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WND EXCLUSIVE Military warned 'evangelicals' No. 1 threat Christians targeted ahead of Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida, KKK Published: 6 hours ago
Jack Minor
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Jack Minor is a journalist and researcher who served in the United
States Marine Corps under President Reagan. Also a former pastor, he
has written hundreds of articles and been interviewed about his work on
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Soldiers
in the U.S. military have been told in a training briefing that
evangelical Christians are the No. 1 extremist threat to America – ahead
of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, KKK, Nation of Islam, al-Qaida,
Hamas and others.
“Men and women of faith who have served the Army faithfully for
centuries shouldn’t be likened to those who have regularly threatened
the peace and security of the United States,” said Col. (Ret.) Ron
Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious
Liberty. “It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to allow this
type of wrongheaded characterization. It also appears that some military
entities are using definitions of ‘hate’ and ‘extreme’ from the lists
of anti-Christian political organizations. That violates the apolitical
stance appropriate for the military.”
The briefing,
which was given to an Army reserve unit in Pennsylvania, came from a
U.S. Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief titled “Extremism and
Extremist Organizations.”
The material mentions neo-Nazis, the KKK and other white supremacist
organizations. Pictures are shown on various slides of people in Klan
attire and Nazi flags. The significance of gang tattoos, and racist
acronyms and the significance of numbers were also discussed.
While the material on gangs and racist organizations is similar to
what one might receive from a local police briefing on gang issues,
after teaching on neo-Nazis in the military such as Timothy McVeigh, the
material makes an amazing link.
A slide titled “Religious Extremism” lists multiple organizations
such as the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida, Hamas, the Nation of Islam,
the Ku Klux Klan and the Christian Identity movement as examples of
extremist groups.
However, the first group on the list is evangelical Christianity.
Catholicism and ultra-orthodox Judaism are also on the list of religious
extremist organizations.
See what Christian really is, in “Body of Divinity: The Sum and Substance of the Christian Religion.”Following the briefing, one of the soldiers who attended the
presentation and describes himself as an evangelical told the trainer he
was offended at the material and asked for a copy of the briefing.
After receiving a copy, he forwarded the material to Crews.
The material describes religious extremism as those having beliefs,
attitudes, feelings or actions that are “far removed from the ordinary.”
It then elaborates by saying that “every religion has some followers
that believe that their beliefs, customs and traditions are the only
‘right way’ and that all others practicing their faith the ‘wrong way.’”
Crews said it is astounding that soldiers were taught that a key
foundation of the Christian faith is now considered extreme and compared
to those who want to implement Shariah law.
“The idea of salvation being exclusively through Christ is a key
doctrine of the Christian faith,” Crews said. “It is amazing that the
trainer felt they had the authority and right to list evangelical
Christian, Catholics and orthodox Jews alongside groups like the Muslim
Brotherhood.”
When pressed as to how evangelical Christians and Catholics are a
danger to those serving in the military, the brief does not provide any
examples. However, it does provide several examples of Muslim extremists
in the military. Among them are:
- Navy petty officer Hassan Abujihad who emailed classified
information to jihadists for possible attacks while serving on a
destroyer.
- Ali Abdul Saoud Mohammed, who was an Army Special Forces instructor
at the Special Ops Warfare School at Ft. Bragg while simultaneously
being a trainer for al-Qaida and traveling overseas to fight with
jihadists.
- Sgt Hasan Akbar, who killed two of his soldiers and injured 14
others at a military base in Kuwait when he threw four grenades into
three tents where soldiers were sleeping. His reasoning was to prevent
the killing of his fellow Muslims.
Conspicuously missing was one Muslim Maj. Nidal Hasan, who opened
fire on fellow soldiers at Ft. Hood while allegedly shouting “Allahu
Akbar.” Hasan’s rampage left 13 dead and 30 injured.
The Army has gone to great lengths to minimize the Hasan attack,
going so far as to call it simply a case of workplace violence, similar
to when an employee gets into a fight with another co-worker.
The Army has doubled down on its decision by issuing a report to
Congress claiming that recent legislation that would label the shootings
a terrorist act in order to help survivors and victim’s families would
jeopardize Hasan’s chances of receiving a fair trial.
“Passage of this legislation could directly and indirectly influence
potential court-martial panel members, witnesses, or the chain of
command, all of whom exercise a critical role under the Uniform Code of
Military Justice,” the Army said. “Defense counsel will argue that Major
Hasan cannot receive a fair trial because a branch of government has
indirectly declared that Major Hasan is a terrorist – that he is
criminally culpable.”
Crews said the major problem with the training brief is that it
relies heavily on material provided by the Southern Poverty Law Center
which has claimed that groups such as WND, the Family Research Council
and other pro-family groups are hate groups and extremists.
“We’re concerned the use of the SPLC list is not isolated,” Crews
said. “The Army should make sure its equal opportunity officers across
the military do not fall prey and use this SPLC list that identifies
Christian and conservative organizations as hate groups as the basis for
their briefing.”
He went on to say that placing evangelical Christians first on the
list of religious extremists speaks volumes about how the SPLC views
Christianity compared to other religious groups.
“This is absolutely abhorrent to all those who identify themselves as
evangelical Christians in this country,” Crews said. “We know other
commands have used the SPLC list in briefing soldiers about hate crimes
and hate groups, but this particular briefing is the most egregious in
terms of blatantly identifying evangelical Christianity as the number
one extremist group in the United States.”
The material claims the number of “hate groups, extremists and
anti-government organizations” has increased because of the prospect of
“4 more years under a black president who many on the far right view as
an enemy to their country.”
It goes on to state the purpose of the training is the belief that
this issue “may be an indication of internal issues all services will
have to face.” It advised participants that extremist organizations are
inconsistent with the Army’s goals, beliefs and values regarding equal
opportunity.
According to Crews, the Army Chief of Chaplains office told the
Chaplain Alliance the training was an isolated incident and would not
happen again.
Crews said while he accepts the explanation, the Army needs to go
further and publically apologize to all evangelical Christians,
Catholics and orthodox Jews.
“We believe the soldiers who attended this briefing should receive
another class with the corrected material and the instructor should
present a public apology. Evangelical Christians, Catholics and Orthodox
Jews should be given an apology for having their faith called into
question as extremists similar to the Muslim Brotherhood.
“We don’t want this briefing to multiply. If it is truly an isolated
incident then it should be stopped right now and the instructors should
be warned not to teach this material again.”
Subject: WND EXCLUSIVE Military warned 'evangelicals' No. 1 threat 
Fri Apr 05, 2013 10:05 pm
