Wednesday Evening, June 18, 2024

ORLANDO, FL VA FACILITY

DEFIANTLY AND ABRUPTLY PUTS BIBLE BACK

AFTER INITIALLY REMOVING IT FROM POW/MIA TABLE PER MRFF's DEMAND

In response to MRFF's demand, the Orlando, Florida Veterans Administration Health Care System (VAHCS) removed an illicit, unconstitutionally placed bible from a POW/MIA table

displayed in their lobby.

The unconstitutionally placed Bible was removed within one and a half hours of MRFF's demand on behalf of its 13 military veteran client patients at the facility.

A VAHCS staff member also promised to send an email for MRFF's 13 client patients confirming the bible's removal.

When no confirmation email was provided, MRFF contacted VAHCS and was connected to a Public Affairs representative, who defiantly informed MRFF that the bible was going back on the table and will stay there until their their lawyers can decide if it's constitutional...

Rest assured, MRFF will NOT be waiting while their lawyers determine if a duck is a duck!

Pictured above: original photo of bible on POW/MIA table, bible removed, and bible placed back on table within the hour.

MRFF Demand Letter to Timothy J. Cooke, Medical Director/CEO at Orlando, Florida Veterans Administration Health Care System

Tuesday, June 18, 2024



From: Michael L Weinstein

Subject: Demand Letter to Orlando, Florida VAMC Medical Director/CEO Timothy J. Cooke

Date: June 18, 2024 at 9:59:50 AM MDT

To: Timothy J. Cooke, Medical Director/CEO

Cc: (CCs withheld)

Timothy J. Cooke, Medical Director/CEO

Orlando, Florida Veterans Administration Health Care System

RE: Medical Director Cooke, on behalf of its 13 military veteran client patients at your Orlando, Florida VAMC facility, MRFF demands that you immediately remove the illicit, unconstitutional Christian bible from the referenced POW/MIA “Missing Man Table” display adjacent to your Patriot Cafe which is under your personal control and direction.

(See photographs at bottom of this demand letter)

Dear Medical Director/CEO Timothy J. Cooke, 

My name is Mikey Weinstein, and I am the head of a large civil rights organization called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF, https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org). MRFF currently represents just under 89,000 active duty, reserve, National Guard, and military veteran clients as well as many clients among the 18 national security agencies and DHS (Coast Guard) and DOT (U.S. Maritime Service). MRFF’s specific mission is to protect the constitutionally-mandated wall separating church and state in the above-referenced governmental venues.

MRFF has been retained by 13 honorable military veterans who are also patients under your direct leadership as Medical Director/CEO at your Orlando, Florida Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC), 13800 Veterans Way, Orlando, Florida, 32827.

Of these 13 honorable American military veteran patients/MRFF clients, 8 are practicing Christians, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, 1 practices the Jewish faith, 1 practices the Islamic faith, and 3 follow non-faith traditions.

Medical Director Cooke, I won’t belabor the point here. The POW/MIA “Missing Man Table”, just outside of your Patriot Cafe facility, has a sectarian Christian bible prominently displayed on it to the utter exclusion of any other religious faith or non-faith traditions. 

**Please see the e-mail below my signature in this demand letter from one of our 13 MRFF client complainants on this sordid matter, which provides excellent detail (including explicit photographs) as to the scurrilous, unconstitutional violations occurring under your specific direction, sir.

Medical Director Cooke, your allowing this partisan display to promote and proselytize Christianity and ONLY Christianity is an atrocious and singularly ignominious act of illicit, unconstitutional Christian supremacy, exclusivity, triumphalism, and exceptionalism. It viciously violates not only the No Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and its construing caselaw but your own VA regulations as well.

The display of Christian proselytizing material as the sole religious item in a VA medical center display is in clear violation of the VA’s own regulations and policies regarding religious displays, which state that a display “should not elevate one belief system over others,” such as VA Directive 0022, “Religious Symbols in VA Facilities,” January 31, 2020, (emphasis added):



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.



The display of a Christian Bible would not even be allowed as a permanent display in a VA facility chapel, let alone a highly visible, public space adjacent to your Patriot Cafe facility as it is on this POW-MIA table. 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):

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 …

So you can better understand the history of sectarian Christian bibles, or related Christian proselytizing material, placed on these “Missing Man Table” displays, please take a good look at this article by MRFF’s Senior Research Director Ms. Chris Rodda:

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/bibles-dont-belong-on-pow-remembrance-tables

Here is yet another useful article for your review please from MRFF’s Ms. Chris Rodda:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/5/7/1855980/-MRFF-Files-Lawsuit-to-Remove-Bible-from-VA-Facility-POW-MIA-Table

Additionally, here is a useful timeline for your further review as well, clearly showing that a Christian bible, or related sectarian Christian material such as the Gideons International material on your “Missing Man Table” display, was NEVER a part of the “Missing Man Table” POW/MIA tabor display from its origination until numerous decades afterward:

1967 – The POW/MIA table tradition was created by the Red River Fighter

Pilots Association, an association of Vietnam combat pilots informally known as the “River Rats.” They began the tradition in May of 1967 at a meeting at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand, held by a group of pilots to discuss ways to prevent so many pilots from being shot down and captured. The original tradition created by the River Rats at this meeting did not include a Bible among the table’s items.

1985 – The American Legion passed a resolution to set a POW/MIA table at its events. In its official chaplains manual, the American Legion listed the items to be placed on the table. In keeping with the original tradition, a Bible was not among the items in the American Legion’s version. This was the version that became the standard, and is still widely used today.

1999 – The VFW Ladies Auxiliary published a script for the setting of the POW/MIA table in a 1999 issue of its magazine, adding a Bible to the table’s items. This is the earliest evidence of a Bible being added to the table.

c. 2000 – The National League of POW/MIA Families put out a script for the setting of the POW/MIA table that was almost identical to the one published in the 1999 issue of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary magazine, including the addition of the Bible. The National League of POW/MIA Families script first appeared on the organization’s website in 2000. 

This new National League of POW/MIA Families version, created over three decades after the original, Bible-free tradition was begun by the River Rats, is now wrongly thought by many to be the original tradition, and has led many to think that a Bible has always been included on POW/MIA tables and that it was the National League of POW/MIA Families that originated the tradition.

Thus, Medical Director Cooke, on behalf of its 13 military veteran client patients at your Orlando, Florida VAMC facility, MRFF demands that you immediately remove the illicit, unconstitutional Christian bible from the from the referenced POW/MIA “Missing Man Table” display adjacent to your facility’s Patriot Store which is under your personal control and direction.

We await wait your earliest timely response.

Sincerely,

Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq.

Founder and President

Military Religious Freedom Foundation

505-250-7727

MRFF Client's Original Email

Reaching Out For MRFF'S Assistance in

Getting Bible Removed from POW/MIA Table

Monday, June 17, 2024

From: MRFF U.S. Military Veteran Client’s E-mail Address Withheld Subject: Holy Bible Inappropriately Included on the Missing Man Table Display

Date: June 17, 2024 at 6:02:44 PM MDT

To: info@militaryreligiousfreedom.org

Dear MRFF,

I was shocked, angered and outraged to find a holy bible included on the Missing Man Table display at the VA where I receive my healthcare, the Orlando VAMC at 13800 Veterans Way, Orlando, FL 32827. The Missing Man Table is located just outside the Patriot Cafe in the cafe seating area. I viewed the holy bible as part of the Missing Man Table display about noon on June 12, 2024 . This display is meant to honor all missing military members and absolutely should not be singling out Christians. I am reaching out to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation for myself and others who receive their care at this facility who are angered by this disrespectful display. The bible should be removed immediately. The presence of the holy bible elevates Christianity above all other religions which is inappropriate and insulting to soldiers of other faiths or those of no faith. Including a bible in this display cannot be allowed to continue.

I request you make my request to remove the bible from the Missing Man Table anonymous. I and others who are shocked by this inappropriate display depend on the VA for our healthcare and fear retaliation should our names be associated with this complaint. Thank you for helping address this issue.

Sincerely yours,

(MRFF U.S. Military Veteran’s name and all other ID information withheld)

I hereby transfer all right, title, and interest in these photographs to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.



Client's Thank You Email to MRFF

For Getting Bible Removed from POW/MIA Table Within One and a Half Hours

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

From: MRFF U.S. Military Veteran Client’s E-mail Address Withheld

Date: June 18, 2024 at 1:26:51 PM MDT

To: Mikey Weinstein

Subject: Thank you for your work.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the incredibly quick action to my complaint about the inappropriate placement of a holy Bible at the Missing Man display at the Orlando VAMC. When you contacted me within minutes of my email, I felt things were going to be resolved quickly. To that end, I was very pleased when OVAMC quickly agreed to remove the bible. It was the right thing to do. Shockingly, OVAMC reneged on their agreement and put the Bible back and are refusing to remove it. Their decision to insist on displaying a symbol of the Christian faith is disrespectful and shows me OVAMC doesn't respect all vets. I know you will continue the fight to end their inappropriate behavior.

Active service members and veterans alike, know there is somewhere to turn when they are not being respected and inappropriate behavior is happening. My thanks to you and to the MRFF for having our backs!

(MRFF U.S. Military Veteran’s name and all other ID information withheld) 

MRFF's Previous Successes Getting Bibles

Removed or Replaced on POW/MIA Tables

at VA facilities and Military Installations

"No end to lunatics like you"

From: (name withheld)

Date: June 9, 2024 at 5:44:28 AM MDT

To: info@militaryreligiousfreedom.org

Subject:No end to lunatics like you

America is the greatest place on earth precisely because we were founded upon the principles of God.

I am no longer surprised when I come across whack job, lunatic freaks like your organization.

A united states that shies away from God – which we have seen over the past 70 years is precisely why we have high crime rates and the dismantling of the traditional family.

Congratulations for being yet another group of fucktards fighting for something that’s not only stupid but completely destructive in every way.

(name withheld)

To see responses from

MRFF Board Member John Compere,

and MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell:

"MRFF Demands Air Force Gate Guards Immediately Cease “Have a Blessed Day” Coded Christian Salutation"

From: (name withheld)

Date: June 13, 2024 at 9:24:16 AM MDT

To: Mikey Weinstein

Subject:Re: MRFF Demands Air Force Gate Guards Immediately Cease “Have a Blessed Day” Coded Christian Salutation

Mikey Whineystein was forcibly relocated to Gaza, captured and baked into Jew Bread. The End. hahahahahahaha

WE ARE MANY, WE ARE LEGION, WE ARE ANONYMOUS.

(name withheld)