What fighter jet would Jesus fly?

I have a great deal of respect for people of faith, but we have a problem in this country when churches are pushing military propaganda:

[Rev. Gregory A. Boyd] said there were Christians on both the left and the right who had turned politics and patriotism into "idolatry."

He said he first became alarmed while visiting another megachurch’s worship service on a Fourth of July years ago. The service finished with the chorus singing "God Bless America" and a video of fighter jets flying over a hill silhouetted with crosses.

"I thought to myself, 'What just happened? Fighter jets mixed up with the cross?'" he said in an interview.

Patriotic displays are still a mainstay in some evangelical churches. Across town from Mr. Boyd's church, the sanctuary of North Heights Lutheran Church was draped in bunting on the Sunday before the Fourth of July this year for a "freedom celebration." Military veterans and flag twirlers paraded into the sanctuary, an enormous American flag rose slowly behind the stage, and a Marine major who had served in Afghanistan preached that the military was spending "your hard-earned money" on good causes.

Meanwhile, the military is becoming increasingly Republican and Christian-dominated:

[Mikey] Weinstein, 51, was once a White House lawyer who defended the Reagan administration during the Iran-contra investigation. Three generations of his family — he, his father, both his sons and a daughter-in-law — have gone to U.S. military academies.

Now he's declaring war against what, for him, is an improbable enemy: the defense establishment.

He is suing the Air Force in federal court, demanding a permanent injunction against alleged religious favoritism and proselytizing in the service. He has also formed the nonprofit Military Religious Freedom Foundation to combat what he sees as a concerted effort by evangelical Christian organizations to treat the armed forces as a mission field, ripe for conversions.

...[O]ne of his favorite lines these days — right up there with "sucking chest wounds" — comes from the Officers' Christian Fellowship, a private organization with 14,000 active-duty members on more than 200 U.S. military bases worldwide.

In its mission statement, the OCF says its goal is "a spiritually transformed military, with ambassadors for Christ in uniform, empowered by the Holy Spirit."

Ambassadors for Christ in uniform. According to the OCF's executive director, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Bruce L. Fister, it means that "the people around a military leader ought to see the characteristics of Christ in that leader." It is a national tradition reflected in "hundreds of writings and proclamations issued down through the ages by American leaders who claim divine protection for our nation, place our nation's trust in God and claim God as our source of strength."

To Weinstein, a Jew and a member of a military family, it is an abomination. It "evokes the Crusades."

Keeping religion and military affairs separate is good for both. It's hard to imagine us winning hearts and minds in the Muslim world if our military is led by self-proclaimed "ambassadors for Christ in uniform" who see "characteristics of Christ" in their leaders. And from a democratic perspective, people should not be made to feel like they are betraying their faith if they do not support Republicans or the war in Iraq.

Comments

[James Bourke]

And I thought American flags in sanctuaries were a bad sign...

[Seth]

This is probably the scariest post I've read in a very long time.

[Paul]

Frankly, no matter how many times I have a discussion about religion or try to understand the arguments in support of religious belief, I simply can not wrap my mind around the idea that intelligent people can "have a lot of respect" for the lore of folk tales and the people who actually find fact in fiction.

No matter how vehemently one argues of the good religion brings to humanity, in the end, religion has been at the core of almost every conflict throughout the history of mankind. More people have died at the hand(s) of religion, more problems have been wrought by religion, and more people learn to hate because of religion than any other single factor. Religion doesn't teach people to love one another, it teaches people how to judge one another.

The Americanization of religion results from our absolute ignorance of the history of religion. How many people do you think know that christianity was codified by Emperor Constantine as means to ingratiate the masses of poor and solidify his grip on power? How many people know that the there were, at one time, two popes who employed armys , thugs, and assassins in order to maintain their grip(s) on power?

Americans are ignorant of many things, but history is forgotten after every sunrise. This scares me more than anything.

[Zac Crockett]

"No matter how vehemently one argues of the good religion brings to humanity, in the end, religion has been at the core of almost every conflict throughout the history of mankind. More people have died at the hand(s) of religion, more problems have been wrought by religion, and more people learn to hate because of religion than any other single factor. Religion doesn't teach people to love one another, it teaches people how to judge one another."

Paul,
you are correct to assert that religion has been the cause of much heartache, misery, and war throughout mankind's history. But just because religion has brought some misery into the world doesn't mean it's some plague upon humanity worthy of vanishing from the face of the earth, like smallpox.

If in fact you are going to condemn religion because it has brought some grief into this world, then you're probably going to have to condemn a whole lot of things. Take science,which is considered the very pinnacle of logic and thought (and the opposite of religion). Science has provided mankind with something religion has never been able to do (unless you believe in a fire and brimstone being who can destroy you with a blink of an eye): a means to wipe itself off the face of the planet. Nuclear weaponry, bioengineered superviruses, and chemical weapons were all created by science, with the potential to kill millions (if not annihilate the human race altogether). The Tuskegee Syphilis Study started in the early 1930's (where some poor African Americans were purposely denied penicillin and treatment for syphilis so the effects and transmission of the disease could be studied), the Eugenics movement, and the experiments of the nazi scientist Josef Mengele on people in concentration camps were all motivated by the search for knowledge. Because it has inflicted considerable misery and human suffering (and provided mankind the ability to destroy itself), regardless of the good it has brought into the world, should science be discarded by humanity? Does science teach love?

[Paul]

Zac, I don't dispute your argument. It's as valid as any other argument for the benefits of religion.

The difference, and it is an important difference, is that faith resides at the very core of the vast majority of people on this planet. Exponentially more people base their lives on religion and faith than do people who base their lives on science.

Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that while there are those, like myself, who worship computers and good beer, most people aren't going to kneel in front of their Mac/PC with a cold beer in hand and bow their heads in prayer.

Therefore, while your argument has merit, you may as well throw in examples of how nature kills people too.

Religion was invented by man. Religion(s) was then co-opted and corrupted by people in power who saw it as the perfect tool to control the masses. It has been used as a bludgeon to keep people in line for centuries.

My opinion, and it is only one opinion, is that religion is the single greatest threat to humanity on the planet. Religion and it's so-called 'teachings" were lost in the wilderness of ignorance and fear centuries ago... Or, perhaps it is more accurate to say that it is precisely ignorance and fear that keeps the faithful believing.

Believe what you want, but personally, I feel it is time for a new social paradigm. That's all I am saying...

[Sign Twirlers]

This reminds of a recent case which plagued the military. A few months ago, a soldier was discharged for being part of the Wiccan faith. There is definitely a Christian bias in the military, which is hurting the war effort. Let's not forget that an Arabic interpreter was discharged from Iraq because it was discovered he was gay...