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Old 10-15-2013, 11:26   #1
Dusty
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Angry Army Defines Christian Ministry as Domestic Hate Group

This is an Obamanation.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/...cmp=latestnews

Several dozen U.S. Army active duty and reserve troops were told last week that the American Family Association, a well-respected Christian ministry, should be classified as a domestic hate group because the group advocates for traditional family values.

The briefing was held at Camp Shelby in Mississippi and listed the AFA alongside domestic hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam.

A soldier who attended the briefing contacted me and sent me a photograph of a slide show presentation that listed AFA as a domestic hate group. Under the AFA headline is a photograph of Westboro Baptist Church preacher Fred Phelps holding a sign reading “No special law for f***.”

American Family Association has absolutely no affiliation with the controversial church group known for picketing the funerals of American servicemembers.



It looks like the Obama administration is separating the military from the American people.


“I had to show Americans what our soldiers are now being taught,” said the soldier who asked not to be identified. “I couldn’t just let this one pass.”

The soldier said a chaplain interrupted the briefing and challenged the instructor’s assertion that AFA is a hate group.

“The instructor said AFA could be considered a hate group because they don’t like gays,” the soldier told me. “The slide was talking about how AFA refers to gays as sinners and heathens and derogatory terms.”

The soldier, who is an evangelical Christian, said the chaplain defended the Christian ministry.

“He kept asking the instructor, ‘Are you sure about that, son? Are you sure about that?’” he said, recalling the back and forth.

Later in the briefing, the soldiers were reportedly told that they could face punishment for participating in organizations that are considered hate groups.

That considered, the soldier contacted me because he is a financial contributor to the AFA ministry.

“I donate to AFA as often as I can,” he said. “Am I going to be punished? I listen to American Family Radio all day. If they hear it on my radio, will I be faced with a Uniformed Code of Military Justice charge?”

The soldier said he was “completely taken back by this blatant attack not only on the AFA but Christians and our beliefs.”

It’s not the first time the Army has accused conservative Christian groups of being domestic hate groups.

Earlier this year, I exposed Army briefings that classified evangelical Christians and Catholics as examples of religious extremism.

Another briefing told officers to pay close attention to troops who supported groups like AFA and the Family Research Council.

One officer said the two Christian ministries did not “share our Army Values.”

“When we see behaviors that are inconsistent with Army Values – don’t just walk by – do the right thing and address the concern before it becomes a problem,” the officer wrote in an email to his subordinates.

At the time the military assured me those briefings were isolated incidents and did not reflect official Army policy.

If that’s true, how do they explain what happened at Camp Shelby?

I contacted the Pentagon for an answer but they referred me to Army public affairs. And so far – they haven’t returned my calls.

And their claim that the classifications are “isolated” is not washing with AFA.

“The American Family Association has received numerous accounts of military installations as well as law enforcement agencies using a list compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which wrongfully identifies and defames AFA,” reads a statement they sent me.

Bryan Fischer hosts a talk show on American Family Radio. He called the Army’s allegations “libelous, slanderous and blatantly false.”

“This mischaracterization of AFA is reprehensible and inexcusable,” he told me. “We have many military members who are a part of the AFA network who know these accusations are a tissue of lies.”

Fischer said their views on gay marriage and homosexuality are not hate – it’s simply a disagreement.

“If our military wasn’t headed by a commander-in-chief who is hostile to Christian faith, these allegations would be laughed off every military base in the world,” he said.

Hiram Sasser, of the Liberty Institute, told me the Army’s briefing is a smear.

He recalled what President Obama said last year when Muslim extremists attacked our diplomatic outpost in Libya.

“Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths,” President Obama said. “We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.”

Sasser said he wished the president and the Army would treat the American Family Association with the same deference and respect they show those who mean to harm us.

“Why must the Army under this administration continue to attack Americans of faith and smear them?” Sasser wondered.

I fear the answer to that question.

Because it appears the Obama administration is separating the military from the American people – and planting seeds of doubt about Christians and some of our nation’s most prominent Christian ministries.

Snip
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Old 10-15-2013, 11:36   #2
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Southern Poverty Law Center
They're not biased.
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Old 10-15-2013, 12:28   #3
Pete
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Islam

Islam has a pretty low opinion of Gays.......

Gay Marriage .......


Waiting - waiting - waiting..............
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Old 10-15-2013, 13:05   #4
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This Country's starting to smell like latter-day Rome.
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Old 10-15-2013, 13:34   #5
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The AFA has NO association with the Weatboro freaks, as stated in the article.

CAN I still say, GOD BLESS THE USA! THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH!

Holly...
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Old 10-15-2013, 13:43   #6
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Islam has a pretty low opinion of Gays.......

Gay Marriage .......


Waiting - waiting - waiting..............
At least they included the Nation of Islam as a hate group, according to the article.

This obviously smacks of overtones of something very unpleasant, to say the least.
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Old 10-15-2013, 13:59   #7
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...This obviously smacks of overtones of something very unpleasant, to say the least.
Berlin, 1920's? Russia, 1890's? China, 1930's?
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Old 10-15-2013, 14:04   #8
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Berlin, 1920's? Russia, 1890's? China, 1930's?
Is all of the above an option?
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Old 10-15-2013, 18:32   #9
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Is the AFA gonna call for a boycott of the DOD now?
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Old 10-15-2013, 20:11   #10
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A list of domestic hate groups compiled by the SPLC?

Right....

TR
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Old 10-16-2013, 04:25   #11
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Battlespace Preparations

http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm34-130.pdf

Section 6

The enemy is being identified on a daily basis and a focus on weakening their infrastructure is well under way.
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Old 10-16-2013, 08:32   #12
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Guys - this was out of one of our formations. Bottom line: it was an EO NCO who put together a briefing and used non-approved sources and didn't have his final product vetted. He used some data off the Southern Poverty Law Center (an extreme leftist, subversive and anti-Consitututionalist organization). When called on it by the Chaplain attending the class, he apologized and scrubbed the offending data from the presentation. The soldier has been counseled. ALL the soldiers will be contacted and told that the AFA is NOT a "hate" group. Apologies out to the AFA. Work is being done to ensure that this does NOT happen again.

Just goes to show you watch what you pull from the "interwebz".....

Jim
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Old 10-16-2013, 08:48   #13
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FWIW, from the AFA's website <<LINK>>.
Quote:
OUR MISSION

The mission of the American Family Association is to inform, equip, and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture, and give aid to the church here and abroad in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission.

PHILOSOPHICAL STATEMENT
The American Family Association believes that God has communicated absolute truth to mankind, and that all people are subject to the authority of God’s Word at all times. Therefore AFA believes that a culture based on biblical truth best serves the well-being of our nation and our families, in accordance with the vision of our founding documents; and that personal transformation through the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest agent of biblical change in any culture.

ACTION STATEMENT
The American Family Association acts to:

(1) restrain evil by exposing the works of darkness;
(2) promote virtue by upholding in culture that which is right, true and good according to Scripture;
(3) convince individuals of sin and challenge them to seek Christ’s grace and forgiveness;
(4) motivate people to take a stand on cultural and moral issues at the local, state and national levels; and
(5) encourage Christians to bear witness to the love of Jesus Christ as they live their lives before the world.

To that end, AFA spurs activism directed to:

Preservation of Marriage and the Family
Decency and Morality
Sanctity of Human Life
Stewardship
Media Integrity

We believe in holding accountable companies that sponsor programs attacking traditional family values. We also believe in commending those companies that act responsibly regarding programs they support.

It is AFA’s goal to be a champion of Christian activism. If you are alarmed by the increasing ungodliness and depravity assaulting our nation, tired of cursing the darkness, and ready to light a bonfire, please join us. Do it for your children and grandchildren.
AFA STATEMENT OF FAITH

1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.

2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

3. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

4. We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

5. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.

6. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.

7. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Old 10-16-2013, 08:49   #14
Dusty
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Originally Posted by JimP View Post
Guys - this was out of one of our formations. Bottom line: it was an EO NCO who put together a briefing and used non-approved sources and didn't have his final product vetted. He used some data off the Southern Poverty Law Center (an extreme leftist, subversive and anti-Consitututionalist organization). When called on it by the Chaplain attending the class, he apologized and scrubbed the offending data from the presentation. The soldier has been counseled. ALL the soldiers will be contacted and told that the AFA is NOT a "hate" group. Apologies out to the AFA. Work is being done to ensure that this does NOT happen again.

Just goes to show you watch what you pull from the "interwebz".....

Jim
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Old 10-16-2013, 09:55   #15
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Your highlights
I don't see those highlighted phrases as extreme or hateful. I certainly don't believe that the Bible is an infallible, authoritative document. However, though a deist, I believe modern christianity to be a general force for good in the world.
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