God's Basic Training

The warriors pose for the camera in a group shot - some holding their weapons in one hand and their holy book in another. Elsewhere, a poster bears a quotation calling for the killing of enemy leaders and forcing the defeated people to convert. If you think the images come from Islamic fundamentalist training camps in remote regions of the Middle East you'd be wrong according to an article in Military.com.

The photo depicts Army trainees at Fort Jackson, S.C., where in addition to basic combat training recruits may also attend "God's Basic Training," while the poster -- boasting a quotation from conservative author Ann Coulter -- adorns the door of a Military Police office at Fort Riley, Kansas.

"These are startling and disgusting revelations of further unconstitutional behavior by technologically the most lethal organization ever created by humankind -- the U.S. military," said Mikey Weinstein, whose group, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, discovered the evangelical-oriented program at Fort Jackson and the Coulter poster at Fort Riley.

The group also has found at the Fort Riley exchange the Muslim-critical "Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam" on display right next to The Holy Bible. And at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., a new "Enabled By Christ" Christian men's store operates at the base exchange, Weinstein said.

Officials with the bases in question and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, however, deny there is any deliberate intent to impose a religious belief on troops, and a Fort Riley spokesman told Military.com command would look into Weinstein's allegations there.

Read is all here

Posted by Ann Fontaine on December 19, 2007 6:00 PM | |
Comments (1)

I'm curious - is Weinstein proposing that we censor the books military men are allowed to read on their own time and buy with their own money? I can see where the poster on the Military Police door may be a problem as would be the disruption of the meeting (if the allegations are true), but otherwise, it looks to me like most of what's described here is protected exercise of one's freedom of religion.

Ralph Wagenet

Posted by RalphW [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 19, 2007 8:07 PM

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