Defense Department classifies Catholics, evangelicals as extremists

The Washington Times ^ | 4/5/2013 | Lachlan Markay

[markomalley]

The Defense Department came under fire Thursday for a U.S. Army Reserve presentation that classified Catholics and Evangelical Protestants as “extremist” religious groups alongside al Qaeda and the Ku Klux Klan.

The presentation detailed a number of extremist threats within the U.S. military, including white supremacist groups, street gangs, and religious sects.

The presentation identified seventeen religious organizations in a slide titled “religious extremism.” They include al Qaeda, Hamas, the Filipino separatist group Abu Sayyaf, and the Ku Klux Klan, which the slide identifies as a Christian organization.

“Religious extremism is not limited to any single religion, ethnic group, or region of the world,” the slide explains, in language that closely resembles the text of a Wikipedia page on “extremism.”

[markomalley]

h/t to FReeper Winstons Julia

The slide deck is here. The slide in question:

The accompanying narrative with that slide states:

Extremism is a complex phenomenon; it is defined as beliefs, attitudes, feelings, actions, or strategies of a character far removed from the "ordinary." Because "ordinary" is subjective, no religious group would label itself extreme or its doctrine "extremism." However, religious extremism is not limited to any single religion, ethnic group, or region of the world; every religion has some followers that believe their beliefs, customes and traditions are the only "right way" and that all others are practicing their faith the "wrong way," seeing and believing that their faith/religion superior to all others.

The Archdiocese of the Military Services had the following press release:

The Archdiocese for the Military Services and Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty recently became aware of a U.S. Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief that expressly listed “Catholicism,” “Evangelical Christianity” and other religious groups as examples of “religious extremism” alongside groups such as “Al Qaeda”, “Hamas” and the “KKK.”

The Archdiocese is astounded that Catholics were listed alongside groups that are, by their very mission and nature, violent and extremist.

According to an investigation and reply from the Army Chief of Chaplains office, the training in question appears to have been an isolated incident not condoned by the Department of the Army. The Archdiocese and the Chaplain Alliance explained that the Army can and should take steps to prevent such incidents in the future.

The Archdiocese calls upon the Department of Defense to review these materials and to ensure that tax-payer funds are never again used to present blatantly anti-religious material to the men and women in uniform.

The Obama Admin continues to nudge. Remember the 2009 Right Wing Extremism report put out by DHS? When that got exposed, they retracted that one, as well (it was "unauthorized").

[markomalley]

ping

[mfish13]

Absolutely disgraceful. But what do you expect with Obama in there.

[jsanders2001]

And I declare our current government as an enemy of its own citizens. So there...lol

[Gaffer]

I doubt these slides were prepared by military officers. I’d suspect they came out of Executive Branch offices from Obama political civilians, or contractors the White House picked to produce lying propaganda as a political payback favor. It would be good if one could get a copy of the original PowerPoint and inspect the file properties.

[ilovesarah2012]

From FR yesterday:

Army Labeled Evangelicals as Religious Extremists

Friday, April 05, 2013 8:05:27 PM · 18 of 28
Albion Wilde to ilovesarah2012

From the article:
Army spokesman George Wright told Fox News that this was an “isolated incident not condoned by the Dept. of the Army... and certainly does not reflect our policy or doctrine,” he said. “It was produced by an individual without anyone in the chain of command’s knowledge or permission.... “In the notes it was clearly stated that the presenter was not a subject matter expert, and produced the material after conducting Internet research,” Wright said.

So if the presenter was not an expert, what were they doing presenting the material, Crews asked.

He said...she told him that she got her information from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

[markomalley]

Remember the 2009 DHS report? (link in the OP above). This is not the first time such a thing has happened.

[SERKIT]

They need extremist spell-check. MORMAN? C’mon. When we have a radical left-wing regime, who is surprised that traditional American institutions are under attack, and bringing Islamists into the mainstream? We have enemies, both foreign and domestic, ingrained into the current Feral gubmint. Speaking out against the regime is now viewed as bordering on treason.

[A.A. Cunningham]

extremists

[ilovesarah2012]

And it won’t be the last. Soon they’ll be confiscating our Bibles along with our guns. Can’t have bitter clingers.

[Shady]

They are products of a UFT education...illiterate, biased, ignorant, and best of all, evil.

[elpadre]

just reporting such trash is not enough - an investigation is in order to determine who ordered this training material produced, who did produce it, and for what reason. And - publicize the results.

[HomeAtLast]

They spelled Mormon wrong...

[xzins]

Here is what I take from this based on my years as a chaplain:

• a briefing with an Army Reserve unit based in Pennsylvania,
• The incident occurred during an Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief on extremism.
• This was an “isolated incident not condoned by the Dept. of the Army,” he said.
• “This slide was not produced by the Army and certainly does not reflect our policy or doctrine,” he said. “It was produced by an individual without anyone in the chain of command’s knowledge or permission.”
• Wright said after the complaint was lodged, the presenter deleted the slide, and apologized.

Knowing these things, there was a RESERVE unit that had a training. Routinely, units will task a young troop to do a briefing as a means of growing. My guess is this was put together by a corporal, a buck sergeant, or a butterbar lieutenant. They got their info off the internet and presented it as a class to fulfill a requirement for “equal opportunity training” during one of their training sessions during the year.

So, I’m willing to give the Army the benefit of the doubt on this one. The soldier, though, has been thoroughly indoctrinated by the culture considering he didn’t realize the propaganda he was spewing and is an example to us of the brainwashing taking place in our culture of our young.

[apoliticalone]

I could have guessed that they came from the SPLC. They supposedly were behind the Missouri MIAC report too that had vets as a threat.. The real threat is how a private organization with its own ethnic centric agenda has influence with government and LE.

[elpadre]

a thorough investigation is in order:
1. who ordered the material produced
2. who actually produced it
3. what is the background of these people
4. what was the stated justification for such
5. what was the desired result
6. etc.

[Rich21IE]

ping ( no surprise).

[ilovesarah2012]

I do wonder how connected the SLPC has become to the Obama administration. Hmmm...

[Daffynition]

Extremist extraordinaire

[markomalley]

The soldier, though, has been thoroughly indoctrinated by the culture considering he didn’t realize the propaganda he was spewing and is an example to us of the brainwashing taking place in our culture of our young.

This is exactly the point.

While I agree that this is likely the product of a young NCO tasked with doing up the briefing, the part that troubles me is that the SPLC is identified as an unimpeachable source for EEO information by the government. The FDA uses SPLC material without further inquiry in their EEO training (publicized heavily about a year ago), the DOD does (I would bet that this young NCO had that identified as a source he should go to), as well as the DHS.

In the eyes of the SPLC, if you are not a pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, pro-Øbama (but I repeat myself) activist, you are a right-wing extremist.