TO: His Excellency Thorbjorn Jagland Dear Chairman Jagland, I want to lend my support to the nomination of Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) for the Nobel Peace Prize. For the past few years I have been privileged to have served on the Advisory Board of the MRFF. This organization was founded by Mikey Weinstein, a courageous American, who has devoted his life to exposing and ending, the very serious problem of widespread inhibition of religious Freedom in the U.S. Armed Forces, at great risk to his family’s safety. There is massive evidence that an extremist version of Christianity has infiltrated some of the American military chaplaincy, with the benign neglect of many of our senior officers and political leaders. The danger of this development, to religious Freedom and World Peace is very real and unabating. We have received literally thousands of complaints, many from moderate Christians. Many find these allegations hard to believe, but hard evidence confirms they are true. The phenomenon of the proliferation of dangerous conservative fundamentalist movements in religious communities throughout the world has historically led to religious wars and great loss of life, including the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. Foreign Policy affects every nation on earth, and while we publicly espouse Human Rights and Religious Freedom, some in our military are behaving like modern day Crusaders, and the enemies of all but their own narrow version of religious belief. I urge the Committee to approve this nomination for reasons that go to the heart of the World Peace objectives of the Nobel Peace Prize. It will not only recognize a brave fighter for religious freedom, but send a message to the U.S. Government, the U.S. Armed Forces leadership, and to our Congress, that this threat must be addressed and eliminated. Respectfully. Augustine A. Verrengia, B/Gen USAF Ret. |
