Posted on 05/05/2009 1:59:32 PM PDT by ReformationFan
The U.S. military is confirming that it has destroyed some Bibles belonging to an American soldier serving in Afghanistan.
Reuters News says the Bibles were confiscated and destroyed after Qatar-based Al Jazeer television showed soldiers at a Bible class on a base with a stack of Bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages.
(Excerpt) Read more at onenewsnow.com ...
It’s even more misleading then that. What Al-Jazzera did was lie by omission. They reported that a soldier brought the bibles sent to him by HIS HOME CHURCH, but they omitted two very important facts; this soldier was a chaplain, it’s expected that he would have bibles. The other critical omission was that the officer who can be heard bringing up general order 1 was head of the chaplains and he immediately instructed his subordinate not to distribute them, even as gifts, as it would be a violation. The original story was a lie, this is also misleading as they want to make it seem like the military is reacting only now, after the story broke. Liars, all of them.
2 Historical Context
2.1 Barbary Pirates
At the time of the Treaty and for 300 years prior, the Mediterranean sea lanes were largely controlled by the North African Muslim states of the Barbary Coast ( Tripoli, Algiers, Morocco, and TunisTunis is the capital of Tunisia. Population 674,100 ( 1994). Geography The city is located on the Lake of Tunis, and is connected to the Gulf of Tunis, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, by a canal terminating at the port of Halq al Wadi. Economy Products i) through piracy. Hostages were either ransomed or sold into slavery. Over time, most countries found it expedient to simply pay a yearly tribute to the sultans in exchange for free passage through the Mediterranean.
Following the Revolution, America was no longer under the protection of the British tribute treaties, resulting in the pirates crippling American commerce in the Mediterranean. Having no significant Navy, the US decided to form tribute treaties with the Barbary states, such as this 1796 Treaty of Tripoli.
2.2 First Barbary War
In March 1801, the pasha of Tripoli demanded more tribute than previously agreed upon. The newly inaugurated U.S. President, Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson Other images: (, , ) Order 3rd President Term of Office Monday, March 4, 1801 Thursday, March 3, 1809 Followed John Adams Succeeded by James Madison Date of Birth April 13, 1743 Place of Birth Shadwell, Virginia Date of Death Tuesday, Jul, having long disagreed with the policy of paying tribute, refused the pasha’s demand. On May 10, 1801, the pasha declared war on the United States.
307 Americans captured from the ship Philadelphia were forced to work building Tripoli’s fortifications.
On April 27, 1805, Marines led by William Eaton William Eaton ( 23 February 1764 1 June 1811) was an American Army officer, involved with the First Barbary War. He supported Pasha’s brother to win the battle. Born in Woodstock, Connecticut, joined the Army at an early age and served until April 1783, w stormed the Barbary pirates’ harbor stronghold of Derna, Tripoli. It is in honor of this victory that the phrase “To the Shores of Tripoli” is commemorated on the United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps.
On June 4, 1805, under the imminent threat of U.S. action, Tobias Lear negotiated the Treaty of Peace and Amity with the Pasha Yusuf. To the dismay of many Americans, this included a ransom of $60,000 paid for the release of prisoners from the Philadelphia and several American merchant ships.
By 1807, Algiers had gone back to taking American ships and seamen hostage. Distracted by the preludes to the War of 1812, the Americans were unable to respond to the provocations until 1815, with the Second Barbary War, thereby concluding the encompassing Tripolian War (1800-1815).
http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Treaty:of:Tripoli.htm
Thanks.
"Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."
I suppose they prefer us to drop bombs instead of Bibles... so be it, they chose.
“Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.”
That’s well and good, but this is a military operation. I am a Christian, but I draw the line at my COUNTRY converting. How would you feel if they were passing out Korans? With our current President, that’s not too far off the chart of reality.
In addition to military laws, there is the little problem that for an Afghani Muslim to convert to Christianity is a capital offense. Our job there is not to create potential martyrs that we then have to defend. The job is hard enough as it is. My son was there in 2006.
Additional historical perspective on pirates. Source: To Dare & To Conquer: Special Operations and the Destiny of Nations, from Achilles to Al Qaeda, by Derek Leebaert, 2006.
As early as 1786, Jefferson had proposed a Barbary Fund for the purpose of putting an end to piracy. When we gained independence we lost the protection of Britian against the Barbary pirates. Although Washington and Adams paid tributed “Jefferson was a harder case”. He acted as soon as he became president. Several extremely interesting operations (read the book), some successful and some not were executed. Finally, in 1815, Decatur’s activities encouraged British and Dutch naval forces to end their predations.
It looks as though 200 years has not changed much, we are still in the lead, encouraging Europe to do its part to deal with Muslims and pirates.
The plurality of the military chaplaincy made me get out.
Check my Post #30. I completely agree with you. The military chaplaincy is not friendly to true christianity anymore.
Allowing someone to be informed about a religion is in no way an effort to convert them.
When I was in college I was required to take a world religion class where we read the koran, hindu, and taoist screeds. It was not an attempt to convert me.
While I was in the Army from 1969-1971(Vietnam, 1970-1971, I’m especially glad I’m not in it today, in view of official anti-Christian travesties such as this((this is a case where I’d have to choose to obey God instead of man) ,also because of the approaching approval of sodomites openly serving,women in combat,and the UN’s push to use the US military for its own purposes. Whatever happened to America? The government killed it.
Perhaps you didn’t notice, but as I said, the head chaplain instructed the subordinate chaplain NOT to distribute the Bibles. Perhaps you don’t care about the truth, but NO proselytizing occured... PERIOD.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.