Friday Afternoon, December 24, 2021 |
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"WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA" CLAIMS
NOT TO PUT XMAS WREATHS ON JEWISH VETERANS' GRAVES — MRFF VOLUNTEERS' PHOTOS PROVE THAT'S A BLATANT LIE
Despite its repeated insistence that it doesn’t place its Christmas wreaths on the graves of Jewish veterans, Wreaths Across America has once again placed its wreaths on countless Jewish and other non-Christian veterans’ graves, Christianizing the graves of these non-Christian veterans to the distress of many family members.
This year, MRFF volunteer photographers went to Fort Sam
Houston National Cemetery and the cemetery at the Air Force Academy and found Wreaths Across America Christmas wreaths
on numerous Jewish veterans' graves, as well as the graves
of a Muslim and an atheist, proving without a doubt that
Wreaths Across America is a bald-faced liar.
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MRFF OP-ED
ON DAILY KOS
Trending story on Daily Kos
Wreaths Across America Day postmortem –
the pictures say it all
By: MRFF Senior Research Director Chris Rodda
Friday, December 24, 2021
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Despite its repeated insistence that it doesn’t place its Christmas wreaths on the graves of Jewish veterans, Wreaths Across America, in its annual blanketing of our national cemeteries with Christmas wreaths, has once again placed its wreaths on countless Jewish and other non-Christian veterans’ graves, thus Christianizing the graves of these non-Christian veterans to the distress of many veterans’ family members.
While Wreaths Across America’s incestuously profitable relationship with its own for-profit Christmas wreath company is appalling and newsworthy, it is the organization’s defiling of Jewish and other non-Christian veterans’ graves that is the primary concern for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF). This is the reason that scores of family members of these non-Christian veterans come to MRFF each year with their concerns about Wreaths Across America’s practices.
This year, due to MRFF’s outspokenness against Wreaths Across America, the right-wing news and various fundamentalist Christian organizations have hit back, defending the organization and painting MRFF as part of the mythical “War on Christmas.” Far-right members of Congress even chimed in, writing a MRFF-bashing letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, signed by such luminaries as Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Madison Cawthorn.
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Worcester told Fox News that Wreaths Across America has had a policy against laying wreaths at graves marked with the Jewish Star of David since the group started in 1992.
But she also said Wreaths Across America has "never been asked not to" place wreaths for veterans of other non-Christian faiths, such as Islam. She then added that they have never "placed those wreaths unless asked by the families to do so."
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The program follows the policies of cemeteries that grant permission for the annual remembrance ceremony, Caron said.
At cemeteries that don’t have formal policies, volunteers “do not place a wreath on the headstones of those graves marked with the Star of David, out of respect for Jewish custom,” the organization’s policy states.
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"We have a policy about not placing wreaths on headstones that have the Star of David," Caron said. "Obviously, errors happen. We are a network of volunteers. Not everyone knows what a Star of David is. We do have protocols in place to work with our core volunteers to ensure that we are checking and being respectful."
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But, as in previous years, respectful they weren’t. Their Christmas wreaths were indiscriminately placed on countless Jewish grave that were clearly marked with the Star of David, as well as Muslim graves clearly marked as such with the crescent and star, and even atheist graves that were clearly marked with the atheist symbol.
One MRFF volunteerr took photos at the Air Force Academy’s cemetery, where he found wreaths placed not only on Jewish graves, but on an atheist grave.
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Two other MRFF volunteers visited Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. With over 170,000 graves, only a very small portion of this sprawling cemetery was was photographed. And yet, just in this small portion, there were many Jewish graves and one Muslim grave defiled by Wreaths Across America’s Christmas wreaths.
If the word “defiled” seems hyperbolic, consider that it goes against Jewish tradition to place flowers on a grave, and given the reasons that Jews don’t place flowers on graves, wreaths would be the same thing. Likewise, Muslims do not place flowers on graves. According to the website eCondolence, which provides religion-specific guidelines on visiting graves, for Muslims: “Flowers, wreaths or other memorabilia which would adorn the grave would be considered inappropriate.” And yet, as the following photos taken by MRFF’s volunteers show, Wreaths Across America showed no respect for these religions’ traditions and beliefs, not only placing an inappropriate item on these graves, but a specifically Christian one.
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The above photos from MRFF’s volunteers come from only a small portion of just one cemetery. Wreaths Across America placed their wreaths at over 2,500 locations — large national cemeteries as well as other cemeteries where veterans are buried.
As one of MRFF’s volunteers wrote in the email that accompanied their photos:
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“Make no mistake the pictures I sent you are only a small sample size and it would take weeks to visit every non-Christian gravesite. Yes, there were a few Jewish gravesites without wreaths but that was the exception! Based on the number of sections in the cemetery one can extrapolate that there are hundreds of non-Christian gravesites decorated with these Advent and Christmas decorations!!”
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Multiply those hundreds at this one cemetery by all the cemeteries blanketed by Wreaths Across America, and the number of Jewish and other non-Christian veterans’ graves defiled by this organization that speciously claims to respect other religions is certainly in the multiple thousands.
The writer of the above email excerpt was also very shocked and dismayed to see that Wreaths Across America had placed their wreaths on the graves of German and Japanese WWII P.O.W.s, writing:
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“And much to my dismay I witnessed with my own eyes what you say to be true! And you can trust your own eyes looking at the many pictures I sent you! Christmas wreaths not only adorn Jewish gravesites but also a Muslim gravesite and former World War II German and Japanese enemy Prisoner of War gravesites!!
“I clearly remember studying history of this time period. As history teaches us the NAZI zealots adopted both anti-Christian and anti-atheist policies while planning mass genocide of Jews and races they deemed inferior. And having visited and lived in Japan during my lifetime I can categorically state that these Japanese POWs were most definitely either Shinto or Buddhists.”
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Yeah, nothing screams respect for our veterans — and especially our Jewish veterans — better than honoring Nazis with a Christmas wreath, right?
And, to end with one more note about the Worcester family’s highly profitable scheme of buying the millions of dollars worth of Christmas wreaths that their“non-profit” Wreaths Across America uses each year ($17 million in 2019) from their own for-profit Christmas wreath company, on each of the wreaths it places on a veteran’s grave is a substantial size paper tag advertising their for profit wreath company. (The size of the tag can be seen very clearly in the second photo of the first set of photos in this post.)
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CBN NEWS
COVERS MRFF
Group Condemns Laying Wreaths on Veterans' Tombstones, Calls Them 'Christian Gang Signs'
By: Tré Goins-Phillips
Saturday, December 18, 2021
Pat Robertson's CBN News repeats Wreaths Across America’s executive director Karen Worcester’s lie that Wreaths Across America doesn’t place its Christmas wreaths on Jewish graves, writing: “In fact, she said, her nonprofit has had a policy against laying wreaths on tombstones marked with Jewish Stars of David since starting the goodwill initiative in 1992. Worcester added Wreaths Across America has ‘never been asked not to’ place wreaths on the graves of veterans of other non-Christian faiths, such as Islam.”
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THE WESTERN JOURNAL
COVERS MRFF
As Volunteers Adorn Veterans' Graves with Wreaths, Protest Group Tries to End the 'Atrocity'
By: Jack Gist
Thursday, December 23, 2021
The Western Journal repeats Wreaths Across America’s executive director Karen Worcester’s lie that Wreaths Across America doesn’t place its Christmas wreaths on Jewish graves, writing: “Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America, told Fox News that the group does not and has not placed wreaths on graves that bear the Jewish Star of David.”
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“Wreaths Across America”
Mike – I’m wondering why you feel that a simple wreath is an affront to non-religious families? It’s obviously placed there as a symbol of respect for their service.
Please help me understand. Thank you
(name withheld)
Subsequent email from the same individual after being replied to by three MRFF Advisory Board Members and MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein:
Understood. Thank you for explaining.
Additionally, I fully support what your group is doing and agree that families should be offered an opportunity to agree to the wreath service.
Thank you for your service Mikey. Hope you have a nice weekend.
(name withheld)
To see responses from
MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein
and MRFF Advisory Board Members
Mike Farrell, Martin France, and James T. Currie:
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“Re: More on “Wreaths Across America’s” FAILING GRADE from Charity Navigator, & a Powerful Reply to a MRFF Critic from a Rabbi & Former USAF Chaplain”
Wed. afternoon
Submitted for consideration by (name withheld)
Different perspectives on seasonal evergreen wreaths
I would like to offer different perspectives for the presentation of seasonal evergreen wreaths at gravesites for deceased military personnel at national military burial sites. I have intentionally avoided reference to these wreaths as “Christmas wreaths” because there might be another perspective not affronting Jewish people and the memories of the Jewish decedents at these national military burial locations. I have seen news coverage that the wreaths are part of a memorial or remembrance service that includes saluting each military member’s grave and a declaration or acknowledgment of that specific decedent’s name. As something of a rhetorical question: how many people (including Christians as well as Jewish people) would feel uncomfortable by the absence of a wreath at a deceased Jewish military member’s grave when other nearby graves do have the wreaths? Would the absence of a wreath at any Jewish military member’s grave imply that the deceased Jewish military member was undeserving or to be excluded from a memorial or remembrance intended to honor the deceased military members at the national burial site? Additionally, would most visitors at national military burial sites want to reflect proudly that the collective service in military uniforms of all of the deceased military members represented protection of the rights of all Americans, including rights for religious freedom regardless of any particular individual’s religious faith?
In conclusion the mission of MRFF which should be borne in mind strategically is separation of church and state. For a figurative tactical outlook, battlegrounds for the operations of MRFF should be considered carefully and figurative “collateral damage” should be minimized. Has MRFF incurred damage by an interpretation that the wreaths given as part of memorials and honor to deceased military members at national military burial sites are necessarily oriented to Christianity?
For purposes of interpreting the wreaths at the national military burial sites, perhaps it should be said that the crucifixion cross symbolizing Christianity does not appear in the wreaths and that Hanukkah is celebrated in the same month as Christmas.
(Name withheld)
To see response from
MRFF Advisory Board Member James T. Currie:
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“From a stalwart MRFF Supporter:pick your battles,
lay off wreaths, they aren’t the problem”
Fellows,
Bottom line up front: I’m a big supporter of separation of church and state, and keeping evangelism and religious anything out of our government and militaries whenever possible. I don’t think that Wreaths Across America or similar activities are a threat to that, and they may in fact be the outlet for positive holiday feelings that we all need. I think it’s a sufficiently secular expression that I want to support, if not just allow, because it exists in contrast to plenty of other problematic activities that are competing for our time, money and attention.
I’m an Iraq War Army Veteran, Field Artillery Officer, agnostic atheist and AHA (Humanist) lay leader who would happily be a Chaplain in uniform if the Senate would allow it. I led Humanist services at the Navy’s Recruit Training Command for years until I was uninvited (for swearing, they said, which is both disingenuous and hilarious in a way) and I sincerely want to see the armed services as secular and free from religious evangelism as possible.
This war on wreaths is going to lose us ground gained and then some. I think it is without significant merit as well, but just on a practical basis, it’s going to subject us all, and I mean anyone who aligns themselves with the goals of MRFF, to legitimate ridicule & mockery and it will consign the real issues to the trash-heap along the way. It’s a losing battle.
Wreaths are one of the few symbols that allow you to identify yourself as a (holiday, solstice, winter or whatever) Christmas-fun-having non-jerk, without displaying any sort of religious symbolism.
I know that it’s true that some people are truly upset by this and feel that abstaining from wreaths and conventional signs and symbols associated with Christmas is necessary for them to separate themselves from Christianity. I am not out to hurt anyone, I do want to find a way through this that does the least harm.
https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/25/nyregion/wreaths-carry-many-meanings-and-messages-into-christmas.html
https://bowdoinorient.com/bonus/article/10791
Wreaths Across America doesn’t mention Christmas in their pitch, just that it’s happening in December and recognizing veterans, by their own telling of their story. There are things I want to investigate about how their money flows, but on the surface I don’t see something to fight over.
Wreaths have been part of my admittedly WASPy upbringing since childhood, but I also saw Santa themes among Muslims in Iraq. We ought to be leaning into reaffirming the secular nature of certain symbols of the holidays, with the aim of establishing inclusivity and making sure that no faiths are oppressed or marginalized unfairly.
Ancient history doesn’t always hold when it comes to contemporary semiotics (signs and signifiers) it is worth knowing: If Estruscan or Germanic wreaths weren’t Christian then they aren’t as concerning as a crucifix or other clearly Christian symbol.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wreath#Ancient_Etruscan_wreaths
I think we should be looking for ways to embrace the holiday season that are seen as substantially secular and by being on board with them, we further establish them as inclusive, not divisive, practices. If you are still pissing off the Puritans, you are probably doing something right.
(name withheld)
To see response from
MRFF Advisory Board Member James T. Currie:
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