WP: Inquiry sought over appearance of military officers in uniform in Evangelical video

[DeepModem Mom]

Inquiry Sought Over Evangelical Video
Defense Department Asked to Examine Officers' Acts Supporting Christian Group
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 11, 2006; Page A03

A military watchdog group is asking the Defense Department to investigate whether seven Army and Air Force officers violated regulations by appearing in uniform in a promotional video for an evangelical Christian organization.

In the video, much of which was filmed inside the Pentagon, four generals and three colonels praise the Christian Embassy, a group that evangelizes among military leaders, politicians and diplomats in Washington. Some of the officers describe their efforts to spread their faith within the military.

"I found a wonderful opportunity as a director on the joint staff, as I meet the people that come into my directorate," Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack J. Catton Jr. says in the video. "And I tell them right up front who Jack Catton is, and I start with the fact that I'm an old-fashioned American, and my first priority is my faith in God, then my family and then country. I share my faith because it describes who I am."

Pete Geren, a former acting secretary of the Air Force who oversaw the service's response in 2005 to accusations that evangelical Christians were pressuring cadets at the Air Force Academy, also appears in the video. The Christian Embassy "has been a rock that I can rely on, been an organization that helped me in my walk with Christ, and I'm just thankful for the service they give," he says.

The 10-minute video is on the group's Web site, Christianembassy.com. The organization was founded nearly 30 years ago by the late Bill Bright, who also founded Campus Crusade for Christ. The Christian Embassy Web site says the group holds prayer breakfasts each Wednesday in the Pentagon's executive dining room and organizes small groups to help military leaders "bridge the gap between faith and work."...

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a watchdog group led by retired Air Force lawyer Michael L. "Mikey" Weinstein, is requesting an investigation in a letter to the Defense Department's inspector general....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/10/AR2006121000883.html

[Erika]

1. The fundies played W for all he was worth

Now they need to disappear. They are a pox on our American society.

[Porcupine]

2. Well that's going to help us lose 2 wars.

These dumbasses don't even realize that they just cost the lives of a few hundred more fellow christians. Any Iraqi or Iranian seeing these videos will totally discount promises of compromise and/or power sharing by US government representatives.

They now have all the proof they need to kill any person co-operating with us in any way. We are waging a holy war on them and they know it.

[AndyTiedye]

3. General Boykin Supervises the Inquisition in Iraq

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. Inquisitions in Spain and Iraq

[sutz12]

4. Senior officers proselytizing is an abuse of power..

equal to or worse than sexual abuse, IMO. Besides, I would definitely prefer them to honor country, god and family, in THAT order.

[A Simple Game]

6. Do any of them have a last name of Arnold ? n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. The US Military and Government under Bush

is getting to the point where only 'true believers' need apply.

The Christian Embassy goes way back and is a direct descendant of Hitler's Nazis.

[gratuitous]

7. "My first priority is my faith in God"

And Brother Catton, who do you think Jesus would bomb? Would Jesus dress in camouflage, paint his face, creep into the "enemy" camp under cover of night and slit some throats? Tell us, please, the biblical basis for the idea that Jesus would acquire a target, push a button, and strafe a group of people who didn't realize they were being fired upon until the bullets started peppering the ground, who couldn't fight back and couldn't get away?

Seems to me a piss-poor imitation of Christ there, Mr. Catton.

[Sin]

8. I'll give you 3 Guesses and the first 2 don't count.

On who said this quote. "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword" Matthew 10:34-39
heres a Hint its in this funny work of fiction a lot of delusional people believe to be true.

[gratuitous]

9. But what does that mean?

Does it mean that Jesus himself took up the sword? Or does it mean that Jesus knew his message was counter to the prevailing ethos of the age, and likely to stir the defenders of the status quo to violence? Jesus is also portrayed looking over Jerusalem and saying wistfully, "Would that you knew the things that make for peace." So, which quotation should be given absolute prominence, the first or the second? Or perhaps neither, and a synthesis be derived from the seemingly contradictory statements.

Maybe there's a little more depth there than to be casually dismissed as "fiction" believed by "delusional" people, hmmm? But that might require some people to actually turn on their brains, engage the text and the issues, and confront some uncomfortable personal truths. So much easier to just snark with the Kewl Kidz.

[Sin]

14. Yes Just Snarking like the Kewl kids.

If thats a new way of saying thinking.
Did you actually read the verse? Basically, turn your entire family into enemies if they don't believe in me?
And if your turning your family into enemies is required, just imagine if you were say, another off shoot of of the
religions of Abraham.

Maybe you should go here and get this. www.thegodmovie.com
and/or read this, "The God Delusion"

An open mind, yea, I've had one since I've plucked the virus of religion out. Hows that for snarky :)

[PurityOfEssence]

11. If he's an officer, shouldn't his country be his first priority rather than his third?

Guys like this scare the snot out of me.

[varun]

10. I remember that there was a lawsuit against the Airforce Academy

because of religious discrimination (Fundies coercing non believers)...

what happened to that?

[Eugene]

12. AP: Group Says Pentagon Approved Its Video

Group Says Pentagon Approved Its Video


Monday December 11, 2006 9:01 PM

By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - An evangelical Christian group, under fire for a promotional
video featuring active-duty military officers praising the organization, said
Monday it was given permission by the Defense Department.

The video prompted a religious freedom watchdog group to ask the Pentagon to
investigate whether the tape violated regulations and possibly the Constitution.

Robert Varney, executive director of the Christian Embassy, which produced the
video, said the group was adding a note telling viewers the content does not
represent the military or any government agency.

"We don't think we did anything in violation," Varney said. "The Pentagon gave
us permission to film the video, and I don't think they'd give us permission
if it were in violation of the regulations."

-snip-

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6273695,00.html

[hootinholler]

13. "my first priority is my faith in God, then my family and then country. "

This from a FUCKING MAJOR GENERAL?!?!! one one one 1

Shoot me now.

-Hoot

[IndianaGreen]

15. This moron took an oath to the Constitution

throw his Christian ass OUT!

[noonwitch]

17. I don't see a problem with this particular incident

Military personnel wear their uniforms to church sometimes. They wear them to civilian courts, to any formal kind of occasion. Everyone might not want to hear them "share their faith", but they have the same right to express their religious views on their own time as you have to tell them that you don't want to hear it.

A lot of businesses and companies allow their employees to gather for Bible study or prayer meetings in the company's buildings during their lunch hours, or before or after their shift. There are many religious groups that have outreaches to the military, and not just for christians-I believe there are pagan/wiccan groups in the military, too.

The stuff that was going on at the Air Force Academy was different, because people who weren't evangelical christians were being intimidated by those who were.