Protestantism

» Migisi - Just one more...

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DoD-connected Christian group draws fire
http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/...
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A religious group has abandoned plans to send packages to U.S. troops in Iraq with the controversial Christian video game, "Left Behind: Eternal Force," along with Christian books, Pentagon officials say.
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Operation Straight Up is an official member of the Defense Department initiative "America Supports You," as one of more than 250 home-front groups that have joined the effort to support troops by sending letters, e-mails and care packages, and by giving assistance to military families, including the wounded and their families.
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On Aug. 15, the OSU Web site continued to report that the group is raising money to send "Freedom Packets" to troops in Iraq - but it has removed any reference to the "Left Behind" video game. Those packages were also to include a Gideon's pocket-sized New Testament, and the book "More than a Carpenter," by Josh McDowell, printed in English and translated into Arabic.
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OSU is active in the military in other ways. It sends entertainment troupes with the likes of actor Stephen Baldwin, the Flying Wallendas, pro football and wrestling stars, and others to perform free for military audiences. At the shows, they invite troops to attend events a week later called "Tough-Man Meetings," described as "boot camps for the soul."
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Weinstein also has harsh criticism for the Pentagon, which he called "the Pentecostal-gon." His book, "With God On Our Side," published in 2006, details his charges of religious intolerance in the U.S. armed forces. More than 5,000 service members have contacted his organization because "they say they are being preyed upon by groups using the military chain of command," he said.
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About 96 percent of those who said they were pressured are Christians themselves, he said. "But these groups are preying on non-evangelical Christians. They believe they have the only right faith, that everybody else is false."
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"We couldn't care less what someone's religious faith is," Weinstein said. "But you cannot use your position of authority to force [your religion] onto military subordinates," he said. "To send a para-church organization into a war zone undercuts the Chaplain Corps."
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Lawyer and minister Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said: "This is just the thing to convince Islamic militants that America is on a religious crusade to convert Muslims to Christianity. This officially connects DoD to make it look like the U.S. government is on a crusade. There appears to be a very deep connection between this allegedly private group promoting evangelical Christianity and the military itself. It doesn't matter what the religion is. The government is supposed to be neutral. It is supposed to be hands-off on that."
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Lynn, who said he characterizes OSU as a fundamentalist Christian group, said that if they planned to send a Christian book translated in Arabic, "one assumes they want troops to distribute it in Arab neighborhoods."
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The OSU Web site states: "We can only hope that since the book is double printed on the reverse side in the Arabic language that it will indeed influence the nations overseas as well."
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U.S. customs restrictions prohibit mailing bulk quantities of religious materials to Iraq that run contrary to the tenets of Islamic faith.
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"The intent of the customs prohibition against mailing religious items stems from the host country's concern about distributing these materials to its citizens," the U.S. Postal Service's Web site states.

-- posted by Migisi