Dominionist Christianity, has suffered a major setback in its attempt to inject itself as the official religion of the US Armed Forces.
From the LA Times today;
Last week, after an investigation spurred by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the Pentagon abruptly announced that it would not be delivering "freedom packages" to our soldiers in Iraq, as it had originally intended.
What were the packages to contain? Not body armor or home-baked cookies. Rather, they held Bibles, proselytizing material in English and Arabic and the apocalyptic computer game "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" (derived from the series of post-Rapture novels), in which "soldiers for Christ" hunt down enemies who look suspiciously like U.N. peacekeepers.
The defeat is a victory for those who realize that we have dug ourselves into a deep hole in Iraq and that to get out we must stop digging.
But it is an unequal fight; one carried mostly by individual whistleblowers and the efforts of Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation against the vast forces of the Christian right and its 5th Column in the Pentagon.
The relentless advance of these Christians on steroids has been momentarily checked. But these people are on a "mission from God" and they will not stop until they achieve their goals.
These goals include;
. The complete evangelization of the US Armed Forces
. The establishment of their sick form of Christianity as the official religion of the US
. The creation of the pre-requisites for The Rapture, Armageddon and the return of Jesus Christ.
In the LA Times Op/Ed article, Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, adds;
Apparently the wonks at the Pentagon forgot that Muslims tend to bristle at the word "crusade" and thought that what the Iraq war lacked was a dose of end-times theology.
In the end, the Defense Department realized the folly of participating in any Operation Straight Up crusade. But the episode is just another example of increasingly disturbing, and indeed unconstitutional, relationships being forged between the U.S. military and private evangelical groups.
troutfishing and I have posted several diaries regarding this particular issue and other related examples of this whole phenomenon;
"Convert Or Die" Game Sent To Troops In Iraq w/Pentagon Blessing
Brainless Pentagon Chaplains Endanger GIs in Iraq
Weinstein on CNN re Breaking "Christian Embassy" News
DOD Report: Top US Military Officials Endorsed Evangelizing In Pentagon
Heavy Evangelical Penetration Of US Military
James Dobson will freak out when he sees this film
CNN picks up the Christian Embassy video story
As I said, the fight is unequal but if we fail to stop these true believers the consequences are nothing short of "End Times".
Perhaps the MRFF and Mikey Weinstein have made enough noise that the MSM is starting to take the notice that this issue deserves.
We went into Iraq without a plan for what to do after we got to Baghdad.
It seems that there are flag officers at the Pentagon that think that things are going swimmingly and that there is nothing to worry because The Rapture is coming.
But as Mikey says; The Rapture is not an exit strategy.