The Family Research Council (FRC) is reporting that Lt. Col. Jack Rich of the U.S. Army sent a 14-page memo to subordinates warning his troops to be on the lookout for people who share traditional Christian values such as those embraced by the FRC and other organizations such as the American Family Association (AFA).
"Just want to ensure everyone is somewhat educated on some of the groups out there that do not share our Army Values," Rich warned in the e-mail. "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 e-mail lists the FRC and AFA among violent extremists such as the Ku Klux Klan, Black Panthers and neo-Nazi groups.
"The religious right in America has employed a variety of strategies in its efforts to beat back the increasingly confident gay rights movement," Rich continues. "One of those has been defamation."
They are also guilty, he claims, of "engaging in the crudest type of name-calling, describing LGBT people as 'perverts' with 'filthy habits' who seek to snatch the children of straight parents and 'convert' them to gay sex."
Discovery of the memo came on the heels of a similar find revealed late last week by the Archdiocese for the Military Services of an Army training program that lists Evangelical Christians and the Catholic Church on a list of "Religious Extremism".
The Army is insisting that both cases are "isolated events".
“The notion that the Army is taking an anti-religion or anti-Christian stance is contrary to any of our policies, doctrines and regulations,” said George Wright, Army spokesman at the Pentagon, to Fox News. “Any belief that the Army is out to label religious groups in a negative manner is without warrant.”
Wright went on to say that they are checking into the origin of the e-mail, saying that it is still unclear who ordered it to be sent and why.
This explanation isn't good enough for Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, now an executive vice president at the FRC, who told Fox that Americans need to be concerned about these events.
“If this is the action of a single Army lieutenant colonel, it needs to be investigated,” he said. “On the other hand, if what he reflects is a shifting policy or attitude of the Army or DOD, then I think it is a much bigger issue.”
Boykin, who served more than 36 years in the military, said he's seen serious attacks on religious liberty in the armed forces since 2008.
Among the incidents he listed in the Fox report:
• A War Games scenario at Fort Leavenworth that identified Christian groups and Evangelical groups as being potential threats;
• A 2009 Dept. of Homeland Security memorandum that identified future threats to national security coming from Evangelicals and pro-life groups;
• A West Point study released by the U.S. Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center that linked pro-lifers to terrorism;
• Evangelical leader Franklin Graham was uninvited from the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer service because of his comments about Islam;
• Christian prayers were banned at the funeral services for veterans at Houston’s National Cemetery;
• Bibles were banned at Walter Reed Army Medical Center – a decision that was later rescinded;
• Christian crosses and a steeple were removed from a chapel in Afghanistan because the military said the icons disrespected other religions;
• Catholic chaplains were told not to read a letter to parishioners from their archbishop related to Obamcare mandates. The Secretary of the Army feared the letter could be viewed as a call for civil disobedience.
The latest scandals are sparking outrage on Capital Hill with lawmakers demanding answers to what is going on inside the U.S. military.
In regard to the Army training manual discovered last week, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and other lawmakers are seriously concerned. "This briefing reveals an anti-religion bias rather than a rational approach to religious extremism," they write.
They are asking for an investigation into "who received this briefing, the specific information sources on which the briefing was based, and what the Army is doing to ensure that this sort of offensive briefing is not given again."
After yesterday's revelation, they may also want to ask why a lieutenant colonel is telling his subordinates that conservative values are incompatible with Army service, writes FRC president Tony Perkins.
"Obviously, the Obama administration is using the military as a laboratory for social experimentation--and as an instrument to fundamentally change America," Perkins writes.
"Unfortunately for this White House, the vast majority of the men and women in uniform do share FRC's values of God, family, and country."
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