Petraeus draws criticism for saying Christian book ‘should be in every rucksack.’»

[deminks]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/20/petraeus-endorsement-book/

Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq who will soon take control of Central Command, has found himself embroiled in the “ongoing conflict over religious proselytizing in the U.S. military.” Petraeus’ published endorsement of an Army Chaplain’s Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel, in which he says “it should be in every rucksack for those times when soldiers need spiritual energy,” has led a watchdog group to call for Petraeus’ dismissal and court martial. The book’s author now claims that the endorsement wasn’t meant to be published:

But the endorsement - which has spurred a demand by a watchdog group for Petraeus’ dismissal and court martial on the grounds of establishing a religious requirement on troops - was a personal view never intended for publication, the book’s author now says.

“In the process of securing … comments for recommending the book I believe there was a basic misunderstanding on my part that the comments were publishable,” McCoy said in an Aug. 19 email to Military.com. “This was my mistake.”

Mikey Weinstein, the head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, says that it “strains credulity” that Petraeus didn’t know his private written endorsement of the book had been public since last year. But Petraeus’ spokesman Col. Steven Boylan says Petraeus was unaware because he has been in Iraq since February 2007.

http://www.military.com/news/article/petraeus-book-endorsement-draws-fire.html?col=1186032310810

[marmar]

1. If there is a freaky fundie to be found and given a top-level government job.....

.... BushCo will find him (or her: Hello, Monica Goodling!)

[ColbertWatcher]

2. I would be surprised if one of them wasn't a Christer. n/t

[marmar]

3. True that.....

As we know, Goodling more or less had that as a requirement in the job description.

[ColbertWatcher]

5. Can you imagine a law being passed to appease the Christers ...

..saying that the troops would have to carry a "book" for each religion?

Fucking fundies.

[MadMaddie]

4. This should erase any doubt that Petraeus

cannot be trusted. By even thinking that he puts divisions within the military ranks. No Military leader should ever utter such words, whether they were to be documented or not.

[OwnedByFerrets]

13. Was there EVER a doubt??????

[MadMaddie]

15. None whatsover from me.

[Seen the light]

6. The military elite are turning it into a Christian missionary organization

Sad, but true.

[thunder rising]

7. Someone going to actually read or look at what's in that book before you get huffy?

Army Chaplain’s Spiritual Handbood should actually be non-denominational with sections for many if not all major religions.

Say what you will, but there are no atheists in a fox hole..that's just the way it is.

[ColbertWatcher]

18. "there are no atheists in a fox hole" Wrong.

[thunder rising]

22. I would not suggest you put words in the mouths of dead warriors unless you have a special

relation with God or whatever it is you worship. He's not here to say what he was.

[saltpoint]

When I think of the accoutrements which attend the ministry of Jesus

I'm not getting a bible in a rucksack.

[Bluebear]

8. 'when soldiers need spiritual energy' - how about stop redeploying them year after year?

That would "energize" them

[defendandprotect]

12. Here's a Bible . . . "pie in the sky when you die" . . .

[anonymous171]

9. Doesn't sound like he was "establishing a religious requirement" to me.

But still kind of creepy. I have heard that the Fundies are trying to turn the military into a giant missionary group, this only confirms my suspicions.

[Zhade]

10. Highly, highly, highly illegal. A direct imposition of religion by the state.

Fire that motherfucker.

[thunder rising]

23. Nope, Bibles have been handed to GI's forever and the practice will continue.

[Sanctified]

27. Making a comment is not illegal, forcing every soldier to have one is. n/t

[defendandprotect]

11. Well, that explains a lot --- fanatics all together --- !!!

[orleans]

14. why doesn't fucking betraeus shove his rucksack up his ass! n/t

[CitizenPatriot]

16. don't be so sure

there is a soldier suing the military over having his life threatened by his own peers because he refused to pray before dinner, etc. He entered service as a Christian but lost his faith while fighting (gee...). He is one of many alleging that the military demands allegiance to the Christian faith and that when he stopped believing, he was treated in a way that made him feel he wasn't safe. This came out about 4 months ago -- I don't have the link anymore, but it was quite the stink for about a day.

Cone of silence and all...Poof.

[CitizenPatriot]

17. a quick google search

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/us/26atheist.html

snip

Specialist Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, filed suit in federal court in Kansas, alleging that Specialist Hall’s right to be free from state endorsement of religion under the First Amendment had been violated and that he had faced retaliation for his views. In November, he was sent home early from Iraq because of threats from fellow soldiers....

Specialist Hall’s lawsuit is the latest incident to raise questions about the military’s religion guidelines. In 2005, the Air Force issued new regulations in response to complaints from cadets at the Air Force Academy that evangelical Christian officers used their positions to proselytize. In general, the armed forces have regulations, Ms. Lainez said, that respect “the rights of others to their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs.”


cut

and others

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/03/06/military.religion.ap/index.html

[CitizenPatriot]

19. a few more

one more quote from that article:

ny times --

snip

To Specialist Hall and other critics of the military, the guidelines have done little to change a culture they say tilts heavily toward evangelical Christianity. Controversies have continued to flare, largely over tactics used by evangelicals to promote their faith. Perhaps the most high-profile incident involved seven officers, including four generals, who appeared, in uniform and in violation of military regulations, in a 2006 fund-raising video for the Christian Embassy, an evangelical Bible study group.

“They don’t trust you because they think you are unreliable and might break, since you don’t have God to rely on,” Specialist Hall said of those who proselytize in the military. “The message is, ‘It’s a Christian nation, and you need to recognize that.’ ”

_________

http://www.neatorama.com/2008/07/08/atheist-soldier-sues-army-for-discrimination/


snip

His sudden lack of faith, he said, cost him his military career and put his life at risk. Hall said his life was threatened by other troops and the military assigned a full-time bodyguard to protect him out of fear for his safety.
In March, Hall filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, among others. In the suit, Hall claims his rights to religious freedom under the First Amendment were violated and suggests that the United States military has become a Christian organization.

"I think it’s utterly and totally wrong. Unconstitutional," Hall said.

Hall said there is a pattern of discrimination against non-Christians in the military.

[thunder rising]

24. I recall no such incident. "Soldier" suggests US Army and I discount this rumor.

[tabasco]

20. Petraeus is a gutless ass-kisser and a disgrace to the uniform.

He is just another bobblehead incompetent placed in a top position by the corrupt Cheney oil cabal.

[donco6]

21. The Air Force is already totally RW Christian.

The FOF HQ in Colorado Springs is a stone's throw from the AF Academy, and they've had a major influence on leadership at the school.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

25. That sure ain't the kind of books we carried in our packs.

Which were known as "skivvy" books in my time and they weren't about Jesus.

[jmowreader]

26. So am I to understand...

that the "Army Chaplain's Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel"...

has covers made from Kevlar and ceramic armor, so it stops bullets and landmine fragments?

will hold two quarts of water, so you can use it as a supplemental canteen?

is made of tasty, high-energy, nutritious snack foods to build morale and promote good health?

contains two pair of dry socks, so Our Fighting Men and Women don't get trenchfoot?

If you can't eat it, drink from it, stop bullets with it or put it on your feet, it's nothing but dead weight. Every grunt knows that.

[sarcasmo]

28. The whole Christian/ Military thing has made me ill for quite some time.