Monday Evening, March 20, 2023 |
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MRFF DEMANDED THAT GREAT BIG
CHRISTIAN CROSS BE REMOVED
FROM AUSTIN VA CLINIC LOBBY —
IN UNDER 90 MINUTES IT WAS GONE!!!
19 veterans who receive medical care at the Austin VA Clinic in Texas asked MRFF to help them get a large, prominently displayed cross removed from the facility. This very large cross, made up of copies of the military branch emblems arranged into the shape of a Christian cross, dominated a seating area in the first floor lobby of the building, sending the message that our military is a Christian military and only Christian veterans matter.
This morning, MRFF founder and president Mikey Weinstein emailed a letter to the Director for the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, demanding that this great big Christian cross in the lobby of the Austin VA Clinic be expeditiously removed ...
... AND IN LESS THAN 90 MINUTES
IT WAS REMOVED!!!
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THE WASHINGTON TIMES
COVERS MRFF
Texas VA clinic removes ‘Remember Our Veterans’ metal cross after watchdog complains
By: Mark A. Kellner
Monday, March 20, 2023
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The Washington Times covers MRFF’s swift victory on behalf of nineteen veterans in getting the Austin VA Clinic to remove a large Christian cross in its lobby.
The article quotes MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein as saying:
“It’s excellent that the VA took this down within 90 minutes of the demand. … While we are gratified that the VA did the right thing … it is still unsettling to know that the command climate there … is such that patients are afraid to bring the concerns themselves without coming to an outside civil rights organization.”
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A pair of 'thank you' emails from two
of MRFF's 19 veteran clients upon their
hearing that the cross had been removed
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From: (Veteran’s/MRFF Client’s name and email address withheld)
Date: March 20, 2023 at 1:42:06 PM MDT
Subject: Christian Cross at Austin VA
Mikey Weinstein and the MRFF,
I want to reach out to personally thank you for how quickly you were able to have the giant cross at the Austin VA taken down. I was especially dismayed to see this huge cross displayed at a federal building that ostensibly serves ALL veterans - regardless of their faith. When I visit the VA building I am looking for medial support, not to be confronted with religious proselytizing. There was no subtlety in this display - with symbols of all branches of the military embedded into the garish cross of supposed Christianity - a clear message that only Christians are welcome. As an Air Force veteran with 16 years of active duty service, including 3 combat tours over Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan flying the mighty F-15E, I am continually disappointed to find instances in the military and other government institutions of overt preference towards the Christian faith. While it’s bad enough that the VA had this cross on display in a clearly non-religious setting, more telling is the lack of even the slightest mention or consideration of any other faith or non-faith. Shame on the Austin VA for not realizing the message being sent with this display and not acting until being approached by the MRFF.
The work of MRFF is so absolutely critical in the public defense of the basic separation of church and state. No other organization is able to respond as quickly and decisively as the MRFF! I continue to be a huge supporter of your work - keep it up!
Best,
(Name withheld)
USAF Veteran
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From: (Veteran’s/MRFF Client’s name and email address withheld)
Subject: Thank You
Date: March 20, 2023 at 2:55:47 PM MDT
Mr. Weinstein, I am writing to express my thanks and appreciation to you and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation for your efforts to remove the cross on prominent display in the lobby of the VA Clinic in Austin, TX. The government at all levels all too often feels the need to interject religion where it has no place.
I am all in favor of people practicing their religion, indeed, I wish more people would practice their religious principles, but I do not appreciate having other religions pushed at me.
Again, thank you for supporting Americans' religious freedom.
Regards,
(Name withheld)
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MRFF OP-ED
ON DAILY KOS
Trending story on Daily Kos
No, Austin VA Clinic, you can’t display a great big cross in your lobby. VA regulations say so.
By: MRFF Senior Research Director Chris Rodda
Monday, March 20, 2023
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UPDATE: WITHIN 90 MINUTES OF MIKEY WEINSTEIN SENDING A DEMAND THAT THE CROSS BE REMOVED, THE CROSS WAS REMOVED!!!
Nineteen veterans who receive medical care at the Austin VA Clinic in Texas have asked the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) to help them get a large, prominently displayed cross removed from the facility. This very large cross, made up of rough copies of the military branch emblems arranged into the shape of a Christian cross, sending the message that our military is a Christian military and only Christian veterans matter, dominates a seating area in the first floor lobby of the building, where veterans of all religions and none are treated. While the VA recognizes 78 different faith symbols, 38 of which are not Christian, the only faith displayed at the Austin VA Clinic is the preferred and promoted Christian faith.
As one of the veterans wrote to MRFF:
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From: (Veteran’s/MRFF Client’s name withheld)
Subject: Cross at Austin VA Clinic
Date: March 16, 2023 at 4:44:39 PM MDT
Mr. Weinstein, I am writing you regarding a cross on display at the Austin VA clinic.
By way of introduction, my name is (name withheld) and I live in Travis County, TX near Lake Travis. I am a Viet Nam vet with a 20% service-connected disability. To get treatment for my disability, I must go to the Austin VA Clinic on Metropolis Drive.
On prominent display on the first floor of the clinic is a large cross. As a Jew I find this offensive, especially given that none of the other 28 religious symbols identified by Wikipedia are given the same prominent display. I would wager that whoever authorized the placement of the cross would be quite reluctant to display a Satanic symbol if they were offered one.
I would appreciate your help in getting this cross removed, and have attached photos of the cross and its plaque.
I hereby transfer all right, title, and interest in the attached photographs to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
Regards,
(name withheld)
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Not all the veterans who want this cross removed are non-Christians. Some, like the writer of the following email — a youth ministries leader at their Christian church — are Christian, as are 95% of MRFF’s over 83,000 clients: |
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From: (Former U.S. Army Soldier’s/MRFF Client’s E-mail Address Withheld)
Subject: Remove that Christian Cross
Date: March 19, 2023 at 11:58:55 PM MDT
Mr. Weinstein and the MRFF please have the VA take down that Christian cross immediately!
As one of the MRFF’s clients here please do not disclose my name or other personal ID for me.
I am a former U.S. soldier who lives in the Austin, Texas area and I am a patient at the Austin VA clinic.
I am also a Youth Ministries Leader at the Christian Church where my wife and kids go here in the Austin area.
I’m ashamed I didn’t come forward sooner to object to the big Christian cross that is in the lobby of this VA clinic.
I fought in hard combat for the 6 weeks of the Second Battle of Fallujah, Iraq from November to December of 2004. It was also called Operation Phantom Fury.
I am alive today because my battle buddy, (name withheld), took two bullets meant for me in a nasty fire fight one night. He is a fully enrolled member of the (Native American tribe name and location withheld) tribe from the state of (U.S. state name withheld). He survived but lost one of his legs where the bullets hit. I owe him my life.
I watched my battle buddy take a load of crap for not being a Christian like me and most of our unit. When I walk into the lobby of the Austin VA clinic and see that cross hanging there I think of (name withheld) all the time. It makes me feel awful and I should have stood up before. My battle buddy would have wanted me to and I know I should have.
Where is the separation of church and state there?
Please have the VA do what’s right and remove that Christian cross from the main lobby of their VA clinic here in Austin.
Thank you for all you do!
(Former U.S. Army Soldier’s name, rank, phone number and address all withheld)
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The veterans who have sought MRFF’s help very simply want the Austin VA Clinic to follow the VA’s own regulations regarding religious displays, such as VA Directive 0022, "Religious Symbols in VA Facilities," January 31, 2020, which states (emphasis added): |
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2. POLICY. Religious symbols may be included in a passive display, including a holiday display, in public areas of VA facilities (see subsection a. below), if the display is of the type that follows in the longstanding tradition of monuments, symbols and practices that simply recognize the important role that religion plays in the lives of many Americans. Such displays should respect and tolerate differing views and should not elevate one belief system over others. …
b. VA is committed to inclusivity and nondiscrimination and evaluates all displays in public areas on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the policy stated above. VA particularly encourages the placement of diverse religious symbols together in passive displays in public areas.
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This cross is not just one item “included” in a display, such as Christian symbols included in a holiday display that also contains secular items and items from other religions, like a menorah. And it is not part of a display “of diverse religious symbols together.” It is the only religious item, prominently displayed on its own, and most certainly does not “respect and tolerate differing views.” What it does is “elevate one belief system over others,” which clearly violates this VA directive.
This cross would not even be allowed as a permanent display in a VA facility chapel, let alone a lobby seating area. VA medical facility chapels are required to be “religiously neutral” at all times when there is not an actual service taking place for a particular faith group, as is clearly stated in VHA Directive 1111, “Spiritual Care,” July 21, 2021 (emphasis added):
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9. CHAPELS AND OTHER WORSHIP FACILITIES
a. Chapels. The chapel, or a room set aside exclusively for use as a chapel, must be reserved for patients’ spiritual activities, such as: worship, prayer, meditation and quiet contemplation. Such chapels are appointed and maintained as places for meditation and worship. When VA chaplains are not providing or facilitating a religious service for a particular faith group, the chapel must be maintained as religiously neutral, meaning it cannot be viewed as endorsing one religion over another. Religious literature, content and symbols must be made readily accessible to VA patients and visitors in a chapel or Chaplain Service office at their request. The only exception to the policy on maintaining chapels as religiously neutral are the chapels at VA medical facilities which were built with permanent religious symbols in the walls or windows. In these cases, the VA medical facility Director must also designate an appropriately sized room or construct a religiously neutral chapel, which is maintained in accordance with this VHA directive and VA Space Planning Criteria …
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The VA’s regulations look great on paper, but time and time again MRFF is contacted by veterans whose VA facility is blatantly disregarding these regulations. Many of these veterans have no other option for their healthcare. They must go to a VA facility where the non-Christians among them are sent a clear message that they are not of that facility’s preferred religion, something that should never happen to any American at a secular government institution where all should be treated as equal, and most certainly not to the countless non-Christian veterans who have fought to uphold America’s ideals.
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The replicas of the military branch seals that make up the cross also fly in the face of the DoD’s regulations on the use of its trademarked emblems. Not only is it prohibited to use these official emblems to promote religion, the “images should not be recreated or altered in any way that distorts the integrity of any Military Service mark.” The artist’s inaccurate recreations of the seals on the cross, while it is clear that they are supposed to be the branch seals, do alter them in a way that distorts their integrity. The endorsement of these inaccurate recreations of the branch seals by the Austin VA Clinic makes the display of this cross even more of a blatant disregard for regulations.
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Today, MRFF founder and president Mikey Weinstein will be sending a letter to the Director for the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, demanding that the facilities under their jurisdiction obey the VA’s unambiguous regulations and that the great big Christian cross in the lobby of the Austin VA Clinic be expeditiously removed. |
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MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein's emailed letter to Michael L. Kiefer, Director for the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, demanding that the cross be removed
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Subject: Unconstitutional Civil Rights Violation at Austin, Texas VA Clinic
Date: March 20, 2023 at 10:03:06 AM MDT
To: Michael L. Kiefer
To: Michael L. Kiefer, Director for the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System
RE: Unconstitutional Civil Rights Violation at Austin, Texas VA Clinic
Director Kiefer,
My name is Mikey Weinstein and I head up the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).
MRFF is a large civil rights advocacy organization which is dedicated to insuring that its over 83,000 clients (about 95% of whom are practicing Christians), who are U.S. military personnel and veterans, receive the full benefit of their Constitutional civil rights. In this regard, MRFF ensures that legal separation exists, as to time, place and manner, between church and state in the DoD, the VA, the 17 National Intelligence agencies and several other Federal agencies which have oversight of military activities such as DHS (Coast Guard) and DOT (U.S. Maritime Service).
To the matter at hand, Director Kiefer and I won’t belabor the point. Please see the BREAKING news article below which will contain all of the salient particulars regarding a BLATANTLY unconstitutional violation by the Austin, Texas VA Clinic.
In this specific regard, sir, MRFF is presently representing 19 U.S. military veteran clients all of whom are patients at that Austin, Texas VA facility which is exclusively under YOUR personal responsibility, control and management. This MRFF client group comprises veterans who follow Jewish, Protestant, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Wiccan, Unitarian and Hindu faith traditions as well as agnostic, atheist, humanist and other secularist non-faith traditions.
This outrageous, continuous, hostile and notorious display of a sectarian Christian symbol, to the utter exclusion of all other faith and non-faith traditions, viciously violates the No Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution, its construing Federal caselaw as well as your OWN VA REGULATIONS which are quite clear and dispositive on this matter.
This nonsecular display of Christian triumphalism and supremacy also visits a nontrivial amount of hurtful exclusion, marginalization, prejudice, hatred and bigotry upon our MRFF clients who came to us for help but concomitantly feared reprisal and retribution from you and your senior leadership if they brought the demand to remove the Christian crucifix in their own names to you.
MRFF demands, on behalf of our clients who are also your VA patients, that you IMMEDIATELY take down and permanently remove the divisive display of that unconstitutional Christian crucifix symbol!
Should you fail to do so in a timely fashion, MRFF will plan to expeditiously litigate the matter in Federal Court, seeking inter alia, both injunctive relief as well as a Writ of Mandamus to have the Court order you to follow your OWN VA regulations to swiftly remove the referenced publicly displayed Christian crucifix.
Before I close, Director Kiefer, let me put it to you this way; would you also grant approval for the precisely same type of partisan, sectarian display, as to time, place and manner, for the numerous religious and non-religious symbols of the literally DOZENS of other faith and non-faith traditions which are officially recognized by the VA?
You might want to prepare for an avalanche of such official requests should you fail to comply with the church/state separation mandates of the U.S. Constitution, as well as your crystal clear VA regulations, to remove that illicit, sectarian Christian cross.
MRFF will standby for your earliest response to our demands.
Sincerely,
Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq.
Founder and President
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
505-250-7727
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MRFF is regularly contacted by veterans facing Christian supremacy at VA medical facilities |
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"MRFF vs. the U.S military"
From: (name withheld)
Subject: MRFF vs. the U.S military
Date: March 18, 2023 at 10:54:58 PM MDT
To: Mikey Weinstein
Dear Mikey
I love what you do. We had a brief back and forth one other time when I wrote to appreciate Ed Asner’s speech on your behalf, and included heaps of praise for your work.
But I’m confused by your long career in the Air Force, and the enthusiasm of all 3 of your kids to follow suit.
You’re obviously an intelligent, well-schooled, intrinsically moral and kind person.
You obviously also are familiar with, probably steeped in, every dark corner of U.S. history. From driving off the indigenous people , through non-stop wars, 750 military bases all over the world, millions of lives lost or destroyed (ours and theirs) billions of dollars wasted — well, you know all this.
So why would you choose a career that supports this? What is the military but marching and saluting flags, and learning to use weapons that will kill and destroy people who for the most part have done nothing to you or any of us “exceptional” Americans?
Once again, I truly appreciate your niche MRFF project. Someone had to do it, and it’s likely no one would have taken it on if you hadn’t. Minimizing Christian propaganda is a noble fight and your tenaciousness is actually working!
I MIGHT have thought you took it on as a small penance for your past life in uniform (bedecked I assume with lots of stars and indecipherable bar code doodads — which I guess are honors of some sort?) except that you seem proud of it, and now 3 more Weinsteins are going to march and salute and become weapons experts so they can fight America’s “enemies” in one of the 80 countries we’ve plopped down our intrusive bases. (Ouch — I’m horrible.)
You’re a busy person and this is long, and snarky to boot. But I’m a huge fan and sincerely confused so I thought I’d throw it out and see if anything comes back
(name withheld)
To see responses from
MRFF Advisory Board Members Mike Farrell and
James T. Currie, and MRFF Board Member John Compere:
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