MRFF In Box
MRFF's Inbox

December 30, 2008

Hi [name withheld],

My name is Richard Baker. I am MRFF Chapter President in Colorado Springs.
I hope you don't mind me answering your e-mail, as Mikey is literally up to his neck right now handling client complaints from our young armed forces members and service academy cadets who have been illegally proselytized by senior officers and NCO's

He appreciates your letter and is hoping to correspond with you when time permits.

I hail from your neck of the woods. I'm from Boston originally and lived in Maine a number of years. I'm very familiar with your beautiful state having passed through it a number of times.

Wow! What a great family heritage you have. I am a Vietnam Vet having served as a Air Force rescue pilot for two tours. My Dad and brothers were all combat veterans as well. WWII, Korea, Vietnam, etc. We were too old for the Gulf actions.

I applaud your dedication to your faith. I would ask that as an exemplary Christian you also take a second look at our constitution and perhaps see some areas where your dedication to your faith might have become somewhat clouded by the intensity of that dedication.

The First Amendment provides for freedom of religion for all Americans. Christianity, and its majority, have no more power or standing than the least populated religion in America. All religions are on an equal footing and may not be, advanced, promoted or favored by government. Therefore America is a secular nation, in which all religions may flourish but none dominate.

The "Free Exercise Clause" has often been misinterpreted by some intense Christian groups as a "Free Rein" clause. You should be aware that, as with all Constitutional provisions, articles and amendments, the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause bears certain restrictions that are designed to prevent majority tyranny. Just as the Free Speech clause of the First Amendment does not protect certain speech such as yelling "Fire in a Crowded Theater, or "Fighting Words," the Free Exercise Clause does not protect those who violate its provisions.

Also you may not be aware that the multitude of US Supreme Court decisions and rulings pertaining to the First Amendment, such as school prayer, illegal proselytizing, establishment of religion by government, etc., are incorporated in and made part of the Amendment and must also be applied.

Here are the Supreme Court decisions which extend and amplify First Amendment provisions relating to proselytizing in the military:

Impermissible governmental endorsement of religion occurs whenever a public official — such as a military officer — takes any action that “‘convey[s] or attempt[s] to convey a message that religion or a particular religion is favored or preferred.” (quoting Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 38, 70 (1985).

Reduced to 5 simplest terms, the Supreme Court has held that the Establishment Clause prohibits any official action that promotes religion generally or shows favoritism toward any particular faith.

Government should not prefer one religion to another, or religion to "non-religion.” Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 604.

Government or its representatives may not demonstrate a preference for one particular sect or creed (including a preference for Christianity over other religions).”); Larson v. Valente, 456 U.S. 228, 244 (1982)

“The clearest command of the Establishment Clause is that one religious denomination cannot be officially preferred over another.”

The MRFF is engaged in the process of protecting members of the Armed Forces who are being illegally proselytized by operatives of a movement known to us as Dominion Christians. Using the threat of Command influence, these operatives routinely require our young men and women to attend Christian prayer sessions, formations, rites, ceremonies and services. It is their belief that world populations must be converted to Christianity before Jesus Christ returns during Armageddon. Their stated goal is to focus on the military in order to mount a world-wide well-armed Christian-based fighting force.

Over 10,000 client cases of such overt and coercive proselytizing are under consideration my the MRFF and many efforts to ameliorate such unAmerican activities have been undertaken. The vast majority of complaints are filed by non- Evangelical Christians.

So you see that it is actually a case of some not very nice Christians preying on Christians who are "not Christian" enough.

MRFF is a staunch advocate of religious freedom but does not subscribe to religious supremacy of any sort.

In closing I would make this analogy: If you were approached by a person who has some control over your life and as a condition of your employment, required you to comply with some facet of Islam, wouldn't you want to extricate yourself from that awful situation?

Now a civilian could just quit. Not so a soldier.

As you can see our actions have nothing to do with intolerance but rather the disruption of aggressive and unconstitutional proselytizing widely taking place in our armed forces and service academies.

As a true practicing Christian won't you assist us to help those who are crying out for relief from oppressive proselytizing? Why not join us, get a complete picture of these happenings and decide for yourself?

Thanks for listening and I hope you can understand that we have no desire to curtail any legitimate religious belief or activity. But when religion goes awry, someone has to stand up for those oppressed.

Respectfully,

Richard Baker


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