The Article:
Read this first: US army 'does not promote religion' (Al Jazeera)
The Response:
"hmm, this is really interesting. I'm not even really sure how to respond to it.So what do you think? Let's have a conversation.
On one hand, Al Jazerra is at fault for making the huge generalization that the America Army, as a whole, is responsible for the propagation of conversion. It's obvious that not every soldier nor every american is a christian and feels the need to convert as many muslims as possible.
On the other hand, what place does the American government have to tell these soldiers they are not allowed to share their beliefs. Don't get me wrong, I not sure these soldiers and chaplains were being very smart about the whole situation, but let's face it, sharing your faith is a core and essential component to the Christian faith. In doing this, the American government is only offering a conditional freedom of religion. If a freedom is conditional, is it really true freedom? The whole issue reminds me of Pax Romana. Is peace inforced by the military really true peace? ... Read more
This whole thing really strengthens the argument for pacifism. How can a christian don the uniform of an organization that is not only killing people, but denying them their responsibility to be christian witnesses. I guess it goes along with Jesus' teaching, "you cannot serve two masters." Perhaps you cannot be in the military and be a witness in the Middle East.
In the end though, I don't see... Read more why everyone is getting so upset about distributing a text that is seen as part of the Muslim scriptures to Muslims...
What did you think when you were reading this? Is anything I'm saying making sense to you or do you think I'm way off?"
Posts
3 comments:
I think your comment on serving two masters is spot-on here. The US actually does have the right to tell their military what it can and cannot do while wearing a uniform - they act as representatives of the country, which in theory has a separation between Church and State. It would be the same as being a clinical counselor and witnessing to a client, I think... there are certain things your occupation binds you to.
So the bigger question is whether a Christian, who feels his/her duty is to spread the Gospel, should put him/herself in such a situation at all.
I'm pretty sure on this case that this did not come from the higher-ups, but from soldiers or possibly some chaplains.
Oh, and that quote by the head chaplain? Wow. Just... Wow.
Where do i get started?
here are several issues that i think are definite reasons as to why this is all terribly inappropriate:
1) being a solider is a job. being in afganistan is a job placement. in almost any other circumstance, it would be grossly inappropriate to hustle your faith at your job, regardless of where it was or what you were doing. "Under the US military code of conduct, armed forces on active duty are prohibited from trying to convert a person's faith." Period. That's not a lot of room for gray area. just because your faith is strong doesn't give you the right to break the rules your employer has set for you because you feel like it is the right thing to do. if you aren't comfortable with this aspect of the job, you either don't take the position, or you work within the system to attempt to do that. such is the system we live in, as such, you don't just break the rules all willy-nilly and expect people to take you seriously and expect this to have positive impact. whether it is actually good or not, that's capitalism for you and that's the model hegemony has provided for us.
2) i don't know ANYTHING about what is going on in afganistan, mostly because i find it egregious, depressing and painful to think about, so i therefore distance myself from knowing about what is going on. is this a good idea? no. am i part of the problem because of my apathy? yes. so, i can't say this on any good authority, nor can i back it up with any other references, but the article talks about the fact that converting to a religion outside of islam is punishable by death. i'm pretty sure it isn't the job of american soldiers to make afghan people more vulnerable to punishment, especially when they are breaking basic guidelines of their jobs. making vulnerable people more susceptible to exploitation or abuse by communities and governments isn't in soliders' job description.
3) i am not AT ALL surprised that this goes on. while america is based on the separation of church and state, equality and civil rights laws are still contested and rejected on the basis of "christian" faith and "morality," which, in my opinion, is a disgusting american legacy that is ongoing. should we be surprised that american soldiers and law enforcers are doing exactly that which is taught to them? and, the notion that america and the white man need to go out, seek and conquer, and fix the "third world" because, as they do not subscribe to american ideology and principle they are ultimately "ignorant" is racist, and ultimately a colonialist bastard way of thinking and judging by the way history has unfolded, you need to ask how beneficial has this ideology really been to these people?
4) "The special forces guys - they hunt men basically. We do the same things as Christians, we hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt them down," he says."Get the hound of heaven after them, so we get them into the kingdom. That's what we do, that's our business."
that is all kinds of fucked up. it's this kind of mentality that pushes people away from faith and is counter productive to the message that they ultimately are attempting to send. drawing a comparison between flushing out criminals and hunting down the heathens for conversion not only makes you seem crazy, but it's super offensive. non-believers are not pokemon -- you do not need to catch 'em all. i don't condone the idea of going to other countries with the aim of converting folks, and ignoring the fact that there is a LAW against this sort of thing, but just handing out bibles written in a native language and doing a limited amount of preaching to people isn't really demonstrating all of the good (which is subjective) that your faith does. why not put some of that money into restructuring programs, women empowerment, children's rights, medical aid, etc., and show what christianity in action can do for people in co-ordinance with text so they can see what the word in action can do for them.
* and by law, i mean rule for american soliders, not a law for the world, which is what my inability to proof read made it seem like i was saying.
*also, i wrote this. I, being kayla.
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