Posted on 12/12/2006 6:19:34 AM PST by Bulldawg Fan
(CNSNews.com) - Christian military officers who share their faith at work in the Pentagon pose a threat to national security, according to a group that advocates for religious neutrality in the military.
Public displays of faith by high-ranking military officers project an image of a Christian nation waging war on non-Christians, both inside and outside the United States, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation said Monday.
This created an "internal national security issue every bit as great as the one we're fighting outwardly," said the organization's president, Mikey Weinstein.
"The jihadists, the insurrectionists, everybody from the head of Hamas, Hizballah, the Islamic Jihad, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, they see us as invading American imperialists and crusaders," he told a news conference in Washington, D.C.
Weinstein, a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy who has been critical of proselytizing at the academy, called for an investigation into several officers who appeared in a promotional video for a Christian organization while in uniform.
In addition to creating a national security threat, Weinstein said, evangelistic efforts by Christian officers directed toward their colleagues or subordinates amounted to "coercion" and "fanatical unconstitutional religious persecution."
"There's a time and place to celebrate your faith or no faith," Weinstein said. "There's so many times and places you can do it ... but there's a few times you can't, one of which would be when you wear your uniform during the duty day and duty night and you outrank somebody else and you're trying to push your religious faith on them."
He called on incoming Defense Secretary Robert Gates to investigate a promotional video for the Christian Embassy, an organization that ministers to members of Congress, ambassadors, presidential appointees and Pentagon officials.
Christian Embassy, established in 1975, works with government leaders "not only because of their personal needs, but also because of their position as decision-makers to influence our families and freedoms," according to its website. At the Pentagon, the group holds weekly prayer meetings and Bible studies every weekday.
In the promotional video cited by Weinstein, four generals and three colonels appear wearing their uniforms. Among them is Lt. Col. Lucious Morton, who says that Christian Embassy-led Bible studies benefit the military as a whole because they create "Godly men" who will lead others into battle.
Maj. Gen. Jack Catton also appears in the video and says he shares his faith with people he meets in his office: "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 my country."
Weinstein said the video raises questions about whether the officers followed military regulations that restrict appearances in uniform for non-military purposes.
Their professions of faith violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits Congress from making laws "respecting the establishment of religion," he argued.
The video, which appears on Christian Embassy's website, carries a disclaimer that says "the views expressed by any government officials in this video are their personal views and are not intended to represent the U.S. government nor any department in which they serve."
Catton, director of requirements for Air Combat Command (ACC) at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, has been criticized for sharing his faith before. Last May, he used his military e-mail account to support a retired general who was running for U.S. Congress.
In that e-mail, Catton wrote: "We are certainly in need of Christian men with integrity and military experience in Congress."
Lt. Col Brian Maka, a spokesman for the DOD inspector general, declined to comment Monday on whether an investigation is underway, although media reports in May suggested that there was.
'No evidence of coercion'
Maj. Laurel Tingley, a spokeswoman for ACC, told Cybercast News Service Catton would not be commenting about the video because "it's going to be something bigger than Air Combat Command or even something bigger than the Air Force." She referred further questions to the Department of Defense.
Maj. Stewart Upton said Monday the DOD inspector general's office had received the complaint from Weinstein's group but added that it would be "inappropriate ... for us to speculate as to what, if any, actions will be taken at this point."
Upton added that DOD "does not endorse any one religion or religious organization but we do provide opportunities for military service members to practice their faiths."
Calls placed to Christian Embassy requesting comment for this report were not returned Monday.
Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, criticized Weinstein for asking the DOD inspector general's office to spend time investigating the video.
She said that because the video is accompanied by a disclaimer and does not ask for money, it doesn't raise concern with her.
"The Department of Defense inspector general has an awful lot of issues on their plate, on their agenda, and I don't see this as something so important that everything else should be put on hold," Donnelly told Cybercast News Service after viewing the video. "The DOD IG has a lot more important things to do."
She called it a "stretch to talk about anything coercive," noting that a soldier engaging in religious activity such as prayer "appears to be purely voluntary on the part of anyone who wants to participate."
"I don't see any evidence that this is a coercive type of environment," Donnelly said.
Uh, OK, Mikey.
Flying a commercial airliner into the Pentagon isn't as serious as one DoD employee inviting another DoD employee to his congregation's Wednesday night Bible study.
It's great to know that a purported grownup who nevertheless goes by the name of "Mikey" is able to keep things in such crystalline perspective.
These guys want to not only see Christianity and Judiasm out of the military, but to see the military reduced by 80%, fast track promotion of gays, affirmative action within the military, total nuclear disarmenment, a total pullout from the middle east (unless the UN says it is OK to be there and under a UN peacekeeping force) and for the military to become a second welfare rail.
They are liberal idiots.
Darn, if only that general did not have that Jesus sign up in his office those nice Islmofacists would not want to kill us.
It is so bad now that even Jews are now feeling the anti-religous heat.
My only concern is that the article says it was generals and colonels appearing in the video. I believe all members of the armed services should be entitled to practice their faiths. But if a general in uniform tries to evangelize his subordinates, he is crossing a line. His subordinates may feel pressured by the general's authority into something they do not accept or believe. It is not a war on Chritianity to prevent active evangelism on the part of officers towards the troops. The flipside is that the U.S. military is a Christian organization, not a secular one. In other words, must our soldiers be Christian, or should their faith be a factor in promotion?
Yep. The real internal enemy are evangelical atheists. Who will stop at nothing to spread their belief system.
The military must focus on winning the war and doesn't need to be swatting gnats like this.
Are soldiers really that delicate, sensitive and weak willed and full of fear? That if they don't become Christians the general won't like me? Well, boo hoo, I don't believe it.
If your name is Michael and you go by Mikey, you're gay, and that's the this guy's real problem.
My only concern is that the article says it was generals and colonels appearing in the video. I believe all members of the armed services should be entitled to practice their faiths. But if a general in uniform tries to evangelize his subordinates, he is crossing a line. His subordinates may feel pressured by the general's authority into something they do not accept or believe. It is not a war on Chritianity to prevent active evangelism on the part of officers towards the troops. The flipside is that the U.S. military is a Christian organization, not a secular one. In other words, must our soldiers be Christian, or should their faith be a factor in promotion?
You're absolutely right. A man should be proud to stand up for his faith, but to do it in uniform, to a junior who may feel pressured...yes I would say that's over the line.
Weinstein said, evangelistic efforts by Christian officers directed toward their colleagues or subordinates amounted to "coercion" and "fanatical unconstitutional religious persecution."
On the other hand, that is nonsense.
The reason the Rangels want a draft is to have more control over who is in the miltary. The Rangels of this world can't stomach an elite force of anything let alone a dedicated God Fearing one.
I guess Generals and Colonels can only evangelize in their underwear then.
Weinstein and his family have prospered in an America of freedom and religious freedom. His family may have escaped Nazi Germany or the pogroms of Russia or Poland. His safety and freedom of speech has been provided to him by a Christian majority Country and now he spits in the faces of the very people who have afforded him those rights and protection. Disgusting hypocrit!
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