Posted on 08/27/2007 6:19:54 AM PDT by ZGuy
Seven high-ranking officers, including four generals, could face discipline for what the Pentagon considers their promotion of Christianity.
The Pentagon inspector general found the seven officers to be engaged in misconduct when they appeared in a promotional fundraiser video for the evangelical group Christian Embassy three years ago, according to OneNewsNow.
Christian Embassy was founded by the late Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ and ministers to diplomats, government leaders and military officers. The ministry holds prayer meetings each Wednesday morning at the Pentagon.
The officers were said to be in uniform at the Pentagon when they expressed military approval and support of the evangelical ministry in the video, according to The Associated Press.
The report said none of the officers asked for or received approval from superiors and recommended “appropriate corrective action” to be considered against them, according to AP.
A retired Army officer who had also attended the Christian Embassy Wednesday prayer meeting believes it’s hypocritical for the Pentagon to consider disciplinary action against the officers.
“There have been others in very senior positions, both in and out of uniform, who have gone to some of these Islamic centers and have bent over backwards to accommodate Islamists,” said retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis to OneNewsNow Friday.
He pointed to the Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England who in early June joined the dedication of a new Islamic prayer center at the Quantico Marine Corps Base.
“[A]s far as I’m concerned, [he was] giving tacit endorsement of Islam just by his presence and making a formal visit,” said Maginnis. “And if he can’t tolerate a few generals and admirals stating, because they’re Christians, they think it’s a good idea that you promote Bible studies and Christian speakers into the Pentagon, I find that hypocritical and certainly an unfortunate circumstance.”
Maginnis thinks that the group Military Religious Freedom Foundation might be behind the pressure to investigate the officers.
“This is an ACLU-type hit on the Pentagon insisting that the inspector general conduct an investigation to get to the bottom of whether or not generals improperly used their influence with regard to a particular ministry,” he said.
The officers currently still face potential discipline for violating ethics rules by helping Christian Embassy.
Are they being disciplined for endorsing Christianity or are they being disciplined for endorsing Christian Embassy? Shilling for an organization without prior approval and while in uniform is a no-no.
Just goes to show, that there are still many brain dead idiots in todays “kinder, gentler” stateside military bureaucracy
Such notable American Christian soldiers, such as George Washington, Winfield Scott, Andrew Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, would be appalled at this if they were alive today.
I think you could include almost every great American flag officer in that list and it still be an accurate statement.
Such notable American Christian soldiers, such as George Washington, Winfield Scott, Andrew Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, would be appalled at this if they were alive today.
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You are absolutely right. But probably not in the way you thought.
They would be appalled at the officer’s apparent disdain for the rule stating they cannot be endorsing something in uniform without prior approval.
All the guys you mention understood the need for discipline and following the rules in a professional military.
The left won’t rest until Christians are driven out of the Armed Forces and replaced with Sodomites.
If America turns away from God, He will turn away from us.
The leaders mentioned certainly stand tall for discipline, but would never have considered the military professing their religious beliefs, in or out of uniform, as a violation of disciplinary codes.
I agree with Maginnis.
What does the Commander of the military think of this?
It doesn’t matter what they would have considered right or wrong. The code is the code. The officers violated it, presumably, knowingly. And the leaders under scrutiny would not have let it slide.
The leaders in question may not have liked it, but they would have worked within the sytem to change it before they thumbed their noses at it.
You got that right! Everytime I hear the worn out phrase "God Bless America", I think, "Not likely! America has turned away from him."
I don’t believe the code is that narrow
The code isn’t that narrow. There hasn’t been a major change in the area of the code for this....for about 20 years. You simply don’t use your uniform or your position to state a position on religion or things that go with religion...period.
I spent 22 years in the military...retiring in 1999. By the early 90s...I was starting to notice junior Lt’s coming out of the AF Academy...who were very-strict religious types. They had very low tolerance for respecting people and their private lives. I had a 2Lt who made very strong comments to a young NCO over his living with another young female NCO (both were single, living in an apartment). The comments made were like what some Baptist deacon would make. I ended having to bring the young officer out of the work area and enforce his mindset that there is a point of which you don’t get so deep into peoples lives that you are making people live in some ultra-conservative shadow.
In the fifteen years since....I’ve seen dozens of situations that drag a professional mentality through a “deacon’s” shadow...and people stand there shaking their heads at some comment or directive that wasn’t what you’d expect.
For those who want “God-fearing giants” or the ethics of the Bible amongst our warriors...look around your local neighborhood at Baptist who daily go negative on Pentecostals, Methodists who cut down on the Baptists, and Church of Christs who can’t even eat at the same table as Seventh Day Adventists. We are brewing a fight to come within the next decade within our military as just being Christian is not good enough....and we start to stomp on the shoes of various groups...in search of the “right religion”.
you seem to have a personal bias, my friend.
Although there may be some with a “who is the greatest” attitude among a few individuals within Christianity, my experience not only in the neighborhood where I now live, but in many neighborhoods, the various brands of Christianity get along well. In fact, in this area, the togetherness could almost be called a “love-fest.” I find that all-emcompassing love and care refreshing and very Christ-like.
Remember that although we worship a perfect God, we are, in fact a very imperfect people.
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