A Letter of Support to the MRFF and a Call For Action

To Whom It May Concern,

I am a very big supporter of what y’all do in ensuring that the military keeps a boundary between “us” (the state) and the “church” (religious affiliations) and making sure that those who are not Christians are respected within the military are represented. As someone who has done two combat tours (Iraq and Afghanistan) overseas I could honestly care less if the guy or gal next to me is Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Jew, Christian, Wicca, Republican, Democrat, etc. so long as they can shoot and I can trust them. So when I hear about Muslim Soldiers being harassed and no one doing anything about it or Christian proselytizing at the Air Force Academy that harassed Jewish cadets (I saw that one on CNN and on the documentary Constantine’s Sword) I can’t help but see how that hurts the trust between Soldiers and their chain of command, especially in combat situations, and pushes them further away from the brotherhood and sisterhood of being in the armed services. If people in the military (sadly mainly Christians) continue in this direction (i.e. promoting that America is a Christian nation and the military is the forceful hand of God) it will not be good for the military nor will it be good for the nation. As a Christian myself, I see a lot of harm coming out of the “Jesus Rifles” and Christian proselytizing that went on (and I bet it still does to a degree) at the Air Force Academy because it dilutes the fundamental love of God for all people as shown through Jesus’ actions in the New Testament. There’s nothing “Christian” about using scripture to justify killing nor is there anything “Christian” about pushing one’s religious beliefs on people. You have to come to God not be forced into it the last time I read my Bible (this morning). With all that said THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the wonderful work you do and please keep fighting for the separation between church and state within the military’s ranks.

In addition to my accolades for what you do I hope that you will continue to push on AFN to stop pushing Glenn Beck’s very contemptuous programming on their network (which as Chris Roda correctly says is an violation of Article 88 in the UCMJ) and also to get West Point to give an explanation as to why they allowed Cadets and faculty on the Glenn Beck program last Friday (which is another violation of Article 88). As a West Point graduate I am highly disappointed with the institution letting cadets and instructors go on his show. It is one thing to go on Fox and Friends or tour the studio for their class but it is another to let them to be used a props on a show where the host is very contemptuous against our President, Congress, and allows untruths to be routinely spouted in covert and not so covert racist and anti-Semitic on air rants. I sincerely hope that you guys can kindly let the Superintendent, Dean, and the Head of the Systems Engineering department know that what happened last Friday was a blatant violation of article 88 of the UCMJ and the honor code by “tolerating those who [lie].” I do not think it is appropriate for West Point faculty or cadets to be used as a tool for a highly partisan figure such as Mr. Beck. Don’t worry you won’t be in this alone because I know some other like-minded (and not so like-minded) West Point grads who believe this is inappropriate and we will let the academy know how disappointed we are in this action and hope they put forth action to never let that happen again.

One final thing, in addition to AFN allowing Mr. Beck’s show on air you should also look into AAFES allowing Mr. Beck’s books to be sold in the PX. I’m stationed in Korea and in the Yongsan PX and at the Camp Casey PX they routinely stock Mr. Beck’s books and given his contempt for our elected officials, especially the President, they should ban his books from the PX too. What are your thoughts? Well anyway, thanks for having an outlet for people such as myself to speak out in and please keep up the great work y’all do.

Respectfully,
(name withheld)

PS: Hope you don’t mind me using my first name but as an officer I’d like to be low key in these types of things. I’m sure you understand. Thanks!