplied the error by maintaining and basing your entire response on it.

It’s nice that you  “think most people I have met along the journey have felt they were better off for known (sic) me” but it’s just possible that the self-analysis of your effect on others is tainted by your inability to see beyond yourself and your apparent sense of personal anointment.

I will confess that self-puffery tires me a bit, but let me go the extra mile and see if you’ll finally get it. Neither I nor anyone else at the MRFF has a problem with your believing what you believe, nor do we have a problem with Major General Olson believing what he believes. The problem we have with his is that the way in which he chose to express it violated both the law and military regulations.

This may help you.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-b-wilkerson/the-taliban-in-our-midst_b_7421578.html

 

Mike Farrell

(MRFF Board of Advisors)

 

Mike,

As usual you mistake my faith for self-superiority. Nothing could be further from the truth! It is not I that is superior. I am only “better off than you because I have recognized the void within me that nothing save the Lord can fill and has. If you have any children or intend to in the future and you saw your child heading for trouble and you had it within your power to prevent great bodily harm to come to them would you stand by and allow them to blindly run off that cliff? It is not me that is superior, it is the spirit that lives within me. No matter how hard you fight against it God loves you and always will. That is all General Olson and I are trying to say but you are threatened by that. Have you ever asked yourself why?

(name withheld)

 

Dear (name withheld),
As usual, (name withheld), you’re so full of and satisfied with the righteousness of your own belief that you clearly lack the ability to recognize the possibility that another position has any validity. In short, you mistakenly present your sense of self-superiority as faith.

That must somehow be fulfilling for you. And that’s fine if it’s what you choose. However, when it results in the kind of judgment and condemnation to which you entitle yourself, it not only crosses the line of good manners, it exposes itself as smug self-delusion.

I wish you happiness that isn’t dependent upon thinking yourself superior to others.

Mike Farrell

(MRFF Board of Advisors)

 

 

 

Recent Posts

Share This Story