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The drive by the Christian right to take control of military chaplaincies, which now sees radical Christians holding roughly 50 percent of chaplaincy appointments in the armed services and service academies, is part of a much larger effort to politicize the military and law enforcement. This effort signals the final and perhaps most deadly stage in the long campaign by the radical Christian right to dismantle America’s open society and build a theocratic state. A successful politicization of the military would signal the end of our democracy.
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Trying to take control of military chaplancies and succeeding are two different stories.
The Christian right tried last year with an amendment to the defense approprriations bill last year. The Hunter-Jones provision would have allowed military service chaplains to pray according to their own dictates regardless of guidelines set down by their superiors.
It was opposed by all the military chaplain chiefs:
Rear Adm. Louis V. Iasiello, who is chief of the Navy chaplains, said the Hunter-Jones provision would “lead to confusion, compromise, and loss of credibility of religious ministry and chaplains services for the men and women of the sea services.”
Iasiello wrote that the Religious Right-backed provision flouts the “primary duties” of chaplains, which include facilitating religious needs of all service personnel. Iasiello notes the Navy’s guidelines allow chaplains to pray according to their consciences, but also calls on chaplains to ensure that they provide a “non-coercive, non-denominational spiritual presence” at service functions.
The Hunter-Jones provision “opens opportunity to drive wedges into the Chaplain Corps due to the emphasis it puts on each chaplain doing that which right in his or her own eyes,” Iasiello wrote.
The proposal passed in the House, but was killed in the Senate by Repub Senator John Warner, chair of the Armed Services Committee at the time, where it had virtually no support.
Further examples that the religious right may be losing political steam.....many of their poster children lost in the recent election.
From the Americans United for Separation of Church and State:
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In Pennsylvania, for example, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a Religious Right favorite, lost his bid for reelection. In Ohio, gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Blackwell, another Religious Right ally, was unsuccessful. Both men lost by large margins.
“Despite unprecedented efforts to mobilize churches with questionable tactics, the Religious Right failed yesterday to elect many of its favorite candidates,” Lynn remarked. “But I’ve followed this well-funded movement long enough to know that its leaders won’t go away quietly. We can expect them to be angrier than ever in the upcoming months.”
AU noted the rejection of Religious Right candidates in other races:
* Kansas: Controversial Attorney General Phill Kline, who attempted to build a church-based political machine and vowed to imprison doctors who provide abortions, lost his reelection bid to Democrat Paul Morrison, 42 percent to 58 percent. Kline had appeared at the Family Research Council’s “Values Voter Summit” in September, where he promised to press a Religious Right agenda if returned to office.
* Maryland: Republican Senate candidate Michael Steele, an opponent of legal abortion and stem-cell research, was defeated by Benjamin Cardin, 54 percent to 44 percent.
* Missouri: U.S. Sen. James Talent (R), a favorite of the Religious Right, was defeated by Claire McKaskill 49 to 47 percent. A ballot initiative to approve tax funding of stem-cell research won 51 percent to 49 percent.
* Florida: In the race for U.S. Senate, U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (R), who based much of her candidacy on Religious Right appeals, lost badly to incumbent Senator Bill Nelson, 60 percent to 38 percent.
* Michigan: Dick DeVos, Republican candidate for governor, was easily defeated by incumbent Jennifer Granholm, 56 percent to 42 percent. DeVos helped found the Council for National Policy, a secretive Religious Right umbrella group, and has heavily funded the Family Research Council.
* Oklahoma: U.S. Rep. Ernest “Jim” Istook (R), a frequent backer of a constitutional amendment designed to weaken the separation of church and state, lost his bid for governor to incumbent Brad Henry. The race was not even close, with Henry at 66 percent and Istook 34.
* Indiana: U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, a frequent speaker at Religious Right gatherings and sponsor of a bill designed to make it harder for people to bring church-state cases into federal courts, was trounced by Democrat Brad Ellsworth, 61 percent to 39 percent.
* Kentucky: Anne Northup, a Republican who successfully used the promise of public grants through the “faith-based” initiative to woo religious voters in 2002 and 2004, lost to Democrat John Yarmuth, 51 percent to 48 percent.
Although ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage passed in several states, a provision to impose a near-total ban on abortions in South Dakota failed 56 percent to 44 percent. National Religious Right groups had poured into the state, hoping to create a tide that would carry the initiative to other states.
http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=pr...s_iv_ctrl=1241
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You should give (some) of our elected officials and the public more credit in recognizing a dangerous movement to politicize particulary religous beliefs. The Senate responded in one case and the American people reponsed on a broader level.
Beyond this particular issue, my point is that, more often than not, the political system has proven throughout our history that it works, perhaps not as quickly as we would like, when rational and reasonable minds work together. We need not resort to extremist responses to defeat opposing extremist positions.