some 33 percent of chaplains are now evangelical Christians --- and 100 percent of USSC justices are jews and catholics.
tit for tat among the myth believers who have forgotten that the USA is a secular nation On Jun 19, 3:11 pm, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > A Biblical Threat to National SecuritybyKelley B. Vlahos, June 19, 2012 > Can a Bible be a “threat to national security”? > For years, the government has employed the risk of “national security” excuse > to infringe on a wide range of freedoms like the right to pass through an > airport security checkpoint unmolested, or read library books without Big > Brother peeking over your shoulder.Michael L. “Mikey” Weinsteinis trying to > prove that there is more than one way to put the country at risk, and he’s > found it in a heretofore unlikely place: the Bible. > Well, the Holman Bible. To be more exact, a version of the Bible that, for > reasons still undetermined, was authorized with the trademarked official > insignia of the U.S. Armed Forces emblazoned on the front cover. There isThe > Soldier’s Biblewith the Army’s seal,The Marine’s Biblewith the Marine Corps > seal,The Sailor’s BibleandThe Airman’s Bible, both with their respective > insignia. The books have been sold for nearly six years throughout Christian > bookstores, commissaries and PXs on U.S. military installations and are still > available on Christianbook.com,Amazon.comand Barnes & Noble. > It’s not theKing James Versionthatthe Gideonsleave behind in hotel rooms > drawers. The Holman Bible was commissioned and published by LifeWay Christian > Resources, a subsidiary of theSouthern Baptist Convention, the largest > Baptist denomination in the world, in 2003. > In a 1999press releaseannouncing the edition’s progress, Broadman & Holman > Publishers called the new version “a fresh, precise translation of the > Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek of the Old and New Testaments.” LifeWay President > James T. Draper Jr. weighed in, saying there was a “serious need for a > 21st-century Bible translation in American English that combines accuracy and > readability,” adding, “the Holman Christian Standard Bible is an accurate, > literal rendering with a smoothness and readability that invites > memorization, reading aloud and dedicated study.” > The Holman Bible, or HCSB, has been popular with evangelicals for its > references and study tools. Someone convinced each branch of the service > they’d be perfect for the military, too. So the HCSB became the “official” > Bible of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines in 2004, complete with > reader-friendly text and custom “designed to meet the specific needs of those > who serve in the most difficult of situations,” according to the publishers. > In other words, aside from the text, the books are filled with “devotionals” > and “inspirational essays” tailored to each branch of service. I was unable > to get my hands on a copy by press time, but Amazon’s “peek” inside the book > and several positive reader reviews confirm some of the contents, revealing > what could only be described as a guileless conflation of both Christian and > American military iconography. War and service as religious devotion. > In addition to the Pledge of Allegiance and the first and fourth verses of > the Star Spangled Banner, there are excerpts from one of George W. Bush > inaugural addresses and the Republican president’s remarks at a National > Prayer Breakfast.Gen. George S. Patton’s famous Christmas prayer cardfrom the > field of battle 1944 is also included, as is“George Washington’s > Prayer,”which has been widely circulated (and debunked) as proof of America’s > Christian paternity. > These Bibles also feature “testimonials and encouragement from theOfficers’ > Christian Fellowship,” which has approximately 15,000 members across the > military and whose primary purpose is “to glorify God by uniting Christian > officers for biblical fellowship and outreach, equipping and encouraging them > to minister effectively in the military society.” In other words they > proselytize within the officer corps as part of an evangelical “parachurch” > within the military. > A largely unfettered one, apparently, as one watches Pentagon officers > commenting freely on camera and in uniform for this Bush-era > promotionalvideofor Christian Embassy, another federal government-wide > “fellowship” with similar missionary goals. > One officer, Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack Catton, who said he worked on the Joint > Staff at the Pentagon, described himself as “an old fashioned American and my > first priority is my faith in God.” Pointing to his meeting with other > officers under the auspices of Christian Embassy, he said, “I think it’s a > huge impact because you have many men and women who are seeking God’s counsel > and wisdom as we advise the Secretary of Defense.” > Then U.S. Brigadier Gen. Bob Caslan (currently promoted to lieutenant general > as the commanding general at the U.S. Army’s prestigious Combined Arms Center > at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.) went so far as to say he sees the “flag officer > fellowship groups … hold me accountable.” > “We are the aroma of Jesus Christ,” he added. > Something smells, all right, said Weinstein, who heads theMilitary Religious > Freedom Foundation (MRFF). The roles of the officers in the video werelater > deemed improperafter MRFF demanded an investigation in 2007. As for the > Bibles, Weinstein said he received some 2,000 complaints about them from > service members over the last year. Weinstein, a former Air Force Judge > Advocate (JAG) whose 2005 charges against the Air Force Academy in Colorado > led to an investigation thatofficially found religious “insensitivity”against > non- fundamentalists there, has gone on to expose a much wider climate > of“top-down, invasive evangelicalism”at the institution and throughout the > military as a whole. > “We’re fighting a > Fundamentalist-Christian-Parachurch-Military-Corporate-Proselytizing-Complex,” > Weinstein said told Antiwar.com last week, “and we have been fighting this > for some time.” MRFF just posted a video montage, which could easily be > called the military evangelicals’ greatest hits,here. > He said aside from “prostituting” the military insignia, the military’s > endorsement of the Bibles violated federal separation of church and state, > and continue to sanction an insidious culture of radical evangelicalism and > discrimination throughout the services (as a Jew, Weinstein said he felt the > sting of prejudice when he attended the Air Force academy in the late 1970s; > his sons had it even worse, he claims, prompting his first formal complaint > seven years ago). > Since then, “(MRFF) has had 28,000 clients and a hundred more each month,” > said Weinstein, rejecting claims by his critics that they are all atheist. He > insists that 96 percent of his clients are Christians (Catholic and Mainline > Protestant) and that his is not a religious crusade. On the other hand,some > 33 percent of chaplains are now evangelical Christians(Weinstein’s MRFF > places that number at 84 percent), while only 3 percent of service members > describe themselves as such. > “They are spiritually raping the U.S. Constitution, the American people and > the men and women who are fighting for us,” said Weinstein, who never, ever > minces words. > MRFF’s lawyers senta formal letterto Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s > office in January. In it, MRFF charged that authorizing LifeWay to print its > Bibles with the service insignia “is in violation of the Establishment Clause > of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution … and several > regulations,” and that the authority should be withdrawn immediately or face > legal action from MRFF. > Interestingly, according to thedocuments now available online, the Army, Navy > and Air Force responded to the letter in February, insisting that the summer > before Weinstein’s lawyers at Jones Day contacted the Pentagon, they had > already pulled their trademark authorizations to LifeWay, for “unrelated > reasons.” So, in effect, according to the military, the Southern Baptist > Convention subsidiary no longer had use of the trademarks and the question > was moot. > Weinstein responded with one word: “lies.” He told Antiwar.com that they were > just informed of the letters in June, not in February. Furthermore,according > to MRFF senior research director Chris Rodda, MRFF has obtained documents > through Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests that indicated the “AAFES (the > Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which runs the BXs, PXs, and other > stores on military bases) was clearly concerned about the complaints about > the Holman Bibles, with emails as early as June 6, 2011 from AAFES to LifeWay > saying that these Bibles had ‘become a hot issue,’ and referencing and > linking to a June 2, 2011 article on MRFF’s website as the reason they were > becoming a hot issue.” > Nevertheless, according to aFox News Radio story, LifeWay insists it’s “sold” > all existing copies of the military Bible in question, and instead is > printing the same Bibles with “generic insignias, which continue to sell well > and provide spiritual guidance and comfort to those who serve.” > The AAFES told Fox News Radio it has 961 copies of the Bible left on shelves > at 83 facilities. Weinstein doesn’t know how many are out there but contends > that until each and every one is gone, “they’re still aiding and abetting the > cause of al- Qaeda.” > Why? Because it is a national security issue if America is perceived as > waging a religious war against the Muslim world. One can’t help but get that > impression reading the added material in these Holman Bibles, suggesting that > that God has blessed the American warrior for his existential struggle of > good versus evil. > A crusade and one playing right into the religious extremism on the other > side, putting Americans overseas, and at home, at risk, said Weinstein. > His approach which is as fiery and combative as the preachers he rebukes > (he’s taken to calling the Pentagon, “Pentacostal-gon,”) has drawn fire from > a number of conservative Christian organizations and websites, which have > labeled MRFF a bunch of zealous atheist agitators. > “Why should these Bibles be removed because of the demands of a small > activist group?” Ron Crews, head ofThe Chaplain Alliance for Religious > Liberty, asked last week, adding in an interview with Fox News Radio that the > Department of Defense was acting “cowardly” by backing down to MRFF. > “MRFF must cease and desist their reckless assault on religious liberty. The > Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty calls on Congress to investigate this > frivolous threat and apparent discrimination against religious views by the > DoD.” > But this “reckless assault” has offered the public a window into how much > evangelicalism threads through the military ethos today from the Pentagon > buying gunswith sights outfitted with biblical references, to born-again > chaplainsdirecting soldiers to hand out Bibles and proselytizeamong the > Muslim locals in Afghanistan. > MRFF has accused Army chaplains ofusing religion in lieu of mental health > counseling to aid battlefield stress, and drew attention toprovocative > displaysof religious murals and crosses sprawled on walls at U.S. bases and > on vehicles driven through the urban battlefront. MRFF has protested the > taxpayer-funded “Spiritual Fitness Concert Series” performed on bases here in > the states, and followed up on complaints by service members at Fort Eustis > in Virginia who said they werepunished by a superior officer for not > attending. MRFF also helped put the brakes on an Air Force training program > in 2011 that used the New Testament and the insights of an ex-Nazito teach > missile officers about the morals and ethics of launching nuclear weapons. > More recently, MRFFcriticized a fighter squadron’s decisionto switch back to > its old “Crusader” moniker, complete with a Knights Templar red cross > emblazoned on its planes. Under pressure, the Marines have since reversed > that decision, returning to its old World War II-era “werewolves” > nickname,earlier this month. > Weinstein said “predatory” evangelicals in the military “believe the > Separation of Church and State is a myth, like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness > Monster,” and he doesn’t mind putting his own reputation and safety on the > line to smash that myth to pieces. > “If we’re catching them on things like this Bible, what the hell else is > going on? Well, we know,” he said. “The Bible situation is not innocent, it > is not innocuous, it is another raging example of this cancer.” -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
