Posted on 05/05/2009 8:09:08 PM PDT by P-Marlowe
CBNNews.com - The U.S. military says some Bibles in Afghanistan have been confiscated and destroyed, Reuters reported.
Their decision to destroy them came after Al Jazeera television showed U.S. soldiers at a Bible class with a stack of Bibles translated into the local languages.
It's illegal to proselytize in Afghanistan and military officials forbid troops to convert Afghans to Christianity.
The military says the Bibles were brought to the Bible class by an Evangelical Christian solider who received them from his home church.
I’m appalled...
Was this on the US installation ???
HERAT A Nato soldier and two civilians were killed in Afghanistan when 2,000 protesters armed with stones tried to break into an airfield in Chaghcharan in protest about a copy of the Koran being used for target practice by a US soldier in Iraq.
The soldier and two of the demonstrators died when they were shot and seven Afghans and ten police were wounded by gunfire, General Carlos Branco, of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), said. A petrol station opposite the airfield was set alight during the protest, which was organised by students from a religious school. The airfield is a Lithuanian-commanded Isaf base. Police blamed the shooting on militants but a local legislator said the shots were fired by security forces.
The protest was a response to the discovery of a copy of the Koran at a shooting range in Baghdad, which had bullet holes in it. President Bush apologised to Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, and promised to prosecute the soldier responsible. There was no violent response in Iraq. (Reuters, AFP)
This happens all the time in these countries. I am appalled that our Military would be a party to it.
The Voice of the Martyrs has a program to help get bibles into these countries.
www.persecution.org
وَقَالَ لَهُمْ: «اذْهَبُوا إِلَى الْعَالَمِ أَجْمَعَ، وَبَشِّرُوا الْخَلِيقَةَ كُلَّهَا بِالإِنْجِيلِ:
Sorry wrong link:
and Bibles Unbound - getting bibles to those in restricted countries
http://www.biblesunbound.com/qry/mc_home.taf
Amen.
I am a very strong supporter of Voice of the Martyrs. It puts things in perspective when we think of Christians DYING for their faith while we sit here and argue politics.
The way things are going, however, I fear it will be happening here soon as well.
I was talking with somone recently that used to smuggle Bibles into countries for them...
May God richly Bless them and the work that they do to spread the Gospel...
That is a special calling...
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace; that brings good tidings of good, that publishes salvation; that said to Zion, Your God reigns! Isaiah 52:7
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! Romans 10:15
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28:18-20
Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Mar 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Mar 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
Mar 16:20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with [them], and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. Mark 16:15-20
'We ought to obey God rather then man'(Acts 5:29)
Amen!
There are many that still do. Believers in restricted/hostile countries are starved for the Word and for Jesus.
I read of a woman who started a bible study in a Muslim country and in about 3 months had over 25 other women come to Christ. The meet secretly and even had a baptismal service for all the women.
God is doing great things!
Some rules are MEANT to be broken. Some unjust laws NEED to be disobeyed.
Christians die every day just because they are Christians.
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
My experience says that something is missing from this story. During GulfWar I, the military backed down from requiring chaplains to remove their crosses from their uniforms. It was a local commander (Schwarzkopf himself, iirc, who had decided this.)
My understanding is that any military member should be able fully to practice his faith. For an evangelical that would include being able to proselytize.
Now, if I were a local commander seeking to subdue a local population of legalistic muslims, would I reflect on the religious decisions I could make that would make my job easier or harder? Yep.
The question becomes one of a commander attempting to accomplish a positive military outcome at the expense of our troops’ religious freedom.
In terms of the military expedition, both the civil affairs program and the unit religious program are the responsibility of the commander. In the first, he should have some variety of G5 officer advising him. In the second, he should have a command chaplain advising him. That’s true all the way back to Centcom, if that’s the origin of this, or even the Pentagon.
This “no Afghan bibles” ruling cannot have occurred without the knowledge of the command chaplain.
That's not MY understanding. Current Army policy is that any military member may fully practice his faith, insofar as it does not interfere with unit readiness, individual readiness, unit cohesion, morale, discipline or health. "My religion requires me to do XXXXXXX" isn't a talismanic formula that overrules a commander's authority.
There are legitimate COIN issues that preclude allowing soldiers to proselytize in host countries. The job of a solider isn't to proselytize, it's to defend his nation.
No we shouldn't, nor should we have for the past 18 years during which not only has Christian proselytism been forbidden, but even the destruction of Eastern Christian communities by or on behalf of Mohammedanism has been American policy.
I disagree, Jude. There is to be no loss of 1st amendment religious rights for military members. (There is the provision about not violating federal drug, violence, etc. laws. We can’t condone peyote use or human sacrifice, but that would not be the case with proselytism.)
The commander can postpone certain requirements and he can set the location for them, but he cannot forbid them. Doing so would be a clear violation of the 1st amendment.
It would be the same as with political speech. He can set the times, places, uniform, duty status, etc., but he cannot forbid political activity/speech.
My advice to anyone who wants to distribute Christian literature is simply to do it and not to bring it to the attention of the command. It is better to ask forgiveness than permission, and there’s NO WAY someone will be prosecuted for such a thing. That would cause a SH_TSTORM the likes of which the military would not want to see.)
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
.
Now imagine the headline if a Muslim Soldier had a stack of Korans and was distributing them to Christians.
Do you think there is any possibility that the following would happen?
The United States Military destroys copies of the Koran.
One soldier took that duty upon himself and used one for target practice and he was removed from Iraq and "disciplined" (read - most likely - dishonorably discharged). If he had shot up a Bible, the he would have been asked to clean up the mess and that would have been the end of it. But it was a Koran, so he was removed from the theatre.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
The United States Military destroyed Bibles.
That kinda says it all.
While I frown upon those who refuse to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan because they think we are in an "illegal war", I think that those who would refuse to serve in those theaters because they cannot freely practice their religion (i.e., tell people about the gospel during their down time) should not be required to lay down their lives to protect those who would kill a man simply for believing in Christ.
America signed off on the Constitution that effectively outlawed Christianity in Afghanistan. Therefore, no Christian should be required to serve there. We are not fighting for the Afghanistan people's freedom. Without freedeom of religion, all other freedoms are illusory.
likewise, there are good reasons a soldier shouldn't engage in prosyletization in theater. One of the Taliban's best arguments against us as an invading force is to appeal to the population's fears that we're there as "Crusaders." Thats the word they use to describe us. Soldiers who engage in organized prosyletization give credibility to that argument - and therefore endanger the lives of all Soldiers and of host nation civilians. That is reckless and irresponsible.
Soldiers agree when they enlist to subordinate their rights to the needs of the mission. This is one such example.
Remember that this is a country which forbids prayer in its public schools. This is a country where the name of God has been ruthlessly stripped from all public edifices and halls of government. Secularism rules and the Christian religion is subordinate to it.
With this mindset firmly in place, it's no big deal to trash a few Bibles if secular contingencies demand it.
Likewise, we're not fighting to bring the Christian God to Afghanistan. We're fighting to bring the secular god of "democracy". Unfortunately, true and long lasting solutions to the problems in the Middle East and south Asia can be found only in the principles of Christianity. Bombs, bullets and ballot boxes are merely temporary solutions to the issues posed by militant Islam.
We shouldn’t even be fighting for “democracy.”. We’re fighting to destroy the terrorists that killed 3,000 of our countrymen, and the regime that provided them safe harbor. Anything that interferes with that narrowly defined mission is not the business of the U.S. military.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.