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Military Religious Freedom Foundation Slammed by Father of Mikey Weinstein’s Daughter-in-law
Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation
“It breaks my heart to see a father abandon his children for any reason. Religious bigotry, as a reason, is doubly disturbing.”
- Richard Baker
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
The founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) has another Christian taking shots at him in the Colorado Springs daily newspaper.
This would be one Paul R. Baranek whose daughter is married to MRFF’s Mikey Weinstein’s son.
Seems Weinstein’s commitment to a secular American military earns him eternal enmity from the religious right, only this time from a dogmatist who says Weinstein is on a “crusade against Christianity.”
Below is Paul R. Baranek’s letter and three selected responses.
When will you guys at The Gazette get it that we don’t care what Mikey Weinstein thinks, says or does? In the June 21 article, you mention that he is not going away anytime soon. Not as long as you keep putting his name in the paper, he isn’t! He is not promoting religious freedom. He is trying to snuff out any expression of Christianity. He is looking for publicity. Do you just take your information from him or do you check out your sources? I happen to know the man. My daughter is married to his son.
This man’s motives are anything but noble, and the more publicity you give him, the more you encourage his crusade against Christianity. Please stop!
Paul R. Baranek
Colorado Springs
Saddened by Baranek
I was deeply saddened by the hateful comments by Mr. Baranek who is obviously so full of bile that he is willing to injure his own daughter just to spite a man with whom he disagrees.
As far as Mr. Weinstein is concerned, I concede bias on my part; you see, the man saved my life. I’m a disabled Veteran who faced discrimination and predatory Christian proselytizing at a V.A. Medical Center because I’m a Jew.
When I approached the hospital administration peacefully, accompanied by my rabbi, hoping to help them understand how offensive their conduct was to me, the hospital cut off all my medical treatment. I was at the time suffering from 7 kidney stones and was a very sick man. Not only did the hospital cut off all my medical care, but they blacklisted me with the other area hospitals. Mr. Weinstein learned of my plight and raised the money himself to fly me to another state where I was provided with the medical care I needed. That’s the sort of man Mr. Baranek disparaged in his letter.
Akiva David MIller
Choosing his faith over his own daughter
While I have the pleasure of knowing Mikey Weinstein and his family, I have never met Mr. Baranek. Nonetheless, my heart goes out to him. Life cannot be easy for a man who believes that he must choose his faith over his own daughter, simply because she married a Jew.
Although I am not a Christian, I am familar enough with Christian doctrine to know that love is paramount, and that the Bible can offer guidance and support. Mr. Baranek might consider reflecting on Proverbs 11:29: “He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind.”
Barry Fagin
Colorado Springs
Religious Bigotry, Mr. Baranek
It breaks my heart to see a father abandon his children for any reason. Religious bigotry, as a reason, is doubly disturbing.
Mr. Baranek sees the world through the prism of narrow and archaic Christian doctrine; doctrine that would be far better suited for the Inquisition or Salem Witch Trials.
I have met Amanda. A young woman of Amanda’s advanced intellectual abilities, drive, accomplishment and startling beauty would be enough to swell the chest of any father with pride.
Sadly, such parental pride has not and may never emanate from her natural father.
Fortunately, such a sense of pride has taken place in her life. Father-in-Law Mikey Weinstein and Mother-in-Law Bonnie Weinstein turned parents. There’s enough love in Mikey’s heart for all his kids, their wives, his parents and the rest of his family. Even with the tremendous amount of love expended on these family members, Mikey’s love reservoir is still chock full of care, concern and desire to help our young men and women in the Armed Forces and Service Academies who have found themselves subject to the specter of command influenced and coercive Christian Proselytizing.
That’s what the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is all about. Not abrogating the rights of Christians to the free practice guaranteed them by our constitution but to guarantee all of our troops have the equal opportunity to practice theirs. It is no coincidence that over 96% of the 18,000 complaints filed by young service members of all branches and academies that MRFF is now addressing are from Christians. A number of these young Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, Sailors, National Guard, Coast Guard, Reserve and Cadet Corps have said they were told they were not “Christian enough.”
There is a time and a place for all belief systems in America, a secular nation in which all religions and non-beliefs may flourish but none , irrespective of its majority, dominate.
To Mr. Baranek: you have put out of your life the sweetest thing in it. You have squandered your golden years of Grand fatherhood on your stilted morality.
I imagine that even your God is scratching his head.
Richard Baker
Regional Coordinator
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=37700
Posted by Yanira Farray on Jun 26 2010, With 0 Reads, Filed under Military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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I am surprised and gratified that my letter “Religious Bigotry, Mr. Baranek?”
appeared on “Veterans Today.”
I confess that as a father, grand father and great grand father, I am surrounded (often literally) by beautiful little faces, diverse and individual personalities and the privilege of living through and assisting in the raising of children beyond my generation.
In this bevy of boundless energy, sticky hands and chocolate faces, exist the reasons for my defense of Amanda Weinstein. Although some of my grandchildren are married and of child bearing age, I can still see the chocolate on their faces.
Our progeny have, in their possession, the power to make us immortal. They carry us and our visage through life and often honor us by speaking our names in love and rememberance of us.
I pity those such as Mr. Baranek who may not, probably will not be carried in the hearts of their children, et al, and will slip away in time, forgotten and deserted.
This, however does not let the victims of such blatantly foolish rejection go gently into the night. Do not think that Amanda and others who have been thus abandodned will automatically curse and denounce their errant parents.
Amanda and others will carry with them the eternal hope that change will come to these persons, hardened by years of religious indoctrination and themeselves more than likely estranged from their parents. If that happens, so much the better. Forgiveness is a true catharsis.
But if it never comes, Amanda and many like her will not be alone to face life in rejection. For there is often a “Milkey” somewhere along the way to pick up a flagging heart,and start it beating strongly again.
Richard Baker
Regional Coordinator
Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
Baranek is just another bigot, unthinking, dogmatic and weak.
That he should find objectionable Mikey’s dedication to protecting the rights of our servicemen and women to worship and think in any manner they see fit reveals much about Baranek.
At his core is fear, behind bigotry, behind dogma: Fear.
What Weinstein really wants is the last obstacle to Orwell 1984 (the dominionist movement) removed. Dont speak for the serviceman and women because you dont have a clue, thank God they are awakening to what is happening.
Funny how all the Weinstein´s of the World never bother to tell you that the “Christian” Mr. Bush (grandfather, father and son) belonged to Skull and Bones…you know what was the factory that manufactured 70% of the military vehicles used by the communists against US troops in Vietnam? The “Gorki-Ford” factory, built by Ford in the 1930´s. You know who was responsible for upgrading this factory with high-tech machinery and technical know-how during the 1960´s and 70´? Chase Manhattan Bank, owned by Averil Harriman…also Skull and Bones. The same Harriman (important man in the Democratic Party) that was conflicting in public with GW Bush I (important man in the Republican Party) and yet both were Skull and Bones.
Read Antony Sutton works and pull your head out of your “progressive” ass…we “stupid” Christians teach our “brainwashed” pupils this kind of stuff, the Weinstein´s of the World only teach you Hegelian-dialect crap.
Religious bigotry is not new to the present-day military. In 1968 my Sargeant refused to allow me to be an usher at our basic training graduation because “she had never seen how I acted in church.” That might be trival compared to what happens to non-believers and non-evangicals today, at the time, it was quite painful to me.
Most telling in respect to this article is the response of this warped bigot’s daughter, Amanda, wife of Mikey Weinstein’s oldest son Casey, both also USAFA alums:
“From: Amanda Weinstein
Date: June 25, 2010 6:43:23 PM MDT
To: wayne.laugesen@gazette.com, opinion@gazette.com
Subject: Amanda Weinstein Response to ‘Who Cares About Weinstein?’
Dear Editor, this letter is in response to Paul Baranek’s 24 June letter to the Editor, titled ‘Who Cares About Weinstein?’
I Care About Weinstein
We all find our footing in a world replete with a brilliant array of faiths, looking for guidance along the way, given (usually) by our parents. I was raised with the idea instilled in me that only a person with unstable and unsound beliefs tries to silence those with beliefs different from his or her own. Ironically, it is Paul R. Baranek who instilled this belief in me, the same man now wishing to silence Mikey Weinstein. Technically speaking, Paul Baranek is my father, but it is more accurate to describe Mikey Weinstein as my father. It is not by blood but by heart and choice that makes Mikey my father. He is the one who believes in me. He is the one who protects me. He is the one who defends me. He is the one who stands and speaks for me when no one will listen. He is the one who knows me. And he, Mikey Weinstein, is the one that I call father, that I call Dad. Paul Baranek is none of these things to me. He does not know or speak for me and has even less claim to know my father, Mikey. Paul Baranek knows my father as well as Sarah Palin knows Russia. But Mikey is much more than just MY father. Every military member seeking help from MRFF, whether they are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, or Christian (and most of them, like me, are Christian) is treated the same way he treats his own children. Mikey is the only person willing to protect our military members and stand up for them when no one else will listen, ensuring they have the same constitutional right of religious freedom guaranteed by our country’s forefathers, the same rights that he himself fought to protect during his service in the Air Force. He has been there to answer countless calls for help in the middle of the night, and has even taken those he helps into his home. So silencing Mikey, as Paul wants, would also silence these thousands of military members he serves. It is nice to have a ‘support our troops’ sticker on your car, but my father has this motto etched onto his heart and it shows in his actions every single day. He is the epitome of supporting our troops, and the epitome of a father supporting his children. He does so under the constant threat of personal and financial harm, and endures lambasting from lesser men than himself. I think it was said best by a man by the name of Richard Henry Dana Jr. In his day, he was deemed “The Seaman’s Champion” and “The Sailor’s Lawyer”. Like Mikey, he strove to ensure the grievances of sailors were both heard and addressed by our country. It was Richard Henry Dana Jr that said, “Better to be driven out from among men than to be disliked of children”. We know Paul Baranek and his ilk don’t care about Mikey Weinstein (or any Weinstein for that matter), but every American who supports our troops should damn well care about my dad Mikey, and his cause.
Signed,
Mikey Weinstein’s daughter,
Amanda Lee Weinstein
The prejudices against non christians is nothing new in our military, as a letter writer said in an earlier post. taking basic at ft knox, in 1962, was a welcome into the real world.
we were in the field and the high holidays were the next day. when informed by the chaplain that the high holidays started at sundown our first sergeant called for a truck to take the 4 of us back to the barracks, when an e-7 volunteered to double time ”the f’ing jews” the 12 miles back to barracks and be sure that our gear was stowed and weapons cleaned before allowing us out of company area to attend services.
i am sorry to see that it has not changed in all the years since.
larry fleisher
I am so saddened by the comments of Mr Baranack about Mickey. Also sad that this man has lost the respect of his daughter in a time when family matters so much to us. But she has a great Father in Mickey.
I never had any religious issues while in the Army during the 70′s. I was at USMA at West Point when they still had to go to chapel and Nixon said GOD lives in the chapel or some such nonsence.
I am scared about what is happening to the military and especially the evangelists who prey on them.