Bonnie Weinstein, middle-class mother of three, grandmother of one, and author of the new bestseller To the Far Right Christian Hater…You Can Be a Good Speller or a Hater, But You Can’t Be Both: Official Hate Mail, Threats, and Criticism from the … of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Click image for book info.

I have some Q & A with Bonnie Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) going up at Daily Kos today, about the Foundation and her new book that sold out of its first print run before the official Dec 2 release date (More books are already being printed and can be ordered now). Bonnie has become the subject of particularly nasty, scary homegrown domestic terrorism. You be the judge, but as the Daily Kos piece will be widely read, I thought it would be best to use that valuable real estate to set the record straight on what the Weinsteins and the Foundation are really all about, rather than expend space to reward trolls and nutcases with exposure on the largest progressive website in the world. Because the truth is, almost 100% of active and retired US military people who support the MRFF are themselves religious and the lion’s share of those are Christians. The best way, perhaps the only way, to stop this madness is to stress the true nature of the MRFF and their supporters:

Daily Kos Interview— Our windows have been shot out, we’ve had swastikas and crucifixes painted on our house, we’ve had animals decapitated and their heads left at our home … that bulls-eye painted on me in the pic, it’s not a joke. That’s how I really feel …

In  my view, this is the key item to get across: the MRFF is not an atheist organization or a political one, far from it, which means the cowardly clowns who have vandalized the Weinstein’s home and sent threatening email and snail mail are engaged in an organized terror campaign of ideological fratricide, they’re terrorizing the wrong people! Below the fold is an exclusive excerpt for FTB readers in Bonnie’s own words, followed by a few samples of the endless hate mails they receive on a regular basis. I encourage you to read the whole thing here and take time to thank the Weinstein’s for taking on this important and increasingly dangerous work.

Bonnie: The foundation is not about Christians vs non-Christians, or religion vs non religion, it’s about the Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution. It’s about our service people feeling they can freely, openly worship how and when they see fit or being free not to worship at all if they so desire. …
So we’re not against religion, in fact if anything we are pro religion. More specifically, we are “pro-choice” when it comes to faith or no-faith. We’re concerned about a specific pattern of of intimidation and strong arm tactics associated most often with fundamentalist or “dominionist” Christianity … [but] it doesn’t matter which religion or sect or denomination is being pushed by commanders and superiors, we would feel the same. It’s how they do it, the time, the manner and the place they do it, the aggressive and unlawful way they go about it. … Read the rest

“Dear MRFF, How dare you people make up a bullshit foundation to ridicule conservatives. At some point, all of you liberal douche bags have to sit and laugh at how stupid you really are…Eventually the world will be normal again and it will not be a crime to be straight, love god and express it freely without persecution from the likes of you and other bleeding hearts who seek to control this country like hitler did. America was founded on god and you would all be well to remember that rather than try to rid it from our history and bow to the muslim heretic in the white house.”

“Hey jewboy Mickey Whinerstein. The Air Force Base in S. Carolina should make a nativity scene out of your dismembered fucking body parts.” “We pray for your long and painful children’s deaths. They are drench in the blood of your sins. Suffer as you make Christ Jesus suffer you fucking kike. On your knees to The Christ NOW! Do it, Kikey! Heil Hitler!”

“Christ will rip out your guts and the innards of your wife. And of your children and followers and worshipers of your dark path. Your spent entrails will pave the path for his Kingdom of Peace to come forever.”

But Mikey and Bonnie also get a ton of support mail, the vast majority of it from Christians who firmly believe in religious liberty and the Bill of Rights as they do. These tend to use a better grammar and spelling, a lot fewer caps locks and misspelled words. Here’s a good example that came in, in the last few days:

Mr. Weinstein and the Staff of the MRFF: First a bit about me. I am a senior active duty officer in the U.S. Navy. My wife and I are both Sunday school teachers there.

I just wanted to express my thanks to all of you for what you do every day to keep our military from being overrun with Christian zealots. I saw it everywhere at Annapolis and even on the football team I played on. And I saw it at every single one of my training assignments after graduation from the academy including when I was in BUD/S at Coronado. I have seen pretty much everything you have publicly reported on at one point or another in my naval career so far. I have seen it when I was deployed every single time. I have deployed (number of deployments withheld) times downrange and have regularly engaged in combat including hand-to-hand. Have been wounded (number of times withheld) times and will probably deploy again in (month withheld) of 2015.

Being a Christian myself hasn’t really mattered to those in my command chain who make it clear that accepting Christ “in the right way” is what the Navy and America wants of its sailors. My “way” of loving Jesus is not their way. Even my wife has felt this pressure from the other spouses. It destroys the brotherhood and sisterhood bonds of our warfighters and it has to be confronted. It is very hard to do so without repercussions. I have tried a few times and have failed. It is complex and dangerous to even try to do the right thing. For those lower in rank than me it is pretty much impossible.

My wife and I watched how disrespectfully Mr. Weinstein was treated during his testimony before the H.A.S.C. We read his written testimony even before the hearing. Totally true. Again, I have personally seen all of this or at least most of this happen. I wish some of those Congressman and Congresswomen had seen what I have seen and experienced. Fundamental Christianity is out of control in our Navy and Marine Corps.

Mr. Weinstein and the Staff of the MRFF, thank you for being the ones to stand up, take the heat and carry the fight for all of us. I know this is not easy and has difficult consequences for all of you. Especially the Weinstein family. I can only imagine how it must feel.

Editor’s Note: Bonnie and Mikey Weinstein are the co-founders of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. The Foundation is solely dedicated to ensuring that all members of the US military receive the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom to which they are entitled by virtue of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Readers interested in learning more are encouraged to visit the Foundation’s homepage here.