Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
15 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Can anyone find a reputable source for this? (Original Post) Dragonbreathp9d May 2013 OP
It's a distortion. Which should be expected from that source. MineralMan May 2013 #1
tell him to try some common fucking sense Kali May 2013 #2
Everything I find links back to Breitbart. nt flamin lib May 2013 #3
Yep me too- big ass echo chamber of lies Dragonbreathp9d May 2013 #4
It has been a problem for a while actually: Xyzse May 2013 #5
Thanks for this Dragonbreathp9d May 2013 #10
No problem... Xyzse May 2013 #12
This is well worth a watch, too Turborama May 2013 #14
The 2nd one is crazy Xyzse May 2013 #15
I apologize... Xyzse May 2013 #6
The story creates a false truth. Fearless May 2013 #7
Meanwhile ... BB is getting all this unexpected traffic. lpbk2713 May 2013 #8
That story has a shit title. alp227 May 2013 #9
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. baldguy May 2013 #11
Mike Weinstein doesn't want xtians to violate his rights RainDog May 2013 #13

MineralMan

(146,317 posts)
1. It's a distortion. Which should be expected from that source.
Wed May 1, 2013, 04:13 PM
May 2013

Regulations may be in planning to restrict proselytizing in the military, due to the abuses in some branches and some places. Chaplains serve to assist military personnel with faith-related matters, but their job does not, and should not, include evangelical efforts to try to convert people to their beliefs.

This has been a major problem in the military for some time, and even infested the Air Force Academy as one of the worst examples of this abuse of the chaplain's role.

Eliminating official proselytizing is a goal that should have been established decades ago. It is not a proper behavior by anyone in the military on an official basis.

Kali

(55,011 posts)
2. tell him to try some common fucking sense
Wed May 1, 2013, 04:15 PM
May 2013
COULD is the keyword I read - pushing a particular religion on an unwilling individual SHOULD be a punishable offense, so if the overhyped, rightwing, misinterprtation of a possible action is true...GOOD!

Xyzse

(8,217 posts)
5. It has been a problem for a while actually:
Wed May 1, 2013, 04:28 PM
May 2013

Evangelical Chaplains Test Bounds of Faith in Military
by Jeff Brady
July 27, 200512:00 AM
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4772331

--Basically this was a push by them to spread their faith even to those that don't want it.


Evangelizing the Troops
by Jeff Brady
November 25, 200512:00 AM
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5027773

--Then they pushed even harder.

Are U.S. troops being force-fed Christianity?
A watchdog group alleges that improper evangelizing is occurring within the ranks.
By Jane Lampman, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor / October 4, 2007
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1004/p13s02-lire.html

--See, another place that states that it is a problem.

Fundamentalist Christians Evangelizing Military Youth on the Taxpayer's Dime
Posted: 02/27/2013 11:58 am
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-l-weinstein/club-beyond-military-proselytization_b_2734370.html

Since the Evangelicals were pushing their religion on others and it was being a problem. To the point that it was harrasment.

This is a long time coming. I have heard of this for a while, but if there is action now, that is new to me. I hope this helps, to at least show that there has been a problem and as for something with better journalism in regards to their actions, I haven't found one yet.

But this is a problem I've heard about years back. How evangelicals were pushing their religion on others, creating problems with unit cohesion.

Xyzse

(8,217 posts)
12. No problem...
Wed May 1, 2013, 11:09 PM
May 2013

I mean, if one can't find an article that gives a balanced approach to a particular subject, at least find articles that lead towards the decision.

That was a huge problem even before 2005, but it was already being reported then. Pretty happy they finally have set up those rules.

Turborama

(22,109 posts)
14. This is well worth a watch, too
Thu May 2, 2013, 05:54 AM
May 2013

It was broadcast about 4 years ago, despite the upload date (they must have re-uploaded it for some reason) and there was an article on AJE to go with it which i can't find. I'll have a look through DU archives to see what i posted when it 1st came out....

Fault Lines - Evangelism in the Military




The United States is a deeply religious country, over 90% believe in god and 80% believe in miracles. For the US military, dealing with its own religious identity has become an internal battle.

Growing evidence points towards a rising influence of evangelical Christianity, and with two wars still raging in Muslim countries with significant religious overtones, there could be serious consequences for the US mission.

Pentagon officials say incidents are isolated, aberrations occur, but others closely tied to the military and its religious leadership say a transformation is taking place with dire costs. On this weeks episode of Fault Lines, we look at the battle over the religious soul of the US military.

Also, we sit down with Brent Scowcroft, the National Security Advisor under Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush. He gives Fault Lines a fresh take on the issue of religion in the military and how it is impacting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AJFaultLines
Follow on Facebook: http://facebook.com/AJFaultLines
Follow on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/AJFaultLines

See all episodes of Fault Lines: http://www.youtube.com/show/faultlines
Meet the Fault Lines Team: http://aje.me/ZhfAbH


And this one:

Christian US troops urged to break all the rules & evangelize in Afghanistan http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x307492

Xyzse

(8,217 posts)
6. I apologize...
Wed May 1, 2013, 04:52 PM
May 2013

Been trying to find a source for that, but the only ones that carry it are those sites that don't show any sort of moderation.
My prior post should at least give the background as to the reason the military has put those rules in to effect.

alp227

(32,026 posts)
9. That story has a shit title.
Wed May 1, 2013, 05:10 PM
May 2013

And I recently saw an interesting story not quite related: http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2013/05/01/another-wingnut-freakout-debunked/

To me it looks like typical Breitbartization of the news: innocently the military BANS proselytization but the right wing rat bastards at Dimbulbart decided to highlight the "court martial" part.

 

baldguy

(36,649 posts)
11. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Wed May 1, 2013, 09:05 PM
May 2013

It's your "friend"s job to prove it - and that web page isn't.

In fact, if it ONLY appears on Breitbart it's most definitely a lie.

RainDog

(28,784 posts)
13. Mike Weinstein doesn't want xtians to violate his rights
Wed May 1, 2013, 11:15 PM
May 2013

Mike is a second-generation military lifer. He's also Jewish. He was harassed by Christian fundamentalists, as were others, and he fought against their attempts to violate his constitutional rights.

Cause, you know, that's what the military is supposed to be fighting to uphold, not someone right to be a religious asshole.

He wrote about it here:

Fundamentalist Christian Monsters: Papa's Got A Brand New Bag

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-l-weinstein/fundamentalist-christian-_b_3072651.html


I founded the civil rights fighting organization the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) to do one thing: fight those monsters who would tear down the Constitutionally-mandated wall separating church and state in the technologically most lethal entity ever created by humankind, the U.S. military.

Today, we face incredibly well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation's armed forces. Oh my, my, my, how "Papa's got a brand new bag."

What's Papa's new tactic? You're gonna just love this! These days, when ANYone attempts to bravely stand up against virulent religious oppression, these monstrosities cry out alligator tears in overflowing torrents and scream that it is, in fact, THEY who are the dispossessed, bereft and oppressed. C'mon, really, you pitiable unconstitutional carpetbaggers? It would be like the utter folly of 1960's-era southern bigots howling like stuck pigs in protest that Rosa Parks' civil rights activism is "abusing" them by destroying and disenfranchising their rights to sit in the front seat of buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Please, I beseech you! Let us call these ignoble actions what they are: the senseless and cowardly squallings of human monsters.

Queasy with the bright and promising lights of the cultural realities of the present day, those evil, fundamentalist Christian creatures and their spiritual heirs have taken refuge behind flimsy, well-worn, gauze-like euphemistic facades such as "family values" and "religious liberty." These bandits coagulate their stenchful substances in organizations such as the American Family Association (AFA), the ultra-fundamentalist Family Research Council (FRC), and the Chaplains Alliance for Religious Liberty (CARL). The basis of their ruinous unity is the bane of human existence and progress: horrific hatred and blinding bigotry. However, when the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and others correctly characterize them as "hate groups," they all too predictably raise a deafening hue and disingenuously bellow mournfully like the world class cowards they are.
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Can anyone find a reputab...