U.S.

Army Threatens Christian Soldiers with the Brig (Jail)

Soldiers attending a pre-deployment briefing at Fort Hood say they were told that evangelical Christians and members of the Tea Party were a threat to the nation and that any soldier donating to those groups would be subjected to punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. A soldier who attended the October 17 briefing told journalist Todd Starnes the counter-intelligence agent in charge of the meeting spent nearly a half hour discussing "how evangelical Christians and groups like the American Family Association were 'tearing the country apart.'" The soldier said he fears reprisals and asked not to be identified. He said there was a blanket statement that donating to any groups that were considered a threat to the military and government was punishable under military regulations. Another soldier who attended the briefing alerted the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. That individual's recollections of the briefing matched the others in attendance. But this is not the first time an Army briefing has labeled evangelicals as extremists. Last April an Army Reserve briefing classified Evangelical

Christianity and Catholicism as "religious extremism." Two weeks ago, several dozen active duty troops at Camp Shelby in Mississippi, were told the American Family Association, a well-respected Christian ministry, should be classified as a domestic hate group because it advocates for traditional family values. Too many times, military leaders are calling these "isolated" incidents. To the contrary, many Christians are seeing a pattern of anti-Christian threats by military trainers. Please send a letter or E-mail the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, urging him to stop the Army's anti-Christian training rhetoric by loose cannon trainers.