http://americanvisionnews.com/5880/army-smears-of-christians-not-an-isolated-incident/Army smears of Christians NOT an “isolated incidentâ€
The Hill reports,
A U.S. Army officer sent an email to dozens of subordinates listing the American Family Association and Family Research Council as “domestic hate groups†because they oppose homosexuality — and warned officers to monitor soldiers who might be supporters of the groups.
“Just want to ensure everyone is somewhat educated on some of the groups out there that do not share our Army Values,†read an email from LTC Jack Rich to three dozen subordinates at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.
The email also encouraged its recipients to “do the right thing†when they see “behaviors inconsistent with Army Values.â€
The officer accused the “Christian Right†of “engaging in the crudest type of name-calling, describing LGBT people as ‘perverts†with ‘filthy habits’ who seek to snatch the children of straight parents and ‘convert’ them to gay sex,†he wrote.
Last week, Fox News reported that an Army training instructor told a Reserve unit based in Pennsylvania that Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism were examples of religious extremism. The Army categorized that episode as an isolated incident.
Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance, told Fox News that the latest revelation is proof of a much larger problem within military leadership. . . .
Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, now an executive vice president of the FRC [Family Research Council], told Fox News that all Americans should be concerned about the contents of the email.
“If this is the action of a single Army lieutenant colonel, it needs to be investigated,†he said. “On the other hand, if what he reflects is a shifting policy or attitude of the Army or DOD, then I think it is a much bigger issue.â€
Boykin served more than 36 years in the military before retiring in 2007.
Since 2008 he said he’s seen withering attacks on religious liberty.
Among the incidents:
-A War Games scenario at Fort Leavenworth that identified Christian groups and Evangelical groups as being potential threats;
-A 2009 Dept. of Homeland Security memorandum that identified future threats to national security coming from Evangelicals and pro-life groups;
-A West Point study released by the U.S. Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center that linked pro-lifers to terrorism;
-Evangelical leader Franklin Graham was disinvited from the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer service because of his comments about Islam;
-Christian prayers were banned at the funeral services for veterans at Houston’s National Cemetery;
-Bibles were banned at Walter Reed Army Medical Center – a decision that was later rescinded;
-Christian crosses and a steeple were removed from a chapel in Afghanistan because the military said the icons disrespected other religions;
-Catholic chaplains were told not to read a letter to parishioners from their archbishop related to Obamacare mandates. The Secretary of the Army feared the letter could be viewed as a call for civil disobedience.But Boykin called the newly-uncovered email the most “egregious†attack.
“That kind of rhetoric is isolating the institution of the military from a large sector of the American population,†he said. “This is an attack not only on the Christian faith, but on fundamental, traditional American values.â€
