A waste of time

To whom it may concern:
You morons seem to have more time on your hands than you know what to do with. Religious freedom is a constitutional right, but it is also a God given right. Your organization spends so much time and energy trying to make sure that no one in the service even hears the name of Jesus Christ and it is sickening that you would even contemplate the idea to take away the joys of Christmas away from children around the world. You know if the athiest and devil worshiping solders, salors, and airmen don’t want to participate in giving a child a christmas gift for Christmas this year then all they had to do was delete the e-mail. You did not have to threaten our military with a lawsuit. God will have his way with you and your supporters and God is always just, especially when you hinder His children from doing His work. I pray that you recieve conviction soon, because your place in hell is heating up.

(name withheld)

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Dear (name withheld),

Mr. Weinstein asked me, as someone who works for a large Christian group, to answer your email.

We, as Christians, LOVE Christmas and believe we are called to make that holiday as joyous as we can, especially for children in need. We support that work without almost any reservation.

The reservation comes when a branch of our government, in this case the Cadets whom we all support via our tax dollars, decided to send aid to a very specific sectarian organization, in this case Samaritan’s Purse. Rather than promoting donations to a broad-based organization that treats all children with love and compassion, too often the USAFA has arranged for “celebrations” that are to benefit a narrow version of Christianity, this time Samaritan’s Purse run by Franklin Graham.

Mr. Graham, unlike his father, is extremely narrow in his view of who is and is not worthy in our world (thereby violating Matthew 7:1). He is entirely focused on proselytizing, and we have clear evidence that these toys and presents being recruited for children are held hostage until the children’s parents sign a pledge that they and the children will convert to Mr. Graham’s point of view.

Jesus would find that despicable. He said he was ‘the way, the truth, and the light’, but WE are not. We are fully human and can be narrow and un-Christian in our reactions to others. Jesus reached out to the Samaritan woman – he did not force her to believe him or believe IN him. These acts by Samaritan’s Purse – using presents for very poor children as lures – are totally unacceptable to us who also share the same faith but who believe in free will, uncoerced.

Mr. Graham finds all who differ with him to be damned – Jesus would never have had that view. Mr. Graham is also wildly anti-Islamic. Jesus would not have been so inclined. Mr. Graham promotes his views at the expense of children’s free will. That is not a Christian attitude.

Mr. Graham is fully entitled to his views, but he is not entitled to be the sole focus of a holiday fund raising that is promoted by our military institutions. Mr. Graham has access to the entire world of private belief in which to operate. He may not use our military to further his goals.

It is because we love children, embrace their families and their beliefs, believe in the Constitution as well as the Bible, and believe in free will that we support MRFF in objecting to the selection of Mr. Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse as the recipient of the sole effort of USAFA cadets’ holiday actions.

It is not MRFF that is killing the spirit of Christmas – it is Mr. Graham. Using toys as weapons to force conversion of CHILDREN is despicable and utterly anti-Christian. For this and other reasons, we, as devout Christians, stand with MRFF in opposing an official sanction of Samaritan’s Purse as an authorized USAFA activity.

Mr. Weinstein has long embraced and enabled people to give private and non-sectarian help to children at Christmas. As you can see, if you are willing to read this, that MRFF and Mr. Weinstein has gone well out of his way to make sure kids in need have a very happy Christmas!

We as a Christian organization deeply respect MRFF and its work to make sure that our military does not provide favoritism to any religion or denomination, or sect, or cult.

The Marines have always done this with their amazing work in “Toys for Tots” that embraces children, not a particular religion. That would be fine if the Cadets had done the same. But it is absolutely un-American for the Cadets to enable evangelizing by one view of Christianity using their status as a tax-supported part of our nation’s military to do so.

The cadets, as individuals, are perfectly free to do whatever they like as private individuals. No one is stopping them. But they must not act as a part of the USAFA to embrace and support this sectarian organization, Samaritan’s Purse.

We therefore, as Christians, stand with MRFF in its call to end the taxpayer supported Christmas Child fund raising. It is the province of the military to support our Constitution, not to abet evanglizing by one group of Christians.

We hope that clarifies the issue. If you are a supporter of Samaritan’s Purse, you are free to continue to pursue whatever you like about that – but not under the aegis of the US Air Force Academy or any other aspect of our nation’s military.

We hope this clarifies the concerns we and MRFF have. We believe in children, we believe in the right to faith, but we also believe in our Constitution that guarantees everyone religious freedom, no exceptions.

Wishing you and yours a joyous Christmas and happy new year.

Elizabeth Sholes
Director of Public Policy
California Council of Churches IMPACT
Sacramento, CA