BattleCry; inside the stadium with Ron Luce's Holy War

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

By Sunsara Taylor
Online Journal Contributing Writer

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_832.shtml

<snip>

Then a group of Navy SEALs are projected on the large screen above the stadium as they make their way from backstage. Dressed in camouflage, carrying automatic weapons, kicking down doors and firing blanks into empty rooms along their way, they looked like the house-to-house raids and indiscriminate killing seen in rare footage out of Iraq.

Fireworks exploded and flames billowed as Ron Luce greeted them, bragging that all these men have been involved in real battles. They are part of FORCE Ministries, which conducts Bible studies at military bases around the world and is made up of current and retired SEALs, law enforcement, and other military who preach the Gospel. Among those on stage, one is a SEAL just back from Afghanistan and another was a member of a police SWAT team. All of them are trained to kill and do so believing God is sanctioning them.

One of the SEALs told about boot camp and being forced to surrender his entire will to the demands of his instructor. Luce stepped in to tell the audience, “That is your youth pastor. He’s going to make you a SEAL for Christ.” Of course, the great commander of this religious army is God who issues his foot-soldiers armor -- “a shield of faith, a belt of truth, and boots of preparedness” -- as well as “offensive weapons” like the “sword of the spirit” and the “word of God.”

This merging of “God’s Army” and the U.S. military returns full circle to the event’s opening when a letter of greeting and blessings from George W. Bush was read. After that, a minister had led thousands to bow their heads and thank the lord for giving them George Bush, who coincidentally is the U.S.’s commander-in-chief.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. And on the other hand, there is the "Lamb's War"...

which is an old Quaker concept of fighting untruth and injustice with "inward weapons" of spiritual strength and conscience.

The rise of militarism and warmongering on the religious right has inspired a lot more talk of the Lamb's War in some circles I hang out in. Ghandi and Martin Luther King are brought up a lot in these discussions as examples of how this works.

Whatever the religious conviction, or lack of it, can we all stand together in the "army" of the Lamb's War against this incredible perversion of religion?

[Kutjara]

2. If there's one thing scarier than religious nuts...

...its well-trained and heavily armed religious nuts. I can't think of anything more frightening than homocidal maniacs for Jesus.

[ClintonTyree]

3. There's not a lick of difference between them........

and the "religious fanatics" they're supposedly fighting against. The American Taliban is alive a well. Unfortunately. Let's just hope that their numbers don't increase, that they're a small minority of our armed forces. Otherwise, we've become exactly the element we say we're trying to eliminate.

These people are crazy, as crazy as any "suicide bomber" in the middle east. Only these guys have "smart weapons". :eyes:

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

4. I envision one possible nightmare scenario...

...in the not so distant future, where these bloodthirsty fanatics are provided with lengthy lists of names and addresses compiled by BushCo over the last five years, and told, "Go forth, Christian soldiers, and purge our great land of the unclean," which they will do with great zeal. The "unclean" will, of course, be virtually anybody that's ever spoken up against or challenged BushCo in any way.

I'm not predicting this scenario, but I don't dismiss it either. These people have the motivation, all they need are the lists and the quiet authorization from BushCo.