Army Email Labels
Christian Ministries as “Domestic Hate Groups”
By Todd Starnes
A U.S. Army officer sent an email to
dozens of subordinates listing the American Family Association and Family
Research Council as “domestic hate groups” because they oppose homosexuality —
and warned officers to monitor soldiers who might be supporters of the groups.
“Just want to ensure everyone is
somewhat educated on some of the groups out there that do not share our Army Values,” read an email from
Lt. Col. Jack Rich to three dozen subordinates at Fort Campbell in
Kentucky. “When we see behaviors that are inconsistent with Army Values – don’t just walk by
– do the right thing and address the concern before it becomes a problem.”
“It’s very disturbing to see where the
Obama Administration is taking the military and using it as a laboratory for
social experimentation — and also as an instrument to fundamentally
change the culture,” he said. “The message is very clear – if you are a
Christian who believes in the Bible, who believes in transcendent truth, there
is no place for you in the military.”
The Army denied there is any attack on
Christians or those who hold religious beliefs.
“The notion that the Army is taking an
anti-religion or anti-Christian stance is contrary to any of our policies,
doctrines and regulations,” said George Wright, Army spokesman at the Pentagon.
“Any belief that the Army is out to label religious groups in a negative manner
is without warrant.”
Wright said they are checking into the
origin of the email. At this point it’s unclear who ordered the email to be
sent and why.
The 14-page email documented groups
the military considers to be anti-gay, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim. Among
the other groups mentioned are Neo-Nazis, Racist Skinheads, White Nationalists
and the Ku Klux Klan.
“The religious right in America has
employed a variety of strategies in its efforts to beat back the increasingly
confident gay rights movement,” the officer wrote. “One of those has been
defamation.”
The officer accused the “Christian
Right” of “engaging in the crudest type of name-calling, describing LGBT people
as ‘perverts” with ‘filthy habits’ who seek to snatch the children of straight
parents and ‘convert’ them to gay sex,” he wrote.
Last week, Fox news reported that an
Army training instructor told a Reserve unit based in Pennsylvania that Evangelical
Christianity and Catholicism were examples of religious extremism.
The Army categorized that episode as an isolated incident.
Ron Crews, executive director of the
Chaplain Alliance, told Fox News that the latest revelation is proof of a much
larger problem within military leadership.
“We’re concerned that this is more
than an isolated incident,” he said. “We’d like answers. Is there a policy in
the military concerning people of faith?”
Crews said that soldiers have
religious liberty – and they should not be punished for being members of
respected religious groups.
“This is part of a trend that is
concerning us,” he said. “Several in the military have this belief that
evangelicals and people who hold to traditional values seem to be a problem and
need to be monitored.”
Perkins, a Marine Corps veteran, said
it’s clear that “Army Values” have indeed changed.
“And it’s the values of
Evangelicals and Catholics,” Perkins said. “It’s not the values of the vast
majority of those serving in our nation’s military. I think it’s the values of
this administration trying to superimpose upon our military.”
