Wednesday Afternoon, September 27, 2023

HARVARD Ph.D., QUAKER CHRISTIAN AUTHOR SARAH RUDEN: “I DON'T KNOW OF ANY OUTFIT AS EFFECTIVE AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE RADICALIZATION AS THE MRFF”

Quaker Christian Sarah Ruden, Harvard University Ph.D. and past Guggenheim, Whiting, and Silvers fellow, who can actually read the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew of the sacred literature that Christian nationalists think they own, whose new translation of the Gospels was named one of Publishers Weekly’s Best 20 Books of 2021, says of the difference between MRFF and other organizations:

“Other nonprofits in and around this field lobby against abuses, ‘raise awareness about best practices,’ tut-tut about assaults on the Constitution and lives ruined as collateral damage. The MRFF rushes to the aid of victims, punishes victimizers, and shores up key institutions, all while constantly suffering the most vile threats from those who claim to be the ‘best’ followers of Jesus Christ.”

Author and MRFF supporter Sarah Ruden

Featured e-mail from Quaker Christian author, Harvard Ph.D., leading translator of ancient sacred literature, and MRFF supporter Sarah Ruden

"Thank you, Mikey and MRFF!"

From: Sarah Ruden (Email address withheld)

Date: September 26, 2023 at 5:52:12 PM MDT

To: Mikey Weinstein (mikey@militaryreligiousfreedom.org)

Subject: Thank you, Mikey and MRFF!



Dear Friends:

My long familiarity with the work of Mikey and the MRFF informs this message of heartfelt thanks to the organization for the defense of some of the most self-sacrificing and most vulnerable people in our republic, servicemen and servicewomen victimized for standing up for freedom of conscience.

As a Quaker Christian author, translator, and journalist of thirty years’ standing, I am proud of vindicating through my writing my own centuries-old faith tradition of open-minded search for the truth and tolerance of difference. As the daughter of a Korean War veteran – a lifelong Methodist and a Sunday School teacher – who had been wounded, promoted, and decorated on the battlefield, I can’t adequately express my revulsion at the neofascists who drag the name of Christianity through the sewage and slime by insisting on what would have appalled the religion’s founders: forced conversions.

I don’t know of any outfit as effective against destructive radicalization as the MRFF. Other nonprofits in and around this field lobby against abuses, “raise awareness about best practices,” tut-tut about assaults on the constitution and lives ruined as collateral damage. The MRFF rushes to the aid of victims, punishes victimizers, and shores up key institutions, all while constantly suffering the most vile threats from those who claim to be the “best” followers of Jesus Christ. The religious extremist Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are even trying to effectively outlaw the MRFF, by making it a military felony for any soldier to reach out to the organization. This unprecedented outrage against the constitution speaks to the unique power of the MRFF against ongoing efforts to take our rights – and our country – apart.

Sarah Ruden, author of Paul among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time

THE EPOCH TIMES

COVERS MRFF

Christian Bookstore on Army Base

Faces Threat of Legal Action

By: J.M. Phelps

Friday, September 22, 2023

The Epoch Times covers MRFF’s demand, on behalf of 211 Fort Liberty soldiers, 165 of whom are Christians, that obtrusive and unconstitutional proselytizing Christian Faith2Soar bookstore and kiosk be removed from Fort Liberty PX mini-mall.

End Times podcaster and YouTuber Mark Hitchcock, author of The End: A Complete Overview of Bible Prophecy and the End of Days, claims on an episode of his “Marking the End Times with Dr. Mark Hitchcock” that the chilling new documentary “Praying for Armageddon,” which features Mikey Weinstein and MRFF Advisory Board Member Col. (ret.) Lawrence Wilkerson, is

 “a mischaracterization of what we believe.”

PRAYING FOR ARMAGEDDON |

Official Trailer | UpNorth Film (2023)

MRFF SUPPORTERS

INVITATION TO ATTEND

U.S. Premiere of 

“Praying for Armageddon”

Hamptons International Film Festival

Sunday, October 8, 2023

OR

Purchase Tickets by Phone - $15

(631) 825-0050

Limited Seating Available, Arrive at Least 30min Early

Regal UA East Hampton Cinema

30 Main Street, East Hampton, NY

Sunday, October 8, 2023

2:15 PM EDT

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

COVERS ANTI-SEMITISM

Ohio high school coach resigns

after team's 'Nazi' playcall

By: Samantha Hendrickson | Associated Press

Monday, September 26, 2023

BROOKLYN, Ohio – An Ohio high school football coach resigned Monday after his team used racist and antisemitic language to call out plays during a game last week.

Brooklyn High School coach Tim McFarland and his players repeatedly used the word "Nazi" as a playcall in a game against Beachwood High School. Beachwood, a Cleveland suburb, is roughly 90% Jewish, according to the latest survey, published in 2011, by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.

[...]

Mikey Weinstein's powerful message on Anti-Semitism ...

MRFF Matters - Mikey Weinstein Responds to 

Dan Rather's Article "Anti-semitism is Evil"

Thursday, October 13, 2022

“CRYBABY—-& MENTAL GIANT..”

From: (name withheld)

Subject: CRYBABY—-& MENTAL GIANT..

Date: September 20, 2023 at 3:55:26 PM MDT

To: “mikey@militaryreligiousfreedom.org”

RE: “Activist Wants Christian Bookstore Evicted from Military Base”…..Unbelievable that YOU’RE still crying about this kind of shit over the FACT THAT YOU WERE ‘BULLIED’ when you were in the military academy! “Weinstein ‘claimed’ that while at the Academy he encountered a string of incidents of psychological (affected your tiny brain cells)harassment, including notes emblazoned with swastikas and anti-Semitic slurs, death threats, and two violent incidents of hazing where he was ambushed, beaten, and, in one case, hospitalized”…. And there’s this one about the cry-baby adult kids “his sons were exposed to Christian proselytizing at the Academy”….Oh poor babies!Your whole adult family need to grow a set of ‘balls’ and man up, and get some long needed mental help and ‘anger management counseling’!I hear that your local Mental Help Hospital is taking “walk ins”; no appointments needed….. May I suggest a lobotomy is in order for you.. Plus your son’s could probably benefit from much needed counseling and medication (bring your own box of Kleenex –for the tear/water works)…You’re such a ‘laughable clown’…..I enjoy reading stories about your hatred for Christians and Jews (and what’s most comical is the fact that YOU are a mentally sick self-hating Jew-Asshole)…. BRING IN THE CIRCUS, YOU PATHETIC CLOWN

(name withheld)

To see responses from

MRFF Advisory Board Member James Currie

and a MRFF supporter:

Christian nationalist Rep. Mike Turner's amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to SHUT MRFF DOWN by making it ILLEGAL for members of the military to even communicate with MRFF is now part of the GOP-led House's version of the NDAA, WHICH HAS BEEN PASSED BY THE WHOLE HOUSE WITH TURNER’S DESPICABLE, VINDICTIVE, AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT STILL IN IT!!!

Last week, the Senate passed its version of the NDAA,

which does not contain any language regarding MRFF. When Congress returns from its August recess, a conference committee made up of both House and Senate members will meet to reconcile the two bills. THIS IS WHERE TURNER'S AMENDMENT TO SHUT MRFF DOWN MUST BE REMOVED!!!

If Turner's amendment is allowed to remain in the final, bicameral version of the NDAA, it will obliterate MRFF's ability to protect and advocate on behalf of our service members facing religious discrimination, harassment, and aggressive proselytizing!

If you haven't already, please take a minute to submit our petition letter opposing Turner's amendment to your representative and senators.

This form submits a letter to Congress on your behalf, which

will be sent to your U.S. Representative in the House and your

U.S. Senators urging removal of Christian Nationalist Rep. Turner's

blatantly unconstitutional NDAA amendment and, additionally,

sends a copy to the entire Senate Armed Services Committee.

Previous MRFF coverage of

Christian nationalist Rep. Turner's amendment

A handful of MRFF's numerous run-ins with

Christian nationalist GOP Congress members

and Senators over the years