Will ADL stand up against the
Christianists inside our military?

Thursday, May 28, 2009

By markcrispinmiller.com

Or are they too tight with them, because of Israel?

MCM

From: Elizabeth Sholes
Date: May 28, 2009 12:49:48 PM MDT
To: Afoxman
Subject: A thoughtful request to you

Dear Mr. Foxman-

California Council of Churches IMPACT has been a long-time ally of ADL. For many years I have worked with many wonderful California and national ADL people around our mutual interest in stopping hate crimes, and we continue to ally on these issues and support for religious freedom. Therefore I write to ask you to engage with us on yet another such concern.

CCC IMPACT is the sister organization of the California Council of Churches. Together we represent 5500 congregations within the mainstream, progressive Protestant communities of faith with a combined membership of 6.5 million people in this state. Our complete focus is on social justice, chief among which is protecting freedom of religion.

When we encountered Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation we knew we had to support MRFF’s work. The stories of repression of not just our members’ right to faith practices and beliefs but of the deep and abiding anti-Semitism that exists within the US armed forces were simply not something we could ignore. The pervasive coercion of our military and the rampant evangelizing of both our troops and populations overseas is not conducive to our First Amendment freedoms nor to our military’s sole responsibility - upholding the Constitution.

We have long known of the assaults also upon Mr. Weinstein and his family, of the scurrilous attacks on MRFF and its work. I have been made aware of emails determining in the mind of the writer that America is a “Christian nation” (palpably untrue) and calling Mr. Weinstein any manner of disgusting anti-Semitic names, and threatening both him as a Jew and all Jews as tools of the devil. This simply cannot be left unchallenged. Not only must voices be raised on behalf of religious freedom, they must be raised on behalf of Mr. Weinstein and his family who have had their lives threatened, who have been assaulted in their home, and who bear this burden of free expression of constitutionality on behalf of all of us.

We therefore ask that you please step forward in support of MRFF and the Weinstein family. We are mindful, from other supporters, that there is a concern that standing up to ultra-conservative Dominionist Christians might cause a rift with those evangelical Christians who support Israel. We believe these are actually two different groups, and urge you to wade the waters to separate them. Defending Israel is simply not possible if defending Judaism and the right to religious freedom here in America cannot go forward. The stories of anti-Semitism within all branches of the military simply must be challenged, and we call upon you to join us in that effort.

I look forward to a long and enduring relationship between us and ADL on these concerns. I also look forward to hearing from you about how we might support you as you support MRFF and the work it is doing on behalf of all our members and their right to practice their religion openly, honestly, and without retaliation.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Sholes
Director of Public Policy
California Council of Churches/California Church IMPACT

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