What are America's biggest threats? Hamas? Al Qaeda? According to recent
statements by U.S. military officials--including an Army briefing on "religious
extremism," the military should be just as concerned with Evangelical Christians
and Catholics as threats to America.
In another example, it was discovered that Lt. Col. Jack Rich of the U.S.
Army highlighted FRC and American Family Association (AFA) as specific groups
who do not share "our Army Values." Rich warned his subordinates "When we see
behaviors that are inconsistent with Army Values--don't just walk by. Do the
right thing and address the concern before it becomes a problem." The 14-page
email goes on to smear FRC and AFA by name, lumping us in with the real
extremists of the Ku Klux Klan, Black Panthers, and neo-Nazis--as labeled by the
anti-Christian Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which was connected in court
to the terrorist shooting at Family Research Council's headquarters on August
15.
This type of inflammatory rhetoric is not isolated. As Fox News correspondent
Todd Starnes reported this week, these incidents follow a long line of recent
military missteps:
- A Fort Leavenworth War Games scenario identified Christian and Evangelical groups as potential threats
- A 2009 Dept. of Homeland Security memo identified Evangelicals and pro-life groups as potential threats to national security
- The U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center released a study linking pro-lifers to terrorism
- Evangelical leader Franklin Graham was uninvited from the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer service
- At the National Cemetery in Houston, Christian prayers were prohibited at the funeral services for military veterans
- Distribution of Bibles was banned for a time at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
- Christian crosses and a steeple were removed from a chapel in Afghanistan because the military said the icons disrespected other religions
- Catholic chaplains were prohibited from reading a letter to parishioners from their archbishop regarding the Obama HHS mandate.
A number of lawmakers, led by Congressman Doug Lamborn (R- Colo.) are
demanding answers. In a letter to the Secretary of the Army, he and other
Members of Congress are calling on the Army to apologize for attacking
Christians and labeling them as extremists.
Sincerely,
Tony
Perkins
President
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