Friday, June 25, 2010

Excerpts from Paul Baranek's letter to The Gazette:

When will you guys at The Gazette get it that we don’t care what Mikey Weinstein thinks, says or does?...

...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!

Click here to read the full letter

Responses to The Gazette:

Paul Baranek's estranged daughter, U.S. Air Force Academy Grad Amanda Weinstein, responds supporting her "Heart and Choice" Father Mikey Weinstein

Dear Editor,

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

Dear Editor,

My letter is in response to Paul R. Baranek's letter dated June 24, 2010 with the title "Who cares about Weinstein?"

I am the niece of Mikey Weinstein. I am married to a decorated USMC Gunnery Sergeant, who is about to deploy for the fourth time to the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. My husband and I are Christians. Paul Baranek should learn to speak for himself. Just because Mr. Baranek does not "care what Mikey Weinstein thinks, says or does” does not mean everyone agrees with him. Mr. Baranek is entitled to his opinion, but that is all.

Let me assure you that Paul Baranek does not know Mikey Weinstein. Just because his daughter is married to Mikey’s son definitely does not make him family. In fact, Mr. Baranek is the farthest thing from it. I will not speak about what kind of a man Mr. Baranek is, but I can tell you that he is the opposite of my Uncle Mikey. I am lucky to have him in my family. I have known my Uncle Mikey my entire life, and if anyone can say what kind of a man he is, it is someone like me. My Uncle Mikey is genuine, dependable, generous, and very tenacious. He loves life and puts everything he has into what he believes in, especially to protect the civil rights of those most vulnerable in our society. My Uncle Mikey protects his family and is always there for us when we need him. He would do anything for any of us. His family is the very basic reason he started the Military Religious Freedom Foundation which represent his expanded "family" now of thousands of United States soldiers, airmen, sailors, cadets, midshipmen, and marines.

Jessica Mendez

Dear Editor,

You recently printed a letter from a Mr. Paul R. Baranek, a gentleman whom I believe has never served a single day in the United States armed forces, regarding Mikey Weinstein, the avid civil rights activist for military freedom (who, incidentally, has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize).

His opinion of Mikey is so atypical of the man I have known so well since 1986 that I feel compelled to write a second opinion based on the many years of religious tolerance Mikey showed his father-in-law, a "Christian" decorated military combat veteran of three wars, and I during our long marriage which ended in March of 2007 when Lloyd died of colon cancer.

I believe it is pertinent to note that Mr. Baranek is currently completely estranged from the Weinstein family, including his own daughter whom he mentions is married to Mikey's son, and has actually only met Mikey on a very few occasions (not once to my knowledge over the last three years or so). It is terribly unfortunate that he hasn't even looked into the basic premise of the well chronicled civil rights work Mikey now maintains on behalf of a significant number of Christians, Hindus, Muslims, agnostics, etc., who are in the military and are absolutely subject to the orders (spoken or implied) of their superior officers as to their choice of religion.

I'm sure that had Mr. Baranek served in the military, he would have been averse to having to pray to Hindu gods when he is obviously such a devout Christian. Mikey's "crusade" is to ensure every service person's right to pray to his or her own God in his or her own way.

Religion is always an emotional topic...driven by emotions, not intelligent logic. Please know that as a "Christian" about whom Mr. Baranek is so worried, I am bursting with pride over Mikey's fight against any one religion's being forced on those service men and women who offer their lives daily so that all Americans have the freedom to choose their own emotional investments.

Mrs. Roberta (Bobbi) Patterson
Widow of Lloyd A. Patterson (Mikey's father-in-law)

Dear Editor,

I read your recent article about Mikey Weinsten and was pleased to see it. I also read Mr. Paul R. Baranek's letter to the editor, ordering/begging you to stop writing about Mikey. True, he is the father of Mikey's daughter-in-law, and that says a lot. As anti-Mikey as he is, his own daughter chose to marry into Mikey's family. She is still a practicing Christian, under no pressure to convert. In fact, her mother-in-law, who married Mikey at the Air Force Academy when he was a still a student, was also never coerced into converting from Christianity.

Mikey is not anti-Christian. He is anti-religious-extremist, regardless of which religion. Mikey is pro-Constitution, in the very way Thomas Jefferson, himself, was (http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1650.htm), and he is fighting just as hard as Jefferson, himself, had to, to protect all of us, regardless of faith. True Christians aren't afraid to recognize this and support him out loud, including the California Council of Churches, tens of thousands of Christian military members, and more.

Lesley Shure
Former Maj, USAF

Dear Gazette Editor,

Over the last three years I have followed the work of Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, first with skepticism, then with gratitude. What sold me, was the voices of soldiers themselves – some awkward, some hesitant, some pouring out torrents of frustration at the indignities they experience from officers and chaplains who see themselves as missionaries on the public tab.

Most of the stories I have read or heard are from moderate Christians who are told their Christianity isn’t real. Others come from agnostics, former Christians, and other religious minorities like Muslims or Jews who are asked to comply with practices that actually violate their own spirituality. In my experience, Mikey and the Foundation have a bulldog passion for supporting soldiers who seek only to practice their own deepest values in dignity—free from coercion and proselytizing. The fight is against religious bullying, pure and simple.

Valerie Tarico
Psychologist

To the Editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette:

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

Editor:

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

To 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
Military Religious Freedom Foundation

It would behoove The Gazette to refrain from printing one-sided inflammatory letters from those who believe that Mikey Weinstein is anti-Christian. Quite the contrary. Why not interview him in depth (responsible journalism) and print the truth about his values? I am offended by the one-sided letters you choose to publish.

Judy Kaiser
Colorado Springs

It is terribly sad to read the remarks of Paul Baranek and to realize the chasm he creates between his own daughter and himself. The tragic potential of religious divisions needs no better illustration than this! Shakespeare could not have done better!

Peter

Selected comments from The Gazette:

Posted by mcgonagall

Weinstein may be annoying to many people, but he isn't trying to stifle any expression of Christianity (or any other religion, for that matter); he's against proselytizing for religions. We have an odd propensity to badmouth people while at the same time enjoying the rights or privileges they have won for us. Some of my female students were bashing "feminazis" a few years ago until I asked them what they planned to study in college. First, they actually get to go to college, something that wasn't encouraged a century ago, and second, every one of the girls planned to go into a profession previously out of reach for women such as engineering, marine biology, aviation, medicine etc. When I was in high school, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but the adults around me pooh-poohed the idea and tried to steer me to home-ec. (It didn't work.) I became a teacher, but my daughter IS a veterinarian. Those early feminists, like Weinstein, were irritating to many, but we still enjoy

Posted by arominus

I don't see Mr Wienstien trying to close the chapel at the AFA or any of the other spots to worship. I do see him trying to prevent upperclassmen from punishing underclassmen for having a "weird religion" while officers look the other way. Proselytizing has no place at the AFA as you really have no place to hide. You can't slam the door on a senior cadet thats trying to convert you. You have to take it, day after day after day.

Posted by kelcyco

mr. baranek: I feel sorry for your daughter who you have clearly put in an untenable position. Are you so quick to display your animosity against her father-in-law because you have already alienated your daughter and thus have a poor relationship with her? Perhaps you need to seek out a therapist who can help you work on constructive ways to build a relationship with her..... starting with not publicly denigrating her father-in-law.

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