Cassi Creek
It’s time to apply the 1st Amendment’s establishment clause to our armed forces. There is a very real danger of evangelical members of the armed forces organizing an internal network to exclude non-Christians from promotions, from awards for valor, and from access to the upper echelons of command; while advancing only those who join and support what could become a new “crusade.
I encourage anyone following this blog to read the full article below and then voice any concerns you may have to your legislators. There should be no tax dollars spent to convert people to Christianity. The Army should not be affiliated with any evangelical Christian group, especially not with Franklin Graham.
Graham openly admits this is an attempt to increase evangelical church membership in the locale around Ft. Bragg.
The base chaplain most associated with this event threw out the usual defense “I’d be happy to help any other religious group put on a concert.” He fails to mention and most people fail to understand that other religious groups don’t sponsor events designed for mass proselyltization. The likelihood of a Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or Wiccan concert is nearly non-existent.
There are numerous comments about this article on the CNN site. Most of them demonstrate a failure to understand the basic differences in religions. Only Christians and Muslims believe that they need to convert everyone else. There are so few Muslims in the US armed forces as to make the possibility of such an event taking place on post ludicrous. Many comments raised the continual “persecution of Christians” chant.
To be fair and consistent, I don’t support anyone’s armed forces being tied to religion. There are places where government is theocratic in nature and religion becomes semi-integral to the national military. We’re fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq against militaries that owe more loyalty to religion than nationalism. They are not well structured armies and often are not trustworthy.
There is a different situation in Israel – technically a Jewish state with religious freedom for all faiths. The Israeli nation and the IDF are predominantly secular in nature. The orthodox Jews resident there often fail to recognize the legitimacy of Israel while living within its borders and benefitting from Israeli citizenship. There are proscriptions against some Israelis serving in the IDF due to religion. This is entirely unsatisfactory in building national cohesiveness and it honestly matters not which faiths, cults, or sects are not serving.
All military units need to exclude religion as a cohesion factor. The event at Fort Bragg is sending soldiers home with a pledge to “bring seven other soldiers to Jesus.” This type of pressure should never be directed toward one’s squad mates or fellow soldiers. The amount of pressure brought to bear against soldiers who choose to be secular or follow non-Christian faiths can blow unit cohesiveness as surely as any factor I can think of. The Army, in allowing this type of event, is planting seeds of internal destruction. I can recall being plagued by at least two unit members overseas who insisted on praying for my “conversion and salvation” every time they saw me. Not only did it anger me, it kept them from doing what they should have been doing, degrading the effectiveness of the unit.
The organizations trying to block these religious events will obviously be accused of “warring against Christians.” This accusation is utterly false. There is no “war against Christians.” Christians are free to worship almost any place they choose. They can read their bible, and other texts, they can pray privately and in many cases publically. They are not prohibited from holding jobs, from buying real estate, from schooling their offspring, from travel in and out of the nation. They can join the armed forces or choose not to join the armed forces. They can practice professions, obtain professional licenses, operate vehicles and do anything citizens of other faiths can legally do.
Proscriptions applied to Christians in the public venue and in public schools are applied equally to people of other faiths as well. The 1st Amendment establishment clause applies to all religions, not just Christians. The apparent heavy application against Christians is due to their evangelical cult’s insistence upon trying to convert everyone else. While they claim divine marching orders, no one else acknowledges those orders. In point of fact, Muslims have similar divine instruction. I know for certain that evangelicals would come unglued and self-detonate if Muslims were as numerous as are Christians and were as obnoxious and insistent upon trying to force everyone to follow their faith.
There is no war on Christians. Only Christians can cause such a war.
Shabbat Shalom
Dinner tonight is lamb/beef kebobs, tzadzki sauce.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/24/religious-event-at-fort-bragg-protested-as-violating-constitution/?hpt=T2
“Editor's Note: CNN Pentagon Producer Jennifer Rizzo brings us this story.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - A watchdog group concerned with keeping apart religion and government is calling for the cancellation of an evangelical concert scheduled at Fort Bragg on Saturday.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State said the "Rock the Fort" event, put on by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, violates the Constitution and is targeting people for conversion.
"It's not the Army's job to convert Americans to Christianity," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "This event is totally unacceptable and must be canceled."
The group sent a letter to Army officials on Thursday
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, established to support the ministries of Billy Graham and his son Franklin, would not comment on the event, which will feature Christian musicians and a separate children's program. A fact sheet published on the group's website says the event will be a "clear presentation of the Christian Gospel."
"Attendees will have an opportunity to respond to the Gospel Evangelistic message, be encouraged by Fort Bragg Chaplains and trained counselors from off post Churches and on post Chapels, and then be offered ongoing Biblical Spiritual Resiliency training at our military chapels and local churches," the information sheet said. “
In a message to earn support from the local churches, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association posted that their involvement in the event should increase the size of their "congregation."
"The Rock the Fort outreach is designed to channel new believers into your church, so you can encourage them to further spiritual growth. The future of the church lies in reaching and discipling the next generation," the post said.
Americans United claims this type of evangelizing is going too far. "The Army has no business entering into a partnership with evangelical churches to help them win new members," Lynn said.
– CNN Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence contributed to this report “
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