Troops Punished After Refusing to Attend Evangelical Concert

[tumbleweed41]

Pfc. Anthony Smith is the type of guy who stands up for what he believes in. That's why he decided to hold his commanding officers accountable for punishing him and fellow soldiers after they refused to attend an evangelical Christian rock concert at the Fort Eustis military post in Virginia.
After a day of training at Fort Eustis, Smith and other trainees were normally released to have personal time, but on May 13, Smith and dozens of others were "required" to march in formation to a concert headlined by an evangelical Christian rock band. Smith spent six months training at Fort Eustis before moving to Arizona to serve on active duty with the National Guard.
"No option was presented to us off the bat," Smith told Truthout about the required concert.
The Commanding General's Spiritual Fitness Concert that Smith and others were told to attend was headlined by BarlowGirl, a "band of tender-hearted, beautiful young women who aren't afraid to take an aggressive, almost warrior-like stance when it comes to spreading the gospel and serving God," according to the group's web site.
The group Smith marched with included at least two Muslim soldiers who fell out of rank and stopped marching on their own, according to a first-hand account published by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).
Once outside the concert, Smith and the other trainees were finally given an option and told to split into two groups: those who wanted to attend, and those who did not. Smith and about 80 others decided not to attend, even though they were obviously being "pressured" to do so. Smith and the others were sent back to their barracks on "lockdown," a punishment that Smith said withholds even basic freedoms like using their own electronics.
The concert was part of a series of "spiritual fitness" music events at Fort Eustis and nearby Fort Lee instituted by born-again Christian Gen. James E. Chambers, according to an article on the Army's web site.
"They call them 'spiritual' events, but the vast majority of spiritual events are Christian-based," Smith said.
Smith said that the events often involve Bible readings and testimonies from evangelicals.


(Full Story)

 

[angellous_evangellous]

That's more than a little odd.

 

[Tarheeler]

That's more than a little odd.

Unfortunately, it's nothing new. I went through Parris Island in the early 90's, and if you chose not to go to a service on Sunday you spent the time cleaning the squad bay.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

This is an absolute outrage.

 

[Revoltingest]

Meh...business as usual in the military.
Where is that Obama on stuff like this? I'd sing his praises if he stopped such coprolitic behavior.

 

[Kathryn]

Upcoming events at Fort Eustis, including, but not limited to, the upciming Spiritual Fitness concert (one of many events, most of them secular).
Ft Eustis Soldier Show

Barlow Girl Free concert (Spiritual Fitness Concert) at Fort Eustis. This event actually happened MAY 13, 2010 - over three months ago. Why is this only now hitting the news?
Free BarlowGirl Concert at Fort Eustis, VA « C.W. Ross

Here is an article discussing the probe into this alleged event:
Army probes soldiers skipping Christian concert  | accessAtlanta

According to this article, ONE captain gave the order to those who didn't want to attend the concert, that instead they would be confined to their barracks. This is not typical Army policy, and if he did indeed infringe on the rights of these soldiers, this individual Captain should be reprimanded.

That being said, we need to know more about the alleged "lockdown." It is VERY common in the military while in training (especially training for the lowest, entry level ranks, such as these soldiers in question - who were most likely straight out of boot camp) to be in "lockdown" EVERY evening during the week. Sometimes you can get out of it by attending a local event - anything from volunteer duty to a Stars and Stripes show - whatever. Lots of different groups - especially country and christian groups - donate their time in the form of free concerts to the troops.

We don't have all the facts yet. Let's hear the rest of the story before we get our BDUs in a wad.

 

[tumbleweed41]

Unfortunately, it's nothing new. I went through Parris Island in the early 90's, and if you chose not to go to a service on Sunday you spent the time cleaning the squad bay.

And myself in the 80's. You either attended services on Sunday, or you cleaned the the dorm.

 

[tumbleweed41]

Upcoming events at Fort Eustis, including, but not limited to, the upciming Spiritual Fitness concert (one of many events, most of them secular).
Ft Eustis Soldier Show

That's great. Now, what is the purpose of the non-secular shows?

Barlow Girl Free concert (Spiritual Fitness Concert) at Fort Eustis. This event actually happened MAY 13, 2010 - over three months ago. Why is this only now hitting the news?
Free BarlowGirl Concert at Fort Eustis, VA « C.W. Ross

Because the soldier in question followed the long tedious chain of command befor taking his unresolved concern to Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

Here is an article discussing the probe into this alleged event:
Army probes soldiers skipping Christian concert *| accessAtlanta

According to this article, ONE captain gave the order to those who didn't want to attend the concert, that instead they would be confined to their barracks. This is not typical Army policy, and if he did indeed infringe on the rights of these soldiers, this individual Captain should be reprimanded.

I agree.

That being said, we need to know more about the alleged "lockdown." It is VERY common in the military while in training (especially training for the lowest, entry level ranks, such as these soldiers in question - who were most likely straight out of boot camp) to be in "lockdown" EVERY evening during the week. Sometimes you can get out of it by attending a local event - anything from volunteer duty to a Stars and Stripes show - whatever. Lots of different groups - especially country and christian groups - donate their time in the form of free concerts to the troops.

We don't have all the facts yet. Let's hear the rest of the story before we get our BDUs in a wad.

After a day of training at Fort Eustis, Smith and other trainees were normally released to have personal time....


Once outside the concert, Smith and the other trainees were finally given an option and told to split into two groups: those who wanted to attend, and those who did not. Smith and about 80 others decided not to attend, even though they were obviously being "pressured" to do so. Smith and the others were sent back to their barracks on "lockdown," a punishment that Smith said withholds even basic freedoms like using their own electronics.

 

[Scuba Pete]

I can hear the General now: "It's for their own good!"

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Well I just don't understand why you would choose to be in the military in the first place if you're also not a warrior for Christ. I mean, seeing that god backs the US military and all.

 

[Kathryn]

If 80 other soldiers were unfairly placed in lockdown - I'd sure like to hear from them. They must be really mad.

 

[tumbleweed41]

If 80 other soldiers were unfairly placed in lockdown - I'd sure like to hear from them. They must be really mad.

You have never been in the military, have you?

(Yes, I know you have children in the service.)

 

[Kathryn]

No, I have never been in the active duty military. But let's see - my father was military, my brother was military, my exhusband is a Col in the military, three of my four children are either in the military or their spouse is, and I've lived at least 16 years of my life on military installations. I've sent my father, my brother, my husband, and three of my kids off to war zones all over the world. I've supported my brother, my husband, and four kids and/or their spouses through basic training, AIT, officer training school, airborne school - you name it, more schools than I can even remember. I've read countless letters and emails from these men and women relating their experiences to me - their joys, accomplishment, frustrations, fears, and triumphs.

I've served as President of the Officer's Wives Club during a wartime deployment (on a post overseas) and organized an entire military installations Family Support Center, including suicide prevention, emergency evacuation, intervention (drug and alcohol use due to feelings of isolation), and survivor planning and counseling.

I was also a part of the Family Support Network when my son was deployed - and had to make many phone calls, often late at night, to family members during the 20 month deployment in which their units lost 44 men and literally hundreds were injured.

I can't tell you how many breakfasts I've cooked at 3 am saying goodbye to a loved one who will be gone for the next six months or more. I've lived off 1 phone call a week while my loved ones pushed through basic training, AIT, and other schools, and listened to their tales of life on the base and in those units - good and bad stories told to me by a stressed out marine, soldier or airman.

Just over the past two days, I've spent at least five hours on the phone with my son who is serving in Korea - helping him straighten out a mess with his stateside bank, payroll, wire transfers, etc. I know what can be done for him at the unit level, and I know what needs to be done beyond that.

I've never been in the military. But I am pretty familiar with how things work.

 

[Alceste]

Wow. Harpers had a great article on the Evangelical takeover of the US military last year. I guess it continues. I'll see if I can find it - it describes a really disturbing trend. Apparently this sort of thing is common and becoming more so every year.

 

[Alceste]

K found it -

Jesus killed Mohammed: The crusade for a Christian military By Jeff Sharlet (Harper's Magazine)

Can you guys read that or is it subscription only?

Christian fundamentalism, like all fundamentalisms, is a narcissistic faith, concerned most of all with the wrongs suffered by the righteous and the purification of their ranks. “Under the rubric of free speech and the twisted idea of separation of church and state,” reads a promotion for a book called Under Orders: A Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel, by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel William McCoy, “there has evolved more and more an anti-Christian bias in this country.” In Under Orders, McCoy seeks to counter that alleged bias by making the case for the necessity of religion—preferably Christian—for a properly functioning military unit. Lack of belief or the wrong beliefs, he writes, will “bring havoc to what needs cohesion and team confidence.”


McCoy’s manifesto comes with an impressive endorsement: “_Under Orders _should be in every rucksack for those moments when Soldiers need spiritual energy,” reads a blurb from General David Petraeus, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq until last September, after which he moved to the top spot at U.S. Central Command, in which position he now runs U.S. operations from Egypt to Pakistan. When the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) demanded an investigation of Petraeus’s endorsement—an apparent violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, not to mention the Bill of Rights— Petraeus claimed that his recommendation was supposed to be private, a communication from one Christian officer to another.


“He doesn’t deny that he wrote it,” says Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, president of MRFF. “It’s just, ‘Oops, I didn’t mean for the public to find out.’

 

[Alceste]

Interesting / disturbing footnote from the same article:

A spokeswoman for the Pentagon says the military has dealt with fewer than fifty reports of religion-related problems during the period since Mikey founded MRFF. But an abundance of evidence suggests that the Pentagon is ignoring the problem. I spoke to dozens of Mikey’s clients: soldiers, sailors, and airmen who spoke of forced Christian prayer in Iraq and at home; combat deaths made occasions for evangelical sermons by senior officers; Christian apocalypse video games distributed to the troops; mandatory briefings on the correlation of the war to the Book of Revelation; exorcisms designed to drive out “unclean spirits” from military property; beatings of atheist troops that are winked at by the chain of command.

 

[javajo]

It worries me that any type of Kindom Theologists would be in positions of power and blurr the line between church and state. The most prominent of these being:
Latter Rain
Identity
Manifest Sons of God
Restoration
Reconstruction
Charismatic Renewal
Shepherding/Discipleship
Kingdom Message
Positive Confession

 

[Alceste]

Hi, javajo, the most prominent pack of fundies eroding the line between church and state within the military specifically is the Officers' Christian Fellowship, which has 15,000 members active at 80% of US military bases and grows at an annual rate of 3%.

“We will need to press ahead obediently,” [an OCF tract proclaims], “not allowing the opposition, all of which is spearheaded by Satan, to keep us from the mission of reclaiming territory for Christ in the military.”

 

[Smoke]

Meh...business as usual in the military.
Where is that Obama on stuff like this? I'd sing his praises if he stopped such coprolitic behavior.

Oh, please. He'd walk a mile over hot coals to kiss a preacher's ***.

 

[kiwimac]

Why are you criticising Obama in a thread which has nothing to do with him? Isn't that a little fixated?