The Honorable Chuck Hagel

April 30, 2013

The Honorable Chuck Hagel Secretary of Defense 1000 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1000

Dear Secretary Hagel,

National Office I am writing today in support of a letter sent to you yesterday by Military Religious Freedom Foundation founder and President Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein 1301 K Street, N.W. concerning the scheduled appearance of David Barton at Fort Leonard Wood in Suite 850, East Tower Missouri. Barton’s appearance at this event, which has been planned by fort chaplains to mark the observance of the National Day of Prayer, is highly inappropriate and will Washington, D.C. 20005 only end up causing embarrassment for the military. I urge you to cancel Barton’s (202) 466-3234 speech immediately.

(202) 466-2587 fax My organization, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has been [email protected] monitoring the activities of Barton since 1993. Although he poses as a historian, Barton has no relevant academic credentials in that field. (He holds a Bachelor’s www.au.org degree in Christian Education from Oral Roberts University.) Barton puts forth a cut- and-paste revisionist “history” that promotes bogus “Christian nation” views that are offensive to millions of Americans (Christian and non-Christian) because they imply that the nation was founded for certain types of believers when, in fact, religious freedom for all is our true foundation.

Barton’s most recent book, The Jefferson Lies, was so riddled with errors and misrepresentations of fact that its publisher, Thomas Nelson, took the unprecedented step of withdrawing the tome. Barton’s main defender these days is Glenn Beck, the former Fox News personality whose was most recently in the news for peddling wild conspiratorial allegations of federal involvement in the wake of the tragic bombings in Boston.

Barton has a long and unfortunate history of intemperate rhetoric. He has attacked President Barack Obama as hostile to religion, writing recently, “The hostility of President Obama toward Biblical faith and values is without equal from any previous American president.” Barton has even compared the president to Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Fidel Castro. President Obama, I need not remind you, is commander in chief of the U.S. military. It is remarkable to me that any military installation would welcome a speaker so hostile to the president. (See more on these comments at: www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=106938 and www.tfninsider.org/2013/01/24/david-barton-compares-president-obama-to-hitler- stalin-castro/ In addition, Barton is guilty of issuing numerous crude and mean-spirited attacks on LGBT Americans. During one broadcast, he even went so far as to say that the government has the duty to punish gays and lesbians for ungodly behavior. As our military works to integrate gays and lesbians into the service in the post-Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell environment, Barton’s brand of homophobia is exactly what the armed forces don’t need right now. (See more here: www.rightwingwatch.org/content/barton-i-dont-care-what-supreme-court-says- homosexuality-should-be-illegal)

Barton’s record of extremism is well documented. (He even addressed a white supremacist organization in the 1990s.) A good overview of his activities can be found here: www.au.org/church-state/october-2012-church-state/featured/the-barton- lies-debunked

In light of these developments, Barton’s reputation is in shreds, and I am amazed that any military installation would seriously consider him as a speaker. In short, the values Barton represents – intellectual dishonesty, hatred of others, religious intolerance – are the exact opposite of what the U.S. military should stand for.

I am informed by Mikey Weinstein of the MRFF that his organization currently represents 43 active-duty officers and NCOs at Fort Leonard Wood. Most of these men and women are Christian. They and the others who serve our country every day deserve a military that respects the many religious and philosophical points of view espoused by our nation’s fighting force. Allowing a military installation to host a speaker who not only does not respect this diversity but in fact mocks it is entirely counterproductive.

I urge you to do the right thing and cancel this event.

Sincerely,

Barry W. Lynn Executive Director