As a Jew I resent…..

As a Jew I resent what you are doing at the USAF Acadamy. Let the
Christians be who they are. Stop hindering them and making Jews look
bad. If you want to do something have the Jewish Chaplain arrange a
nice Chanukah gift drive as there are also Jewish Children who would
appreciate this. When I was a boy there was only Christmas….no
Chanukah. That has changed. Separation of Church (Synagogue) and
state shouldn’t cause America to turn our back on religion. Respect
for all relgions and even the Athiests is America. Not forcing
abandonment just because one serves in the military.

(name withheld)

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Dear (name withheld),

First of all I want to thank you for your honorable service. I too am
an American Jew and a veteran who served our nation honorably.
Secondly, I want to thank you for your thoughtful e-mail; far too
often I find myself responding to hate mail from individuals who spew
nothing but Anti-Semitism, hate and lies they’ve heard coming from the
pulpit or Fox News.

Let me briefly tell you my story and how I came in contact with the
Foundation. I am a decorated and 100% (service-connected) disabled
Jewish American U.S. Navy veteran (my grandfather served under Patton
and fought in the Battle of the Bulge where he was one of two
survivors in his company of 120 men; he also went on to help liberate
two death camps). A few years back when I was hospitalized in a
Veterans Hospital, sedated and wired to a heart monitor, I was called
upon by a good Christian chaplain who stood over my bed, despite my
protestations, for nearly 20 minutes and proceeded to preach at me,
telling me that if I didn’t accept Jesus as my personal savior I was
going to hell. Now I had told the hospital staff during my hospital
admission that I did NOT want to see a Christian chaplain and gave
them instead the name and phone number of my Rabbi – I even wrote out
on my admission forms that I refused to be visited by a Christian
chaplain; but of course the good Fundamentalist Christian folks in
charge refused to contact my Rabbi and sent the Christian Chaplain in
instead to lecture me and tell me that unless I rejected my Jewishness
and accepted Jesus I was bound for hell. This was a bad enough
experience for me, but guess what – it happened twice. Yes, that’s
right, during a follow up hospitalization they did the exact same
thing to me again. And when I dared lodge a formal complaint, the V.A.
Medical Center cut off all my medical care. At the time I was very
sick – I had seven kidney stones along with other serious ailments;
thankfully a friend told me about Mikey Weinstein and the Military
Religious Freedom Foundation. Mikey personally helped me access
medical care elsewhere and quite literally saved my life. That’s when
I got involved with the work of the Foundation. It is a simple matter
to read more of the details of my own experiences; all you have to do
is google my full name, Akiva David Miller, and you will find a number
of articles that tell the story.

I think it’s important to explain why the MRFF opposed the Air Force
Academy’s direct involvement with “Operation Christmas Child.” First
of all, Franklin Graham’s organization that runs the program makes no
bones about the fact that the program’s purpose is to “reach children
with the gospel of Jesus Christ” – the gifts are just a vehicle to get
Christian proselytizing in the door. Each box of gifts include a
Christian salvation message. And, the fact remains that it is not only
a violation of U.S. Defense Department policy, but Air Force policy
and U.S. law to engage in proselytizing on the government dime – not
to mention that the Supreme Court has upheld the fact that such
activity at government expense violates the Constitution.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has absolutely zero issue
with gift giving, even related to specific religious holidays, as you
can see for yourself – check out the following link and you will see
that the Foundation has actually supported such activities with its
own funds: https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/2010/12/mrff-steps-in-to-ship-donated-gifts-to-children-affected-by-bp-oil-spill/

One of the issues that we at the Foundation encounter all the time is
Fundamentalist Christian groups and individuals within the U.S.
Military using religious holidays and occasions to single out and
target those of different faiths. Let me tell you a bit more about my
past and perhaps you can understand more about what I mean.

I attended public elementary schools throughout my childhood, but
before my family moved to Oregon midway during my third grade year I
attended public schools in Iowa where the Christian religion played a
dominant role. The first elementary school I attended in Iowa was a
primary school where students weren’t allowed to touch their lunch
until they all bowed their heads together and a teacher prayed a nice
Christian prayer. Those who dared object because they were Jewish or
some other faith were identified, marginalized and targeted for both
ridicule and sometimes even bullying. Prior to my third grade year my
family moved to a different small town in Iowa where the grade school
was right next door to the Catholic Church. Afternoons the school
children were allowed time off to go next door to take catechism
classes. Not being Catholic, of course I didn’t go. After the classes
were over the Catholic kids would come back and join the rest of us on
the playground, and would promptly bully and beat the shit out of us
non-Catholic kids. I got the shit beat out of me on a regular basis
until my family finally packed up and moved to Oregon half way through
my third grade year. In Oregon I never witnessed any religion as part
of public school experience and attended classes peacefully with all
manner of children from varying cultures. My point is that far too
often religion is used to separate us, to identify those who are
different who are then targeted for various forms of abuse. Sadly,
this is a pattern that has been repeated in the U.S. Military over and
over again. Fundamentalist Christian superiors and chaplains use
events like Christmas parties, Easter and even Thanksgiving (dressed
up to look like a uniquely Christian event) to push their particular
faith, and identify and single out those who decline to participate
because of uniquely Christian elements of the event.

You may not be aware of it, Mr. Chansky, but every single day the MRFF
deals with issues related to religious discrimination, religious
predation and even violence against those like us who are not
Fundamentalist Christians. I am the Veterans Coordinator at the
Foundation and I daily deal with religious predation and
discrimination issues within the V.A. system and am fully aware of
many of the cases within the U.S. Armed Forces as well. We have dealt
with issues like a Jewish service member who was severely beaten – a
beating directly incited by his superior officer – because he had the
temerity to wear his kippah during meals (which he is permitted by
regs to do) and to ask for time to attend High Holy Day services. We
have dealt with multiple cases of service members threatened by
Fundamentalist Christian superiors and peers just because they
declined to attend Fundamentalist Christian Bible Studies. We have had
to deal with countless instances of superior officers, NCOs and
Chaplains engaging in predatory religious proselytizing –
Fundamentalist Christians aggressively working to convert Jews and
others in direct violation of military regs. I have personally
represented veterans of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who have
service-connected disabilities (as a result of injuries sustained
during multiple deployments) who have been denied medical and
psychiatric treatment (including treatment for PTSD) only because they
are not “born again” Christians and declined to become “born again”
Christians.

So, I hope you can see why we at the Military Religious Freedom
Foundation are not only sensitive about events that effectively serve
to identify and isolate individuals of different faiths, or no faith
at all, as well as religious predation (proselytizing) and
discrimination. You can’t even imagine how many Jews (not to mention
Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, pagans, atheists, agnostics and countless
others) we hear from on a regular basis who face discrimination. I
can’t even tell you how many times I’ve heard of Jews who’ve been
denied opportunity to attend High Holy Day services, but pressured to
attend Christian services and participate in uniquely Christian events
– I think we both can agree this is wrong, not to mention illegal and
a direct violation of U.S. Military policy.

Finally, I want to apologize for going into so much length to explain
the Foundation’s position, which is clearly also my position; however,
your genuinely thoughtful e-mail made me want to fully explain to you
the reasoning behind our position. We are not a group of thoughtless
individuals who are out to squelch religious expression, and certainly
have no interest in suppressing acts of genuine kindness; however,
each one of us at the Foundation has sacrificed much (Mikey
Weinstein’s home has had a window shot out during the High Holidays
and been graffitied with Anti-Semitic symbols including a swastika) to
defend the religious freedoms of service members and veterans of all
faiths and no faith.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best Regards,

Akiva David Miller
Veterans Coordinator
Military Religious Freedom Foundation

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Dear Akiva;
I really appreciate that you took the time to respond to me. I realize all
too well what
you shared. I was beaten up for being a Jew in Boston Mass in the 1940’s. I
also recall one shkoot (goy in training) that wouldn’t let me alone from Basic, through
Radio school at Keesler AFB and onward to Alaska. I recall also that during my early school years
when they gave out these miniature xmas trees and candy I brought them home and with one swipe of his
hand my dad knocked the little tree off my dresser and smacked my face. Yes
I recall the pressure that Christians forced on Jewish kids. I want to
thank you for sharing your story. I now also realize that if Billy Graham’s
son is involved that candy is the least thing he is giving, yet I still know
that there is a very thin line that when goyim hear the name Weinstein
telling them they cannot do something the crazies among them will shoot
through your window in a minute. I agree that the rules should be obeyed by
all. I had a roommate that was in the “Officers Christian Union” we had
many discussions and as you know they want to “Save everyone for C” .
Interestingly he left me alone. I think it was sort of a reverse
psychology. Frankly I don’t know what the answer is. I certainly agree
with you we must use everything available to stop the harassment from the
born againers of Jewish souls. I just hope you are not scratching the
poison ivy of the Jew hating that lies beneath so many of them just waiting
to come up. Today we have honest Evangelicals who support Israel and who do
not try to convert them. They also are walking a thin line as they get it
from the Grahams too as being unconcerned that Jews are going to hell, but
they can take care of themselves. I would like information about your
group. I currently work with what is called “Anti-missionary Rabbis and
try to do my part in that way to thwart the evangelical menace to unattached
Jewish kids especially college age. Send me information about what you are
doing and again thanks for sharing.
(name withheld)

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Dear (name withheld),

Thank you so much for your wonderful note. I too have done some
anti-missionary work, both where I live in Portland, Oregon (where
Jews for Jesus and the so-called “Messianic Jews” – the vast majority
of whom aren’t even Jewish – seem to be thick as thieves) and a few
years back when I lived in Brooklyn, New York – Jews for Jesus and
other missionary groups would regularly target new Russian immigrants,
so a rotating group including several of us guys from the adult
yeshiva I was attending would participate in educational efforts –
literally showing up whenever and wherever the missionaries showed up
among immigrant groups in New York City. I consider the mitzvah of
“rescuing the captive” to be one of my life missions – to protect my
fellow Jews (particularly the young, uneducated/undereducated and all
other vulnerable Jews) from having their faith stolen, and to protect
them from religious predation from Fundamentalist Christians, many of
whom feign support of Israel just so they can get their feet in the
door and try to convert Jews, particularly Israeli Jews.

Of course I also strongly believe that every human being has the right
to practice their own religion (or no religion) as they see fit, so
long as it doesn’t infringe on the religious rights of others. So I
consider it my responsibility as a human being to protect as many as
possible – particularly my fellow service members and veterans – from
religious predation and discrimination. As a Jew, I firmly believe in
the principle of Tikkun Olam – literally, repairing the world. As a
Jew (really, as a human being) it is my job to do what I can to try to
make the world around me a better place for everyone. While Judaism
isn’t remotely a missionary religion (in fact it actively discourages
converts), many Jews take seriously their calling to make the world a
better place for people of all cultures and faiths. This stands in
stark contrast to Fundamentalist, Dominionist Christians who seek to
impose, through force if need be, their beliefs on everyone.

So, one of the central problems with Fundamentalist Christianity is
that its adherents make the claim that proselytizing is a central
component of their religion and that their right to practice their own
religion guarantees them the right to prey upon others – shoving their
hateful beliefs down everyone’s throats. This of course is a lie. They
do not have that right, and the law and both military and V.A. policy
specifically forbids proselytizing on the government’s dime; in fact,
public, private and non-profit schools, hospitals, etc. that receive
federal funds are also forbidden from engaging in that practice.

One of the cases that I handled for the Military Religious Freedom
Foundation several months back involved a Jewish agnostic and two
Catholic veterans – all had service-connected disabilities, including
PTSD, as a result of multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan; all three
of them were denied access to mental health services, including PTSD
treatment, at a V.A. facility because the Fundamentalist Christians
who were running the local V.A.’s mental health clinic had instituted
a rule that only “born again Christians” or those willing to become
“born again” could participate in treatment; they were actually trying
to impose and inflict their religion on the veterans who relied on
them for genuine mental health services – telling them that only Jesus
could heal them of their wounds. Thankfully it didn’t take me long to
get this situation corrected – the conduct by the V.A. facility was so
egregious that even it’s administration was afraid of being publicly
exposed and moved quickly to make the appropriate “changes.”

Regarding the appearance of support for Israel by Evangelicals in
America – this is a topic I deal with on a daily basis and I fully
understand that people of good will can disagree about this issue. I
frequently hear about the work of individuals that like to call
themselves Christian Zionists, the most famous of whom is probably
John Hagee. He has written and preached extensively about support for
the Jewish people and for Israel, has actually raised money to build a
trauma wing for a hospital in Israel and has even taught that
Christians should not try to convert Jews – those are his very public
positions/acts. However, he has also taught that the Jews brought
Hitler upon themselves – blaming the victim for the acts of their
persecutor is an age-old Anti-Semitic canard that deserves only
repudiation. Hagee has also made numerous deeply offensive statements
and has been outspoken about imposing uniquely Christian beliefs on
American society. Christians like Hagee – both those who self-identify
as Evangelicals and those clearly identified as Fundamentalists – do
not care that the Talmud’s guidelines about abortion vary dramatically
from standard conservative Christian fare, nor do they respect the
right to privacy or numerous other civil rights guaranteed to
Americans by the Constitution. Evangelicals, like Fundamentalists,
typically pick and choose from their scriptures and our Torah which
rules they think should apply to everyone, and which ones belong in
the past. I could cite countless examples, but let me just point out a
few obvious ones: the Torah prescribes the same punishment for wearing
garments of two separate fibers, for planting two separate crops next
to each other, for handling the skin of a dead animal (like a pig
skin) and for homosexuality; however, Evangelicals and Fundamentalists
alike single out gays and lesbians for condemnation, even going so far
as to engage in a homophobic proxy war against gays and lesbians in
Uganda; but you will never hear them say a word about wearing suits of
wool and silk, planting different crops side by side or playing
football. It’s a tragic reality that much of what they do is based on
fear and hatred for those who are different from them.

I think it also bears noting that despite John Hagee’s assertions that
he does not condone proselytizing Jews he stood directly next to a
Fundamentalist Christian missionary at Rick Perry’s big prayer event
in Texas while the missionary prayed for the conversion of all Jews
and Hagee of course did not protest. The reality is that Evangelicals
in America, just like their fellow Christian Fundamentalists and
Dominionists, have more often than not feigned support of Israel and
the Jewish people, while believing that when Jesus returns the Jews
will either be converted or suffer eternal torment – they support
Israel ONLY because they believe it will hasten the day when Jesus is
supposed to return and because the Torah makes clear that those who
bless Israel will be blessed in return. More often than not, these
people do not truly care about the Jewish people, except to the degree
they believe the Jews can help them advance their own causes.

It also bears mentioning that Anti-Semitism and Anti-Semitic violence
is exploding around the world and in the U.S. – although much of this
is a result of institutional Anti-Semitic hatred among radical Islam
(though just like Christians, it is important to recognize that not
nearly all Muslims hate Jews), but much is also a result of the rising
tide of Anti-Semitism within radical Christian groups, such as the
Christian Fundamentalist and Dominionists. The parallels are
remarkable between radical Christianity and radical Islam – both want
to impose their own uniquely twisted version of theocracy on everyone
else. When the Foundation has used the term “the Christian Taliban” it
is for legitimate reasons.

The bottom line for me, David (may I call you David?), is that I have
long been a student of both Jewish history and the history of the
Christian Church, and I work as an advocate for veterans who suffer
religious predation, discrimination, denial of medical care and even
bullying just because they do not share the twisted beliefs of
Fundamentalist Christians. Further, I spend time nearly every day
monitoring the spread and rise of Anti-Semitism around the globe –
following news reports and the web sites of organizations that are
dedicated to monitoring such things. Obviously I’m not telling you
this to puff out my chest, I’m telling you this to explain that it is
my informed position that Fundamentalist Christians have made clear
their objectives and they have not changed since the days of
Constantine. These are the same sort of people who brought us the
Crusades wherein whole communities of Jews were wiped off the map,
they are the same sort that brought us the Inquisition and pogroms
that lasted well after the Shoah, and they are the very people who
continue today to be very motivated to impose and inflict their
beliefs on everyone else, even if that requires predation, harassment,
discrimination, bullying and violence – I couldn’t even tell you how
many of our fellow service members have been bullied and beat because
they happen to not share their Fundamentalist Christian ideology.
Clearly you and I both know from personal experience what I’m talking
about.

These people often try to come in under the cover of small things and
then cry bloody murder, complaining that Christianity is under attack,
whenever anyone dares complain. They try to corrupt the system in both
small and large ways. In my own experience, years ago when I moved to
Iowa City, the Iowa City V.A. Medical Center refused to allow me to
access care at their facility unless and until I attended their
orientation class. The problem being that they held their mandatory
orientation classes in the chapel and, in direct violation of V.A.
policy, they had permanently installed the Stations of the Cross and a
huge crucifix in the chapel. As an Orthodox Jew it was a direct
violation of my religious beliefs to enter a facility decorated with
what Orthodox Jews consider idols – crucifixes, Stations of the Cross,
images of Jesus, etc. When I refused to enter into the chapel to
attend orientation at first I was cajoled, then bullied and finally
threatened. Obviously I stood firm, as is my right, and in the end I
faced the consequences – three years of religious predation,
harassment and discrimination capped eventually by complete denial of
care. (By the way, you can read all about my experience at the Iowa
City V.A. Medical Center by simply googling my full name, Akiva David
Miller).

Finally, regarding your request for further information about the work
of the Foundation: the best resource is of course our website –
https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/ – in my opinion one of the
most informative sections of the website can be found under the
“Newsletters” tab on the front page. By going back and reading past
newsletters you can find an extensive archive of the Foundation’s work
regarding specific issues. My best advice is that you just spend some
time exploring the website, then if you have any follow up questions
please feel free to contact me. If there are any questions I cannot
answer I will pass on your inquiries to someone who can. The
Foundation is committed to communicating with the community, as you
can obviously see. Another great resource is Mikey Weinstein’s first
book (in the coming months he has a second book coming out) that deals
with why he started the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and the
work to which he and the Foundation have committed themselves; the
book is entitled, “With God on Our Side: One Man’s War Against an
Evangelical Coup in America’s Military.” You can pick up the book
through the website or amazon.com, or you can no doubt find a copy at
your local library.

Please feel free to contact me any time with any further questions and
I will happily get back to you at my earliest convenience. I very much
appreciate you thoughtfulness, and hearing about your own experiences.
Having had an abusive father myself I can certainly sympathize with
your own experiences.

Best Regards,

Akiva David Miller
Veterans Coordinator
Military Religious Freedom Foundation