Pentagon backs down on 'religious proselytizing' statement
Posted by Chad Groening (American Family News) - May 02, 2013
UPDATE (May 2, 2013 - 1:30 p.m. Central) - The Pentagon is backing down on a Tuesday statement indicating members of the military could be subject to court-martial for religious proselytizing.
The Department of Defense has issued a new statement, saying that "Service members can share their faith, or evangelize, but must not force unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert others of any faith or no faith to one's beliefs."
On Tuesday it was revealed that Lt. Commander Nate Christensen issued a statement on behalf of the Pentagon that court-martials for “proselytizing” would be considered on a case-by-case basis. The statement outraged the Christian community, including current and former members of the armed services.
The question arose as to whether members of the military lose their First Amendment rights at the point at which they enter the military.
Original story ...
The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is asking the Air Force for equal time after an anti-Christian extremist was allowed to meet with high-level officials about “religious intolerance” in the military.
Brietbart.com reported Wednesday that a Pentagon statement confirms that soldiers in the U.S. armed forces could be prosecuted for promoting their faith. “Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense ...,” reads the statement. “Court-martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis.”
Last week Mikey Weinstein and other leaders with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation met with senior Air Force officials with the stated purpose of crafting new court-martial guidelines that, if adopted, would greatly restrict the religious liberty of Christians. Weinstein told Associated Press the Pentagon should crack down on officers who suggest theirs is the true faith. “We can court-martial people and make an example of them that this kind of unconstitutional bigotry, old-school prejudice, marginalizing, dehumanizing, trivializing, humiliating people will not be tolerated,” he said.
Col. Ron Crews (USA-Ret.) served as an Army chaplain for 28 years and now serves as a spokesman for the Chaplain Alliance For Religious Liberty.
"Even if an officer has a Bible on his desk, that's a form of proselytization, according to Mikey Weinstein,” he tells American Family News. “And I had an Air Force officer just recently contact me because he did have a Bible out on his desk – and he was told by a senior officer, Take that Bible off your desk because that could be inflammatory just by having your Bible. This is getting insane."
Crews says if the Air Force wants to be serious about religious liberty, its sole and exclusive meeting should not be with a man who calls religious service members “spiritual rapists” or "human monsters."
"[Mikey Weinstein] is not the person to talk about religious liberty,” he states. “So we're asking for a meeting with senior Air Force officials to [request that] if they're going to revise their policy, we want to make sure that the religious liberty of all the airmen who are serving courageously in the Air Force gets maintained."
The Alliance spokesman says he hopes it does not come to a point when service members must make a choice between God and serving in the military, which he believes some in the military are advocating. As he told AP, faith should not be a forbidden topic in the military. “[For] people who come from evangelical backgrounds, part of that faith is sharing their faith,” said Crews.
Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin (USA-Ret.), executive vice president of the Family Research Council, has similar remarks about Weinstein’s objectives.
"His agenda is to eliminate all vestiges of Christianity from the U.S. military,” states Boykin. “And the fact that they would even meet with him to discuss religious liberty is just appalling, because he is one who is determined to eliminate religious liberty – particularly as it applies to Christians."
Weinstein recently penned a scathing editorial in the far-left Huffington Post entitled "Fundamentalist Christian Monsters: Papa's Got A Brand New Bag," in which he accuses the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, and the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty of being “bandits” that have at the basis of efforts “horrific hatred and blinding bigotry.”
Boykin likens the column to "the rantings of a madman.”
“His hatred for Christianity is so visceral that when he writes such deplorable terms for those of us who have kind of been in the lead in the Christian faith, it’s is an indication to me that he's just very unstable."
Boykin says the FRC has launched a petition drive hoping to create a groundswell of support from people willing to stand and say such anti-Christian bigotry cannot go any further. He says they plan to submit the petition to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.
The Department of Defense has issued a new statement, saying that "Service members can share their faith, or evangelize, but must not force unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert others of any faith or no faith to one's beliefs."
On Tuesday it was revealed that Lt. Commander Nate Christensen issued a statement on behalf of the Pentagon that court-martials for “proselytizing” would be considered on a case-by-case basis. The statement outraged the Christian community, including current and former members of the armed services.
The question arose as to whether members of the military lose their First Amendment rights at the point at which they enter the military.
Original story ...
The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is asking the Air Force for equal time after an anti-Christian extremist was allowed to meet with high-level officials about “religious intolerance” in the military.
Brietbart.com reported Wednesday that a Pentagon statement confirms that soldiers in the U.S. armed forces could be prosecuted for promoting their faith. “Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense ...,” reads the statement. “Court-martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis.”
Last week Mikey Weinstein and other leaders with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation met with senior Air Force officials with the stated purpose of crafting new court-martial guidelines that, if adopted, would greatly restrict the religious liberty of Christians. Weinstein told Associated Press the Pentagon should crack down on officers who suggest theirs is the true faith. “We can court-martial people and make an example of them that this kind of unconstitutional bigotry, old-school prejudice, marginalizing, dehumanizing, trivializing, humiliating people will not be tolerated,” he said.
Col. Ron Crews (USA-Ret.) served as an Army chaplain for 28 years and now serves as a spokesman for the Chaplain Alliance For Religious Liberty.
"Even if an officer has a Bible on his desk, that's a form of proselytization, according to Mikey Weinstein,” he tells American Family News. “And I had an Air Force officer just recently contact me because he did have a Bible out on his desk – and he was told by a senior officer, Take that Bible off your desk because that could be inflammatory just by having your Bible. This is getting insane."
Crews says if the Air Force wants to be serious about religious liberty, its sole and exclusive meeting should not be with a man who calls religious service members “spiritual rapists” or "human monsters."
"[Mikey Weinstein] is not the person to talk about religious liberty,” he states. “So we're asking for a meeting with senior Air Force officials to [request that] if they're going to revise their policy, we want to make sure that the religious liberty of all the airmen who are serving courageously in the Air Force gets maintained."
The Alliance spokesman says he hopes it does not come to a point when service members must make a choice between God and serving in the military, which he believes some in the military are advocating. As he told AP, faith should not be a forbidden topic in the military. “[For] people who come from evangelical backgrounds, part of that faith is sharing their faith,” said Crews.
Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin (USA-Ret.), executive vice president of the Family Research Council, has similar remarks about Weinstein’s objectives.
"His agenda is to eliminate all vestiges of Christianity from the U.S. military,” states Boykin. “And the fact that they would even meet with him to discuss religious liberty is just appalling, because he is one who is determined to eliminate religious liberty – particularly as it applies to Christians."
Weinstein recently penned a scathing editorial in the far-left Huffington Post entitled "Fundamentalist Christian Monsters: Papa's Got A Brand New Bag," in which he accuses the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, and the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty of being “bandits” that have at the basis of efforts “horrific hatred and blinding bigotry.”
Boykin likens the column to "the rantings of a madman.”
“His hatred for Christianity is so visceral that when he writes such deplorable terms for those of us who have kind of been in the lead in the Christian faith, it’s is an indication to me that he's just very unstable."
Boykin says the FRC has launched a petition drive hoping to create a groundswell of support from people willing to stand and say such anti-Christian bigotry cannot go any further. He says they plan to submit the petition to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.
- See more at: http://www.instantanalysis.net/latest-headlines-from-american-family-news/2013/05/02/report-court-martials-may-await-soldiers-who-share-their-christian-faith#.UYLPuIWEX-s.facebook
