Re: A Biblical Threat to National Security

secularists once again forcing their
political correctness upon the rest of Americans.
---
as opposed to christians forcing their religious beliefs upon the rest
of Americans

On Jun 20, 5:33 am, Keith In Tampa <keithinta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I wonder if the United States Armed Services "authorized"  a Q'uoran, or
> any other religious works?
>
> I note that since this bru-ha-ha started, the military has since
> discontinued the "authorization"  of the use of the military symbols on the
> Holman Bible.
>
> Much ado about nothing, and a bunch of secularists once again forcing their
> political correctness upon the rest of Americans.
>
> On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 10:22 PM, plainolamerican <plainolameri...@gmail.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > wrote:
> > some 33 percent of chaplains are now evangelical Christians
> > ---
> > and 100 percent of USSC justices are jews and catholics.
>
> > tit for tat among the myth believers who have forgotten that the USA
> > is a secular nation
>
> > On Jun 19, 3:11 pm, MJ <micha...@america.net> wrote:
> > > A Biblical Threat to National SecuritybyKelley B. Vlahos, June 19, 2012
> > > Can a Bible be a "threat to national security"?
> > > For years, the government has employed the risk of "national security"
> > excuse to infringe on a wide range of freedoms like the right to pass
> > through an airport security checkpoint unmolested, or read library books
> > without Big Brother peeking over your shoulder.Michael L. "Mikey"
> > Weinsteinis trying to prove that there is more than one way to put the
> > country at risk, and he's found it in a heretofore unlikely place: the
> > Bible.
> > > Well, the Holman Bible. To be more exact, a version of the Bible that,
> > for reasons still undetermined, was authorized with the trademarked
> > official insignia of the U.S. Armed Forces emblazoned on the front cover.
> > There isThe Soldier's Biblewith the Army's seal,The Marine's Biblewith the
> > Marine Corps seal,The Sailor's BibleandThe Airman's Bible, both with their
> > respective insignia. The books have been sold for nearly six years
> > throughout Christian bookstores, commissaries and PXs on U.S. military
> > installations and are still available on Christianbook.com,Amazon.comand
> > Barnes & Noble.
> > > It's not theKing James Versionthatthe Gideonsleave behind in hotel rooms
> > drawers. The Holman Bible was commissioned and published by LifeWay
> > Christian Resources, a subsidiary of theSouthern Baptist Convention, the
> > largest Baptist denomination in the world, in 2003.
> > > In a 1999press releaseannouncing the edition's progress, Broadman &
> > Holman Publishers called the new version "a fresh, precise translation of
> > the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek of the Old and New Testaments." LifeWay
> > President James T. Draper Jr. weighed in, saying there was a "serious need
> > for a 21st-century Bible translation in American English that combines
> > accuracy and readability," adding, "the Holman Christian Standard Bible is
> > an accurate, literal rendering with a smoothness and readability that
> > invites memorization, reading aloud and dedicated study."
> > > The Holman Bible, or HCSB, has been popular with evangelicals for its
> > references and study tools. Someone convinced each branch of the service
> > they'd be perfect for the military, too. So the HCSB became the "official"
> > Bible of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines in 2004, complete with
> > reader-friendly text and custom "designed to meet the specific needs of
> > those who serve in the most difficult of situations," according to the
> > publishers.
> > > In other words, aside from the text, the books are filled with
> > "devotionals" and "inspirational essays" tailored to each branch of
> > service. I was unable to get my hands on a copy by press time, but Amazon's
> > "peek" inside the book and several positive reader reviews confirm some of
> > the contents, revealing what could only be described as a guileless
> > conflation of both Christian and American military iconography. War and
> > service as religious devotion.
> > > In addition to the Pledge of Allegiance and the first and fourth verses
> > of the Star Spangled Banner, there are excerpts from one of George W. Bush
> > inaugural addresses and the Republican president's remarks at a National
> > Prayer Breakfast.Gen. George S. Patton's famous Christmas prayer cardfrom
> > the field of battle 1944 is also included, as is"George Washington's
> > Prayer,"which has been widely circulated (and debunked) as proof of
> > America's Christian paternity.
> > > These Bibles also feature "testimonials and encouragement from
> > theOfficers' Christian Fellowship," which has approximately 15,000 members
> > across the military and whose primary purpose is "to glorify God by uniting
> > Christian officers for biblical fellowship and outreach, equipping and
> > encouraging them to minister effectively in the military society." In other
> > words they proselytize within the officer corps as part of an evangelical
> > "parachurch" within the military.
> > > A largely unfettered one, apparently, as one watches Pentagon officers
> > commenting freely on camera and in uniform for this Bush-era
> > promotionalvideofor Christian Embassy, another federal government-wide
> > "fellowship" with similar missionary goals.
> > > One officer, Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack Catton, who said he worked on the
> > Joint Staff at the Pentagon, described himself as "an old fashioned
> > American and my first priority is my faith in God." Pointing to his meeting
> > with other officers under the auspices of Christian Embassy, he said, "I
> > think it's a huge impact because you have many men and women who are
> > seeking God's counsel and wisdom as we advise the Secretary of Defense."
> > > Then U.S. Brigadier Gen. Bob Caslan (currently promoted to lieutenant
> > general as the commanding general at the U.S. Army's prestigious Combined
> > Arms Center at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.) went so far as to say he sees the
> > "flag officer fellowship groups … hold me accountable."
> > > "We are the aroma of Jesus Christ," he added.
> > > Something smells, all right, said Weinstein, who heads theMilitary
> > Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF). The roles of the officers in the video
> > werelater deemed improperafter MRFF demanded an investigation in 2007. As
> > for the Bibles, Weinstein said he received some 2,000 complaints about them
> > from service members over the last year. Weinstein, a former Air Force
> > Judge Advocate (JAG) whose 2005 charges against the Air Force Academy in
> > Colorado led to an investigation thatofficially found religious
> > "insensitivity"against non- fundamentalists there, has gone on to expose a
> > much wider climate of"top-down, invasive evangelicalism"at the institution
> > and throughout the military as a whole.
> > > "We're fighting a
> > Fundamentalist-Christian-Parachurch-Military-Corporate-Proselytizing-Complex,"
> > Weinstein said told Antiwar.com last week, "and we have been fighting this
> > for some time." MRFF just posted a video montage, which could easily be
> > called the military evangelicals' greatest hits,here.
> > > He said aside from "prostituting" the military insignia, the military's
> > endorsement of the Bibles violated federal separation of church and state,
> > and continue to sanction an insidious culture of radical evangelicalism and
> > discrimination throughout the services (as a Jew, Weinstein said he felt
> > the sting of prejudice when he attended the Air Force academy in the late
> > 1970s; his sons had it even worse, he claims, prompting his first formal
> > complaint seven years ago).
> > > Since then, "(MRFF) has had 28,000 clients and a hundred more each
> > month," said Weinstein, rejecting claims by his critics that they are all
> > atheist. He insists that 96 percent of his clients are Christians (Catholic
> > and Mainline Protestant) and that his is not a religious crusade. On the
> > other hand,some 33 percent of chaplains are now evangelical
> > Christians(Weinstein's MRFF places that number at 84 percent), while only 3
> > percent of service members describe themselves as such.
> > > "They are spiritually raping the U.S. Constitution, the American people
> > and the men and women who are fighting for us," said Weinstein, who never,
> > ever minces words.
> > > MRFF's lawyers senta formal letterto Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's
> > office in January. In it, MRFF charged that authorizing LifeWay to print
> > its Bibles with the service insignia "is in violation of the Establishment
> > Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution … and
> > several regulations," and that the authority should be withdrawn
> > immediately or face legal action from MRFF.
> > > Interestingly, according to thedocuments now available online, the Army,
> > Navy and Air Force responded to the letter in February, insisting that the
> > summer before Weinstein's lawyers at Jones Day contacted the Pentagon, they
> > had already pulled their trademark authorizations to LifeWay, for
> > "unrelated reasons." So, in effect, according to the military, the Southern
> > Baptist Convention subsidiary no longer had use of the trademarks and the
> > question was moot.
> > > Weinstein responded with one word: "lies." He told Antiwar.com that they
> > were just informed of the letters in June, not in February.
> > Furthermore,according to MRFF senior research director Chris Rodda, MRFF
> > has obtained documents through Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests that
> > indicated the "AAFES (the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which runs
> > the BXs, PXs, and other stores on military bases) was clearly concerned
> > about the complaints about the Holman Bibles, with emails as early as June
> > 6, 2011 from AAFES to LifeWay saying that these Bibles had 'become a hot
> > issue,' and referencing and linking to a June 2, 2011 article on MRFF's
> > website as the reason they were becoming a hot issue."
> > > Nevertheless, according to aFox News Radio story, LifeWay insists it's
> > "sold" all existing copies of the military Bible in question, and
>
> ...
>
> read more »

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