Gut Check…

Hey Mike,

Ignore the message below…I started writing it trying to understand your position but then it hit me…you hate Christians and everything they represent, including this Country. It took me a minute to realize this…well, I sincerely, deeply and wholeheartedly feel bad for you.

Just in case you are wondering here is the email. Oh, it hit me as I was typing so if the wording lacks continuity that is why.

I hope you are doing well today. It is obvious you are a busy as am I. I took a few minutes to review most of your website. Please take a few minutes to consider, reflect and if you willing respond to the following:

As I understand it you have recently attacked the donation of gifts to children world-wide because one person who clearly hates Christians requested you to do so? In light of the assertion made on your website this seems a very curious stand to take.

On your own website you have quoted the first amendment but have somehow ignored the wording. Two things specifically come to mind:
1. Congress shall make no law…the Air Force, clearly, by name, function, etc., is not Congress and they did not make a law. As I understand it they were merely encouraging participation, clearly it was not mandatory…it seems impossible that a man of your background could miss this? Have you ignored this intentionally? I sincerely ask.
2. No law shall be established to prohibit the free exercise thereof…take a minute to reflect on this. The gentlemen that you assert you are representing by stopping the Air Force from promoting gifts to children was not restricted in any way to practice his hate for, well I am guessing here, children, Christians, Mr. Graham, the object was not clear but the hate is. Unfortunately you have been a participant, perhaps unwittingly, in spotlighting the heart of this one Muslim gentlemen. When you consider what you claim to be representing, Religious Freedom, this is inexplicable. Unless that is not what you are truly about. Which, I will be transparent here, both of us know what you are really doing. Anyway, your actions stand juxtaposed to your claims. Any kind intellectual honesty, would provide all the evidence one would need to see that you are presenting a façade to mask a deep hatred for anything to do with Faith. It’s ok I understand.

Well I have some questions:
Have you thought about the impact to the children? Maybe you would say they don’t have to hear a Christian Evangelical message which is clearly what you are afraid of and stand opposed too…again I completely understand.
This would explain why you hate Mr. Graham. But why viciously attack the man? Exaggerated name calling? Are you not above this? I don’t get that one.
Why do you attack only Christians? This is the moment it hit me! Clear as day. The only reason for your position is hate, there is no other explanation. You make no effort to quell or self-govern the hate you have towards Christians…can you please explain why you have this deep ceded anger? To be honest I am surprised that you have not been brought up on hate crimes charges and for promoting hate. Or is it legal and socially acceptable to hate Christians…seems to be that way, you and I both know that doesn’t make it ok.
Why do you describe Christians as “Militant?” Any group has exceptions but you have applied a blanket statement that lacks merit.
I am guessing you are Jewish, perhaps in name only, have you heard any of what the Middle Eastern leaders/mullahs propose to do you and the USA? A very legitimate question and one I encourage you to deeply consider.
Ah lots more questions but I have low expectation for a reasoned response because the hate you have is clearly unreasonable, void of logic and intellectual integrity, sorry to be blunt.

Important Note: I am not a member of the media nor do I represent any group or organization. I also do not represent any political party or religious group. I went to your site after reading what seemed incredibly preposterous in light of today’s culture. And ended up with all of these thoughts and questions. Mr. Weinstein I respectfully challenge you to consider what is readily seen as an overtly hypocritical, hateful and erroneously based endeavor.

All the best to you sir,
(name withheld)

Ps If you are going to have any credibly you have to reconsider your news stories, sources and headlines. This grandstanding, drama, and skewing of the facts is obvious when you, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS or anyone else does it. Give us (the general public) and yourself a little more credit.

I would also encourage you to read and study from a variety of sources what it was that took us out of England…the nature and spirit of it. And finally, check out where the “separation of church” came from and why Jefferson wrote the Church about it. As an attorney I hope you know it is not part of our Constitution, I think you do.

(name withheld)

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Dear (name withheld),

As you noted in your email, Mikey is extremely busy and he has asked me to respond to you on behalf of MRFF.

Your conclusion that “you hate Christians and everything they represent, including this Country.” prompts me to question whether you came to this conclusion because you are slow, ignorant, or both. As a proud Christian supporter of MRFF, I find your flippant conclusion to be quite instructive.

You apparently arrived at your conclusion based on your declared ‘understanding’ that “you have recently attacked the donation of gifts to children world-wide because one person who clearly hates Christians requested you to do so”. What may I ask was the basis of your understanding, a reliable “news” source? Your so-called understanding and source obviously leaves a lot to be desired.

MRFF has done nothing to stop OCC at the USAFA. Any statement to the contrary is both ignorant of actual facts and based on a wild assumption. Absolutely no one at the USAFA is being prohibited from participating in the OCC. USAFA even has an internal (meaning tax payer funded) element that can encourage participation in this or similar activities. You may have even heard of this organization that exists within all branches of the US military, it’s known as the Chaplain Corps.
MRFF’s Founder and President Mikey Weinstein stated as much:
Thursday, November 3, 2011
UPDATE: AFA backs away from toy drive that sparked flap
Weinstein said he’d be fine if the academy was backing a secular toy drive, or if the religious charity was promoted by chaplains rather than cadet leaders. But having leaders apparently backing the worldwide evangelism aims of Operation Christmas Child is inappropriate, he said.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/religious-127840-academy-christmas.html?pic=1
Was this statement:
a) Not clear;
b) Not included in whatever source you relied on to spur you to write to MRFF; or
c) Not able to fight it’s way past your preconceptions of MRFF’s actual goals?

This position on the USAFA handling of participation in OCC which I believe was clearly and precisely stated by MRFF was quickly followed by the USAFA agreeing with MRFF 100% in a press release:
Friday, November 4, 2011
Academy responds to cadet community project — Community project will continue, led by Academy Chaplains
http://www.usafa.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123278819

MRFF’s goal is, and has always been, to uphold the military’s command structure constitutional imperative to be totally neutral on religious affairs. In fact, this imperative is of such significance as to require a very recent command directive from the US Air Force Chief of Staff:
September 1, 2011
Schwartz: Don’t endorse religious programs
Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz sent a service wide memo Sept. 1 cautioning leaders at all levels to balance the Constitution’s protection of religious freedom and the prohibition on government intrusion.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/09/air-force-schwartz-warns-commanders-on-religious-programs-091611/
Was this command directive:
a) Not clear;
b) Over 2-months old and difficult to recall;
c) Applicable to all US Air Force elements outside of the USAFA; or
d) Not able to effectively cut through an existing, and un-constitutional, command structure religious bias?

Assumptions and accusations based on factual ignorance reveal pre-conceptions and nothing else. This may create a cheap anger driven adrenaline thrill, but accomplishes nothing.

You state that two things came to your mind. Really, just two…don’t be so modest. Your professed intellectual honesty is neither intellectual nor honest. You engage in verbal gymnastics and pretzel tying to justify your obvious preconceptions. The Constitution clearly states in not one but two separate instances the absolute unimportance and lack of respect for religion in our democratic republic form of government.
Article VI – …but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
Amendment I- Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;…
These quotes are not taken out of context, the language is clear, concise and on-point. There is no mincing of words here. Get over it.

Your verbal tantrum that “there is no constitutional separation of church of state” is based on your inability to face facts. The Constitutional Separation of Church and State is simply a conceptual summary of the clear/concise/direct constitutional language of Art. VI & Amend. I. You attack the conceptual construct because you know you can’t attack the language and constitutional imperative upon which it is based. This juvenile attempt to play “GOTCHA” is simply beneath contempt. It deserves ridicule and nothing more.

Since you like word games apparently, let’s play this one:
I will bet money against long odds that there is no place on your Birth Certificate that indicates you are a Human Being.
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/1482943/Sample-Birth-Certificate
However, being that you have emailed MRFF with your complaints and assuming that you are neither a computer generated spam or a lower life form, I would look at your birth certificate and surmise that you are not just probably a Human Being…but that you are definitely a Human Being…without the words ‘HUMAN BEING’ ever appearing in the document that certified your birth. GOTCHA!

Before you retreat to your natural fallback position of; Our national motto is ‘In God We Trust’, let me share the following observation with you.
I personally prefer E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one). E Pluribus Unum is a phrase on the Seal of the United States which was adopted by an Act of Congress in 1782. As such, it is much more reflective of the intentions of our founding fathers than ‘In God We Trust’, a phrase officially adopted in 1956 as the official motto of the United States and recently the subject to a U.S. House Bill. E Pluribus Unum was born out of the American Revolution and our independence from England. As a proud Christian (Episcopalian in fact and a direct line descendant of the founders of the Anglican Church of England) I find ‘In God We Trust’ to be born out of fear and loathing…less than admirable qualities. Episcopalians in the United States came into being when American colonial members of the English Anglican Church refused to swear allegiance to the British Crown during revolutionary times. I am proud of that fact and I’ll continue to follow the lead of the founding fathers of my Nation and my Church.

Our constitution establishes a secular democratic republic which we are apparently still striving for today, in others at least if not in ourselves.
I have always thought our Constitution came first and that a huge part of American Exceptionalism was based on our secular democracy. I think I read somewhere recently that we’re real concerned about and supportive of SECULAR democracies forming in the Middle East in the wake of both U.S. military action (Afghanistan & Iraq) and the ‘Arab Spring’. You may want to check this out, I think it appeared in a few opinion pieces, policy statements, and conservative think tank opinions. Either we believe in this concept, or we’re the biggest hypocrites on Planet Earth. We’re Americans, let’s be exceptional.

In response to your list of extremely pre-loaded questions I offer the following:
Bullet #1: Again nothing stops the OCC at USAFA in the proper manner as clearly agreed to by the USAFA (see above). We are involved in a cause that affects children worldwide very deeply, both today and tomorrow. Any assertion that MRFF has no care for children speaks volumes about the lack of understanding of the overwhelming historical importance of our cause. To allow the command structure of the most powerful military in world history to promote any religion would lead to potentially horrific consequences for any children not belonging to the “preferred” religion.
Bullet #2: Hate and name calling, have your read anything at all by Franklin Graham? Pot…meet kettle.
Bullet #3: We attack any attempts to make our military into a non-secular organization in support of the U.S. Constitution. Guess which religion exerts the greatest influence on the U.S. Military Command Structure in unconstitutional ways. If Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, whatever makes any significant inroad into the command structure, our response will be the same. Do you have something valid to report along these lines you would like us to investigate?
Bullet #4: Militant Christians seeking to impact the command structure is who MRFF focuses on. It is a subset of the whole not a blanket statement. As a Christian supporter of MRFF I find your accusation to the contrary to be weak and lazy.
Bullet #5: I’m guessing you are not Jewish by the predictably loaded nature of this question. Are you aware of what Reverends Graham/Hagee/etc. and other Christian Dominionist/7Mountains believers propose to do with Jews (Muslims/Hindu/Atheists/nonbelievers) in this country should they take political/military power? A very legitimate question and one I encourage you to deeply consider.
Bullet #6: So you thought you’d close your list with a whimpering, sniveling, pitiful, victim card? BRAVO!

Great closing with your disclaimer and attempt to pump up your own intellect. As detailed above, your sources of information in this matter is shockingly pathetic. In closing, I have both a secular and non-secular summary of your letter:
Secular: Glass Houses my friend….Glass Houses.
Non-Secular: Is it still a sin in your world to bear false witness?

Your consideration of this information is greatly appreciated. May the warmth and calm of Christian brotherhood be with you.

Sincerely,
Andy Kasehagen