– January 7, 2013

BREAKING NEWS

Monday, January 7, 2013

Please see below for MRFF’s demand letter, which was sent to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Monday, January 7, 2013

The Honorable Leon Panetta

Secretary of Defense

1000 Defense Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301-1000

Transmitted via email and UPS Overnight Delivery

Re: Anti-Semitic “Manga Messiah” Christian Proselytizing Comic Books Distributed to U.S. Servicemembers

Dear Secretary Panetta,

I am writing you on behalf of numerous active duty United States military clients of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF: militaryreligiousfreedom.org) who have complained to MRFF about their unwanted and unsolicited receipt of the so-called “Manga Messiah” Christian proselytizing comic books at U.S. military installations both domestically and abroad (please see Appendix A, attached herewith, for an e-mail received just yesterday regarding this).

Please visit tinyurl.com/aoosso9 to view multiple examples of the abhorrent content within the “Manga Messiah” comic book.

It is quite clear, for a plethora of incontrovertible reasons, that these comic books are blatantly anti-Semitic. For instance, one of the main themes of these horrible books is the wretched, age old libel that Jews are directly responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and, further still, that Jews have conspiratorially consorted with the devil in that crucifixion “plot” and other nefarious anti-Christian endeavors. Our MRFF clients do not know whether it is DoD chaplains or our clients’ chains of command who are behind the distribution of these bigoted materials. What MRFF does know is that these “Manga Messiah” comic books have been distributed liberally across all the service branches and on military bases and naval vessels all over the world including the combat zones of Afghanistan, Iraq, and at many other U.S. armed forces bases in the Area of Responsibility (AOR).

Additionally, it has been reported that these “Manga Messiah” comic books may also include anti-gay and homophobic content.

Mr. Secretary, MRFF demands that you expeditiously and comprehensively investigate this sordid matter. Further, MRFF demands that you swiftly and aggressively punish all responsible DoD personnel that have either directly or indirectly facilitated the distribution of these heinous “Manga Messiah” comic books.

Sincerely,

Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq.

President and Founder

Military Religious Freedom Foundation

Enclosure: Please see below for Appendix A (MRFF client email)

CC:

John M. McHugh, Secretary of the Army

Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy

Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force

General Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Admiral James A. Winnefeld Jr., Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

General Raymond T. Odierno, Chief of Staff of the Army

Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations

General Mark A. Welsh III, Chief of Staff of the Air Force

General James F. Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps

Randal G. Mathis, Esq., MRFF Lead Trial Counsel

Katherine S. Ritchey, Esq., Jones Day

APPENDIX A

From: U.S. Army Soldier’s E-Mail Address Withheld

Subject: Help! ‘Manga messiah’ in the CENTCOM AOR

Date: January 6, 2013

To: Mikey Weinstein

Mikey and MRFF,

HELP! I am an active U.S. Army soldier. Service members are receiving this dreadful ‘Manga Messiah’ Japanese comic. This thing goes way beyond your standard tract, it depicts homophobic and racially bigoted hatred. It’s clearly aimed at children and teenagers, such as young impressionable US service members.

I personally received a copy under my bunk in the transient area of Camp Arifjan, Kuwait – ‘The I Building’ in zone 1. This is often the last stop service members have before entering or leaving Iraq (pre drawdown) or Afghanistan. It was in a plastic bag bundled with other standard tracts that you find in stacks on every chaplain’s desk. It’s clear that there are boxes of this shocking material somewhere in the CENTCOM AOR. Perhaps hundreds or thousands of copies have been distributed to military personnel. I’d hate to see one of them fall into the hands of a local Muslim, as there are vile depiction – (think Danish cartoon scandal.)

I’m not sure if it was deliberately placed under my bunk to build a case for plausible deniability, but it fits the pattern. Every day I showed up, more and more pamphlets were piled on my desk, and only on my desk. It was because of a Chaplain. He zeroed in on me because I requested he stop giving me pamphlets, as I am not a Christian. He said he “reserved the right to evangelize the unchurched.” I can’t link him or anyone directly to this Manga Messiah, because I received it in such a weird way (where I sleep rather than where I work).

Please, Mikey, you’ve gotta do something. Nobody understand just how WRONG this thing is. I know the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has dealt with similar things in the past. Please get somebody to find the chaplain(s) responsible for distributing this, and also destroy all copies! Most of my fellow soldiers that ARE Christians are shocked when I show them just how crazy this thing is!

Very respectfully,

(U.S. Army Soldier’s name, rank, MOS, assigned military installation and military unit all withheld by request)

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