Army Labeled Evangelicals as Religious Extremists
Apr
5, 2013
A U.S. Army training instructor
listed Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as examples of religious
extremism along with Al Qaeda and Hamas during a briefing with an Army Reserve
unit based in Pennsylvania, Fox News has learned.
“We find this offensive to have
Evangelical Christians and the Catholic Church to be listed among known
terrorist groups,” said Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance
for Religious Liberty. “It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to
allow this type of wrongheaded characterization.”
Material presented to soldiers at
training session.
The incident occurred during an Army
Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief on extremism. Topping the list is
Evangelical Christianity. Other organizations listed included Catholicism, Al
Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, Sunni Muslims, and Nation of Islam.
The military also listed
“Islamophobia” as a form of religious extremism.
Army spokesman George Wright told
Fox News that this was an “isolated incident not condoned by the Dept. of the
Army.”
“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.
“We consider the matter closed,” he
said.
The incident was made public by a
soldier who attended the briefing. He asked for copies of the presentation and
sent them to the Chaplain Alliance.
“He considers himself an evangelical
Christian and did not appreciate being classified with terrorists,” Crews told
Fox News. “There was a pervasive attitude in the presentation that anything
associated with religion is an extremist.”
The Archdiocese for the Military
Services was shocked to learn that the Army considered Catholicism to be an
example of extremism.
“The Archdiocese is astounded that
Catholics were listed alongside groups that are, by their very mission and
nature, violent and extremist,” the Archdiocese said in a statement.
They want the Dept. of Defense to
“ensure that taxpayer funds are never again used to present blatantly
anti-religious material to the men and women in uniform.”
“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 he had a chance to speak
with the officer who conducted the briefing and she told him that she got her
information from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“Why is there such dependence upon
the work of the SPLC to determine hate groups and extremist groups,” Crews
said. “It appears that some military entities are using definitions of ‘hate’
and ‘extreme’ from the lists of anti-Christian political organizations. That
violates the apolitical stance appropriate for the military.”
But Mark Potok, a spokesman for the
Southern Poverty Law Center, told Fox News they did not provide the military
with any list about religious extremism.
“It’s emphatically – 100 percent
false,” Potok said.
He said the SPLC has never labeled
Evangelical Christianity or Catholicism as extremist groups.
Crews said he is extremely
disappointed in the military’s handling of the incident and said they need to
fix the “gross distortions presented in the briefing.
“Those soldiers who were presented
this material – they need to have a new briefing with corrected materials,”
Crews said. “They need to undo the damage that was done.”
He also wants the military to
consult with chaplains about matters involving religion.
“All religious issues of this sort
in the U.S. military should be channeled first through the Chiefs of Chaplains
offices for review,” he said. “Do they really want to classify evangelicals and
the Catholic Church as extremist groups?”
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