MRFF's Inbox
May 13, 2009
Interesting.
You have the name "Military Religious Freedom" Foundation yet you offer no freedom to Christians.
Have you not noticed that the Christians are not forcing others to convert but simply sharing their message. Muslim extremists on the other hand force all others, the infidels, to convert to their religion or be killed in a variety of haienous manners.
You are a disgrace to the Constitution which was founded by Christian men.
They escaped the tyranny of Great Brittain to develop a country with the outstanding principles of the infallible Word of God.
This Constitution is the longest lasting Constitution in the world born to one of the youngest nations in the World.
We didn't receive our victorious Sovereignty by bowing to other nations and godless religions.
Thanks to false representation like you people are being led astray in their ignorance and rebellion to God's Word and our true foundation.
"I was debating an ACLU attorney at Christmas on an NPR station. I pulled out a Xerox copy of The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States and said to her: 'Until you answer this book, the ACLU can't make a case against America's Christian founding.' She was shocked when she saw it. She asked where I had gotten it. The only thing that gave her relief was the fact that the book was not in print. But now it is." Be afraid ACLU. Be very afraid. Morris packs The Christian Life and Character with page after page of original source material making the case that America was founded as a Christian nation. The evidence is unanswerable and irrefutable. This 1000-page book will astound you and send enemies of Christianity into shock. Keep in mind that it was published in 1864 and has been out of print for more than a century. It has been newly typeset using a very readable font and added subheads. A new Foreword written by my long-time friend Dr. Archie Jones describes the background of the book and provides a brief biography of the author. —Gary DeMar Benjamin Franklin Morris' book has been out of print for more than 100 years. If you can find an original copy, it's only because you have looked in the deep recesses of university libraries where the volume is probably collecting dust on dimly lit library shelves. Organizations like the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have done their best to ignore the content of the massive compilation of original source material found in this book. If Americans ever become aware of the content assembled by the author, the arguments for a secular founding of America will turn to dust. Reprinted for the first time in over 140 years in 2007, this book has already been through it's seventh printing. Don't miss out on the fantastic wealth of information this book has in store! Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States could very well be responsible for rediscovering the truth of America's Christian foundation. Copyright: 2007
Matt. 4:17
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah 1:5
Blessed is the Nation who's God is the Lord.---Psalm 33:12
(name withheld)
MRFF's Response:
May 14, 2009
Hi (withheld),
My name is Rick Baker and I am one of MRFF's regional coordinators. I live in Colorado Springs which is a center for many Christian Churches, Organizations and Missions, including Focus on the Family, Navigators and others.
Because we are consistently exposed to the kind of religious doctrines you espouse in your E-mail to MRFF, I thought I would respond and hopefully correct a few misconceptions about MRFF and its attempts to curb extreme Christian proselytizing in the Military.
First, I am sure you would agree that "Military Religious Freedom" is an important goal and a worthy cause. Our mission is to prevent coercive Christian proselytizing by senior officers and NCO's to lower grade personnel because it is against constitution provision, civil law and military regulation to do so. Also, it is very wrong.
This proselytizing is not only directed at the "unchurched." The vast majority of those victimized by overt and illegal evangelizing are self-proclaimed Christians who are not considered "Christian enough" by the many civilian and military organizations which, in aggregate, make up the Dominion Christian Movement. ( A complete list of these organizations is available on request.)
Our American Constitution is a beautiful thing to behold and I could not agree with you more that it is a unique and powerful document conceived and executed by some very smart men. However, we differ in that I believe the Constitution was drawn neither by Christian, Deist, Muslim, Jew or Atheist (of which there were more than a few in the league of Founding Fathers). I contend that the Constitution was drawn by New American citizen leaders, establishing the United States as a secular nation in which all religions, irrespective of their majority, could flourish but none dominate. This is the whole magnificent concept of racial and religious plurality that is the "true foundation" of America.
This would explain why there is a total absence of any referral to Jesus Christ, Jehovah, Yaweh, Allah or God in the body of the Constitution and why Article VI specifically prohibits any religious test to hold government office. I am afraid the word of God, infallible or otherwise appears only in the Bible and other religious documents separate from that of government.
You are correct that Pilgrims came to America at least in part, to escape religious repression in England and other European countries. They did, however, begin to make the same mistakes their oppressors in Europe did. They wanted religious freedom just for those who believed their way and undertook a series of narrow colony laws often more restrictive than the one's they escaped. Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, among others, became centers of varying extreme Christian sects which were the precursor of the Salem Witch trials, religious tests for office and other terribly repressive Christian activities.
It took a while and some very smart people to recognize that religious exclusivity was not for America. The First Amendment was the key to placing the free exercise of religion within the boundaries of fair and judicious parameters. Among those areas of concern addressed were: Government establishment, promotion or favoritism of a religion, commingling a religion with government, unfair, exclusive or dominant religious practice and our particular bailiwick, coercive and illegal proselytizing. Although all of these do not appear in the actual wording of the First Amendment, they were made part and parcel of it by the many rulings and decisions of the United States Supreme Court over the course of American History.
It is interesting to note that, as you said, America did not receive its sovereignty by bowing to other nations and Godless religions (whatever they may be). America actually realized its sovereignty by simply not bowing to any religion. That would have constituted Theocracy.
I am sorry to say that the people you feel are being led astray by false representation, ignorance and rebellion to the word of your God and true foundation of our nation are far more in jeopardy because of the words of a God as reinterpreted, revised, rewritten, reprinted, redirected and redistributed by those firmly entrenched in Christian hegemony.
Your dedication to your beliefs is admirable. I'm afraid your interpretation of them has gone a tad askew. However, this is not to say that your beliefs and the actual truth of things is are not reconcilable.
I feel that you are for religious equity and would be against any forced religious activity against your Christian tenets. Won't you take the same position against those who would force their version of Christianity on others? Especially those who cannot fight back?
Join with us to help guarantee real religious freedom by restoring religious choice and preference to our young men and women in the armed forces and service academies.
Take the time to study the materials available on our web site.
militaryreligiousfreedom.com
You may be surprised learn that you agree with us.
Richard Baker
MRFF Regional Coordinator
Colorado Springs
