Ed Brayton is a freelance writer and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation continues to uncover all the myriad ways that evangelical Christian groups have been given unprecedented access to proselytize American soldiers on military bases both here and overseas. Here's the latest revelation:
The Defense Department (DOD) allegedly provided two fundamentalist Christian organizations exclusive access to several military bases around the country. This access became official sanction for these groups to proselytize amid the ranks, despite the fact that such activities were in violation of federal law.The evangelical Christian groups have posted detailed instruction guides on their web site that advises their members about tactics to use to win over soldiers, or "pre-Christians," to evangelical Christianity when visiting military installations around the country.
Here are some details:
But that is not the intent of Military Ministry, a fundamentalist Christian organization, according to documents posted on the group's web site.The group says its members are responsible for "working with Chaplains and Military personnel to bring lost soldiers closer to Christ, build them in their faith and send them out into the world as Government paid missionaries" - a clear-cut violation of federal law.
Military Ministry boasts that it has successfully "targeted" basic training installations, or "gateways" and has converted soldiers to Christianity.
"Young recruits are under great pressure as they enter the military at their initial training gateways," the group has said, according to an archive on its web site. "The demands of drill instructors push recruits and new cadets to the edge. This is why they are most open to the 'good news.' We target specific locations, like Lackland AFB [Air Force base] and Fort Jackson, where large numbers of military members transition early in their career. These sites are excellent locations to pursue our strategic goals."
Military Ministry is a subsidiary of Campus Crusade for Christ, an evangelical missionary organization. In August, several high-level Pentagon officials were admonished for participating, while in uniform and on active duty, in a promotional video sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ's Christian Embassy group....
Another fundamentalist group, Military Missions Network, says its mission is to build "an expanding global network of kingdom minded movements of evangelism and discipleship reaching the world through the military of the world."
On its web site, the group has posted a 40-page instruction manual for winning over so-called "pre-Christians" to evangelical Christianity.
"As you begin to launch a movement on a base, ship or post, it is evangelism that will make the difference between a maintenance ministry and a thriving movement- like you see in the Book of Acts," the group says in the "Unstoppable Evangelism" section of its manual. "Military men, women and their families are barraged daily with messages from a secular world view. To counter this, we must use every appropriate means to communicate a Christian world view."
The instruction manual also says that soldiers are more vulnerable in stressful situations and that Military Missions Network members can tap into that vulnerability to proselytize and perhaps convince soldiers to embrace Christianity.
"Of course, you should recognize as well that some environments and situations (i.e. basic training, stressful TDYs, threats of violence) create a very receptive audience," the manual says.
Additionally, the manual suggests evangelizers become familiar with what makes their "targets tick."
"We need to ask as a team 'Who is it exactly that we are trying to reach?' Cadets, enlisted, officers, singles, marrieds, senior NCOs [non-commissioned officers], senior officers, retirees? Army, Navy, Air Force? Internationals? No doubt, other categories for our audiences exist. Take the time to define them. Once you know the target, you'll be able to begin to design your approach to reach them. Become as Paul was 'all things to all' (1 Corinthians 9:22). As you define your target more clearly, take the time to get to know a few of them! Mark Mittelberg says: 'Find out what makes them tick. What are their questions? What interests them? What do they wrestle with? Get to know their background. Learn their language-find out what words and concepts connect with them and which ones make their eyes glaze over. Then speak to them in their own language.'"
Military Missions Network and Military Ministry count current and former high-level personnel from all four branches of the military as board members and use their relationships with base commanders to gain access to soldiers, according to documents from both groups.
It sounds like something from some huckster sales operation, doesn't it? That's exactly what they're doing, selling religion using the tools of marketing. Which is their right, of course, but if the Pentagon is giving them special access to bases and personnel to do so, that creates an obvious constitutional problem. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out, along with all the other investigations the MRFF has launched.
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Comments
That's not marketing, it's classic brainwashing.
Posted by: qetzal | October 11, 2007 10:02 AM
Christians understand that they are most successful converting people who are at emotional low points. It is when an addict has hit rock bottom or a single mother has lost her house, in short whenever a person is most desperate that they are most amenable to religious indoctrination. Get people who are wrecks of emotional uncertainty and you can easily rebuild them into unwavering god warriors.
I think it is obvious to see the parallels in military training. Boot camp is intended to break the spirit of new recruits, to erase all traces of individuality and resistance to authority, and then rebuild them into obedient fighting machines.
If you are a christian looking to brainwash new members into your cult, the military would appear like a recruiting smorgasbord. No need to wait for random life circumstances to beat people down and destroy their egos, here is an organized system that's designed to do just that. So of course they were tripping over themselves to have access to these "training gateways." It's a cultist's wet dream. They admit it outright!
Posted by: H. Humbert | October 11, 2007 10:13 AM
What law do you think they have in mind?
Posted by: kehrsam | October 11, 2007 10:20 AM
This is nothing new. When I was in Boot Camp in 1962, we were required to go to "church" on Sunday morning. Were were not forced to participate, I slept most of the time as did the majority of my company, but we did have to attend.
Posted by: Jim Spencer | October 11, 2007 10:58 AM
When I was in Marine Corps Boot Camp in 1989, we were never "required" to go to any worship services on Sunday morning. However, it was made clear to us that those deciding not to attend any type of worship services would not have that time considered to be "free time" to do whatever we wanted. Instead, it was called DI Time, and our DI on duty that morning would put us to work; such as weapons cleaning, uniform and equipment maintenance, or barracks maintenance.
Nearly all recruits, myself included, freely chose to attend a worship service on Sunday. I'm sure that there were some recruits who really wanted to attend because they were spiritual, but most of us just wanted to have that hour away from the DIs.
The funny thing was that we were only allowed to attend one worship service. Since the various faiths had their worship service times staggered to share the available facilities, all of us still had DI Time at some point on Sunday morning anyway.
Once we were out of Boot Camp, it was up to the individual Marine to decide whether or not to attend worship services. However, unless we were either deployed or on duty that weekend, our weekends were generally considered liberty time and we could do whatever we wanted.
Posted by: Engr Tony | October 11, 2007 11:59 AM
So the popular trope of there being "no atheists in foxholes" is apparently now some sort of rallying cry for God's troops. Although people sometimes use that phrase to mean that atheists are not as brave and patriotic as people who believe in God, it usually means what H. Humbert says -- that "whenever a person is most desperate ... they are most amenable to religious indoctrination" -- or spontaneous religious belief.
The idea seems to be that this is how God reaches out to us -- He breaks our spirit and will, and the cringing, sobbing, cowering mass of vulnerability we can become is the whole reason for allowing us to live on earth: we can't "do it" on our own, and must learn the hard way to give up our pride, and submit willingly.
Years ago, a friend told me that he heard a Buddhist leader on the radio lamenting that too many people were becoming Buddhist when they were at low ebb in their life. He felt that no, one should never decide important questions about life's meaning when you're not thinking straight, when you're likely to be mislead by your needs and too interested in finding something that "works" to make your life better, instead of valuing what is true. As an atheist, I respect that. Whether God exists or not is the sort of question that requires a mature, calm analysis. Otherwise, you might wake up from your emotional binge and be surprised by what you're lying next to.
These God Warriors scare me, but they don't surprise me. It's what can be reasonably derived from the belief that suffering has an important purpose, and God is everything's purpose.
Posted by: Sastra | October 11, 2007 12:31 PM
"working with Chaplains and Military personnel to bring lost soldiers closer to Christ, build them in their faith and send them out into the world as Government paid missionaries"
What to do when someone gets "lost"? Why, throw them in hell forever and never let them out, of course! It's just the right thing to do. :P
Posted by: 386sx | October 11, 2007 12:57 PM
I think more often, Sastra, that those people usually never wake up. Once a "cringing, sobbing, cowering mass of vulnerability" has convinced themselves that Jesus is the reason they have a purpose in life, that he's the guy who pulled them back from the ledge, the damage is done. The mold has set. Their newfound confidence and happiness is tangled up with all manner of religious baggage. And to attempt to disentangle it means risking ending up back in the dark place. And so most people never will.
Posted by: H. Humbert | October 11, 2007 1:09 PM
I went through Air Force Basic in 1972. I remember our flight (group) being introduced to the chaplin and the LDS folks coming to invite us to their services, but I don't have any recollection of being pressured to attend a service.
The only evangelizing I encountered during my years in the USAF came in the chow hall from someone who sat down at my table, struck up a conversation and asked if I'd been saved. And I remember when one of the women in my dorm got in trouble (unpaid bills, debt, affair with married man) and she suddenly found jesus -- praise the lord!!! -- and made sure everyone knew it -- praise the lord.
Posted by: Gerry L | October 12, 2007 12:49 AM
Ten years ago, one of my airmen used the hospital e-mail network to blast mail an invitation to his church's tent revival. After I ripped him a new one within 5 minutes of his hitting the send button, the hospital commander laid into him, and he had the privilege of sending out an apology that same afternoon. But this was a single incident, unconnected to any larger movement within the DoD.
My point: those of you who are commenting along the lines of "well, hell, I had to go to church once a week/listen to one person/etc. when I was in the __ back in 19__" are underestimating this movement. This is not your father's evangelical movement, so to speak. This IS something new. These people are out of control, pushing the envelope further than ever before, and they're doing it with the explicit permission and endorsement of the Five-Sided Fun House. (I'm sure at some point, if it hasn't happened already, some wingnut will start in on how connecting the vertices of the Pentagon and then turning it upside down is incontrovertible evidence that Satan is at work in Washington.)
goddamn 'em, anyway. And bully for the MRFF. I think they need a contribution.
Posted by: BG | October 12, 2007 2:29 PM
On its web site, the group has posted a 40-page instruction manual for winning over so-called "pre-Christians" to evangelical Christianity.
I want to know, concerning this "pre-Christian" type of person...are they the equivalent to "pre-clears" in Scientology?
Posted by: Tyler | October 13, 2007 10:38 PM