CNN reported Monday that the Pentagon's Inspector General has found that seven military officers, including four generals, engaged in misconduct three years ago when they appeared in a promotional video for an evangelical group called Christian Embassy.
Although no one in the military is allowed to seek converts while on active duty, the officers appear in uniform in the video, much of which, according to the Washington Post, was filmed inside the Pentagon. Former Acting Secretary of the Air Force Pete Geren appears as well.
Mikey Weinstein, an Air Force Academy graduate and former assistant counsel under President Reagan who founded the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which asked for the investigation, told CNN, "They were absolutely proselytizing. ... Numbers of them had actually led Christian Embassy Bible studies. They were well aware what this was about."
Christian Embassy, which targets the government and military, is an outreach group of Campus Crusade for Christ. The front page of their website features links for "I Work on Capitol Hill," "I Am a Member of the Diplomatic Community," "I Am a Presidential Appointee," and "I Work at the Pentagon."
"One of the reasons this is so sensitive, and so controversial" explained CNN, "is top commanders know that al Qaeda and other fundamentalist Islamic groups often make the claim that the US military is in, if you will, a crusade against Islam -- those of the Islamic faith. So there are still many, many questions now about just how much control, how much influence this Christian Embassy group and other groups have inside the Pentagon walls."
The full article contains a video clip of CNN's Situation Room and CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, both broadcast on August 6.
Although members of the military have a right to proselytize their personal beliefs, to do so while appearing to represent the military is dangerous and wrong. The PERSONAL RIGHT to practice religion includes NOT being pressured in someone else's religious practice; and having someone in a military uniform or, worst, within a government building, does give the impression that his/her particular religion is government preferred.
Also, this becomes a danger to America when it helps confirm what our Islamic enemies believe, that we are conducting a war against Islam.
Our government (local, state, federal) is Constitutionally prohibited from promoting ANY religion over another, PERIOD.
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