Mar 06 2006
Military Ban on Evangelism Already Exists
I can see the logic of a ban against proselytizing Muslims in the warzone, but why ban soldier-to-soldier sharing of faith?
From the Colorado Springs Gazette:
TOM ROEDER, March 6
A ban on proselytizing sought in a lawsuit against the Air Force would be weak compared with one in place for the past six years for American troops serving in the Middle East. The ban, included in U.S. Central Command’s General Order No. 1., prohibits ‘proselytizing of any religion, faith or practice’ for soldiers, sailors and airmen in the region, including those at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ban includes soldier-to-soldier contact.
Central Command says the ban is necessary because most nations in the region are overwhelmingly Muslim, and Christian evangelism is forbidden by local laws.
Critics, though, fear the ban blocks service members from freely practicing their faiths.A lawsuit filed last fall by Mikey Weinstein of New Mexico seeks an outright ban on uninvited proselytizing and evangelism throughout the Air Force.
Mikey takes it further, “Why is it acceptable over here but not in the combat zone?” said Weinstein. “This is hypocrisy of the highest order.”
I guess he’s never heard of freedom of religion, freedom of speech or any of those other nasty items codified in the Bill of Rights. I seem to recall that the First Amendment starts out: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…. Maybe he missed that in high school Civics class.
