Now even Christian Faith is part of a political game on FOX

This is the article on Stars and Stripes Pentagon, OK to talk about faith but not to push

Yet this is what is appearing on message boards and in emails this morning.
"PENTAGON MAY COURT MARTIAL SOLDIERS WHO SHARE CHRISTIAN FAITH"

Apparently FOX does not know the difference between proselytizing and evangelizing. Freedom of religion must only apply to those who agree with them and when they don't they are supposed to be guilty of attacking faith. How is that supposed to work? Doesn't freedom of religion mean that everyone is free to worship as they see fit?

AMENDMENT I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Does FOX know what the word "freedom" means?

Does FOX know the history behind this? That soldiers were being forced to attend Christian events? That they were told they were going to hell if they didn't convert?

Does FOX have the ability to distinguish between all the denominations of Christianity in this nation alone? Do they know each "church" has their own doctrine and while they all fall under Christianity, they are not all the same?

Being truthful with their audience wouldn't get their blood boiling over thinking their faith had just come under attack.

This issue has been near and dear to my heart because the way things were, many soldiers were being turned away from Christ instead of toward Him. This at a time when they needed spiritual help in healing from what they had to do and what they had to see. Over 60% of military chaplains thought it was their job to make converts to their own faith by telling the soldiers they were going to hell and their suffering was punishment for turning away from Christ.

Normal Chaplains were having a hard time being able to talk about their faith because of what the others were doing. This is a wonderful solution yet FOX turned it into something ugly.

UPDATE
I thought if I took a few minutes to calm down I would just get over this but that isn't happening. I am just getting more angry.

Today is Orthodox Easter. I am Greek Orthodox and this is how we celebrate the victory of Christ over death.

Orthodox Easter Resurrection: The Gift of Liberation and Call to Compassion
Posted: 05/04/2013
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
Spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide

While many Christians celebrated Easter over a month ago as a result of differing calendar calculations, Orthodox Easter takes place much later this year, falling on May 5. Thus, at midnight on Saturday, May 4, the night that our fourth-century predecessor on the Throne of Constantinople, St. Gregory Nazianzus, described as "brighter than any sunlit day," some 300 million Orthodox Christians will swarm churches to hear the words: "Come, receive the light!"

On that night, throughout the world, entire congregations previously waiting in darkness and filled with anticipation will light up, their faces shining with joy and hope. Together they will all chant in numerous languages, depending on geography and culture, the triumphant hymn familiar to young and old: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by death, and granting life to those in the tombs."

"Life to those in the tombs" refers to a refreshing perspective on Easter: we see an open tomb, not an empty grave. The miracle of the Resurrection then is an open invitation to a new way of living that prevails over the darkness within us and around us. The Orthodox icon of the Resurrection depicts Christ pulling Adam and Eve, our earliest prototypes of sinners, out of a tomb and into a new life. It is an image of liberation, often depicting broken chains and shattered padlocks. The light of Christ enters and brightens the furthest depths of human experience. No longer does the grip of hell, imprisonment and defeat cause us to become rigid, numb and indifferent. Resurrection is all about a new reality, a fresh perspective, a renewed life, where resentment, hardness and hostility are overcome.

Here is a link to a video on this.
‘Holy Fire’ ceremony in Jerusalem ushers in Orthodox Easter

There are times when people think that Greeks are not Christians because we do things a different way. The fact is, our tradition goes back to when St. Paul preached to the Greeks. We read the same Bible as everyone else but our doctrine is not the same as other members of Christianity. Even though our church is the oldest, it is not the largest. I have actually heard people say they didn't think Greeks were Christian because we do things differently.

This is just one example of how people should be able to freely talk about their faith but not force anyone else to do anything, including listen to me or do what I say. When leaders in military force their faith on someone else, that is wrong and they should be held accountable for what they do. Sharing the love of God The Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity celebrates the parts of all of His children. There are three parts in all of us. Mind, body and spirit and each must be cared for. Doing it with love helps. Doing it by force harms.

Healing comes spiritually because PTSD is a trauma to the soul

Healing comes spiritually because PTSD is a trauma to the soul
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
January 9, 2013

There has been so much nonsense printed lately on PTSD connected to military service that it is hard to know where to begin on this other than at the beginning. If you ever read the Bible, you'd see all the signs of what we call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder being connected to ancient warfare and the spiritual struggles other humans faced. If you study the history of war, you'll see the suffering of the warriors from all across the globe and throughout generations under different titles but all of the reports point to just how humans suffer after war as well as heal.

It is understandable when people want to pretend the reports on combat PTSD are new just as they want to deny how many take their own lives. Having to face the reality of how many years this has all gone on is sickening. It is a lot easier to pretend it never happened before.

Just because it wasn't in the newspapers didn't mean it was not happening. All generations of warriors suffered the same way because combat is brutal and humans are still human.

Research began in overdrive after Vietnam Veterans came home but that was because they pushed for it to happen. In WWII, my husband's uncle was on the Merchant Marine ship sunk by kamikaze leaving survivors in the ocean. Back then "shell shock" veterans were sent to an institution or as in the case of his uncle, taken in by a family living on a farm where he spent the rest of his life. Few reporters were working on it back then and most reports came from local, small media publications. The movie The Best Years of Our Lives came out in 1946 and did a great job trying to explain what had been happening to too many WWII veterans. None of what is happening today is new as much as some want to pretend it is. There is much we have learned over the years but all of it supports what was already known by ancient people. Healing has to begin where the wound hit first. The soul.

Most of the veterans I talk to claim to be Christian but claim no church as their spiritual home. They left their churches many years ago because the church failed them. Honesty, we have to look at the fact while most Americans claim to be Christian, the percentage of "churchless" is evidence of the spiritual void.

U.S. Catholics going to church less frequently reported on CNN in 2011 was only part of the story. There has been a return back to the original ministry of the early Christians.

Churches fail them. I worked for a church for 2 years as Administrator of Christian Education. I kept trying to get the church involved in healing military families, especially National Guards and Reservists but they were not interested in doing anything to help the community. They were not unique. I visited over 20 huge churches here in Central Florida. I heard back from just one. The pastor happened to be a Chaplain but was being transferred and couldn't take on a new project. There are too many reports on how much community wide efforts help heal from trauma. Not just from war but from trauma in a civilian's life. The problem is too many are simply not interested in the fact that psychology addressing trauma is only part of the answer. The whole veteran needs to heal, bodily, mindfully and spiritually, in order to heal the hole in the veteran.

They try fill it with whatever gives them temporary relief. Alcohol to go to sleep when in fact they are passing out. Drugs they justify taking because the military/VA answer to all is medications. Driving dangerously because they are in "control" over how fast they go. Cutting because that is a pain they are in control over. Sexual encounters because it offers relief for the moment. The list goes on but none of them heal. It all wears off.

A Churchless Faith article has this piece of information from Sociologist Alan Jamieson

"Ironically, Jamieson says, the people perhaps best equipped to help postmodern seekers understand God were being lost to the church."

There is a place for all different approaches. Too many times it has been reported that military Chaplains are proselytizing instead of serving all who come to them in spiritual crisis.

This is what they called "suicide prevention" discovered in a report Army Chaplain Holds Christian Prayer During Suicide Prevention Class, Soldiers Say by Andrea Stone for the Huffington Post back in October of 2012.

During an Army-wide stand down for suicide prevention sessions, a Christian chaplain in Texas improperly led rookie soldiers in a candlelight prayer, an Army instructor said in a formal complaint last week.

Staff Sgt. Victoria Gettman, a lab technician instructor at Fort Sam Houston, told The Huffington Post that she was among 800 soldiers from the 264th Medical Battalion undergoing resilience training on Sept. 26. Almost all of the soldiers were fresh out of boot camp and in training for their first job in the Army.

After a 45-minute talk on how to cope with stress, the officer in charge turned the stage over to a chaplain for the sometimes controversial "spiritual fitness" part of the session.

Gettman did not catch the chaplain's name, and he has not been otherwise publicly identified. But as an atheist, she wasn't interested in what he had to say so she stood up and moved to the back of the auditorium. The 17-year Army veteran knew -- unlike the young soldiers -- that this part of the program was optional. Still, she could hear most of what the clergyman said from just outside the room.

"The chaplain said we have to have something bigger than ourselves. We need, and he stresses need, to have something divine in our life," she recounted, adding that the soldiers were not informed they were allowed to step out.

They cannot feel as if they can see a military Chaplain without being condemned to hell if they do not covert. Yes, that is what is happening with too many servicemen and women seeking to heal spiritually. Medications numb but healing comes spiritually because PTSD is a trauma to the soul.

Now there seems to be some members of the clergy doing a push back against something that helps people from all backgrounds.

Conservative Leader Upset Over Marine Corps Meditation
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
By Beth Ford Roth

A recent news article about Camp Pendleton Marines using meditation as a means of improving their mental health has the head of the Family Research Council up in arms.

Tony Perkins's comments were prompted by an article that ran last month in the Washington Times. In the piece, Camp Pendleton-based Marine Staff Sgt. Nathan Hampton discussed the benefits he got from attending meditation classes on base before deployment.
read more here

Perkins may know a lot about what he thinks the Bible says but doesn't seem to know much about what happened in it when Christ walked this earth or what the very imperfect human body needs to recover. Meditation heals military Vets with PTSD

"George struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, a form of anxiety that develops after enduring a traumatic experience.

For five years, George underwent stints of medication and talk therapy, both intended to quell his PTSD symptoms. But neither method worked for him, he said.

"It [the medications] helped make me not who I am. It took away my creativity, my personality, my ability to care about anything," said George. "The one-on-ones were like, why am I talking to someone who has no idea what I've been through."

Until one day in 2009, while participating in a research session on transcendental meditation, George sat still for 20 minutes and focused on repeating a mantra.

"From the first time I did it, I knew it was what I would do for the rest of my life," said George. "It was the first time I felt quiet in my mind for five years."

Meditation is healing for those with and without a faith base and Chaplains are supposed to be doing the same. Taking care of ALL coming to them in spiritual crisis.

Chaplain / Pastor - Is There a Difference?
WRITTEN BY STEVE BALLINGER. POSTED IN TRAINING.
A question that has often been asked of me is—what is the difference between a chaplain and a pastor? That is a very legitimate question and one that needs to be answered, for many people are under the impression they are one and the same.

Both callings are wonderful callings on a person’s life, and are desperately needed, but they are very different in ministry. A pastor’s ministry deals mainly with in-reach, or we can say is church-based. Whereas, a chaplains ministry deals mainly with out-reach, and is community-based. A simple definition of a chaplain is, “a minister in the workplace.” In other words, Chaplains have a home church they attend, but their church is actually outside the walls of the church building. It’s called the community. Chaplains serve people of all faiths.

I am not saying the church does not do Missions work, for it does great missions work—locally, nationally and internationally. However, a chaplain at the local and national level has Constitutional protection, whereas a pastor does not. An ordained chaplain is recognized by the government, whereas an ordained pastor is not because of the separation of church and state issue.

If military Chaplains were doing their jobs and civilian members of the clergy were doing theirs, they would be a lot more involved in what heals.

Suicide prevention and a Chaplain's call

There are some dismissing the connection between the spirit-faith and emotional pain, but considering every culture throughout history acknowledged the connection between God and man, it is hard to ignore it.

For a Christian it seems even harder to make peace with what happens in war but it is necessary to really heal since PTSD is not something that was inside of them as much as it was something that invaded them.

Can you honestly say when something bad happens you don't wonder what you did wrong? Even for a fraction of a second? Ever have regrets? This is part of what they are going through and for the most part, they feel as if they did something wrong. They need to know they are forgiven and be able to forgive themselves in order to heal. It is a personal issue, cutting in at different levels, no matter what faith they practice. While I do not agree with what has been happening in terms of religious proselytizing, the need of spiritual healing cannot be dismissed. It needs to be combined with mental health therapy and often medication. The whole veteran needs to be treated and helped to heal based on what their needs are.

“Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God,” said Lindsay who then cited, Romans 8:38-39

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Serving soldiers

Story by 1st Lt. Casey Staheli

PRISTINA, Kosovo - All who join the military serve our great nation, but not all get to serve their fellow soldiers.

Maj. Michael Lindsay, senior chaplain, for soldiers of Multinational Battle Group East, at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, is one of those soldiers who does. Lindsay provides Roman Catholic religious services and support here. In fact, Lindsay was serving soldiers before he ever joined the military, and as chance would have it, that is how the idea to join the military came about.

“I helped provide support for a veteran’s assistance workshop at the local armory, as a civilian pastor. After that I was asked to help counsel several soldiers on personal issues and one of the soldiers suggested I become a chaplain,” Lindsay said.

Up to that point Lindsay had never considered being a National Guard chaplain.

“After that was suggested, I thought wow, but I also thought I might be too old. I pondered it and became interested and it felt great that someone thought I could help,” said Lindsay. “I then thought more about it and decided to do it.”

Lindsay was raised in a family that promoted respect toward members of the military.

“My father served in WWII, my grandfather in WWI and I had an uncle who served during the Vietnam War,” said Lindsay.

It’s now been 10 years since Lindsay joined the military as a chaplain and has since provided chaplain support in White Sands, N.M., Fort Bliss, Texas, Fort Knox, Ky., and the Santa Fe Regional Reserve Training Institute in Santa Fe, N.M.

Here in Kosovo Lindsay leads the Catholic Mass, celebrates confessions and teaches Bible studies. In addition he counsels with soldiers who are dealing with personal or family issues. Lindsay also teaches classes on suicide prevention, relationship enhancement and interpersonal skills.
read more here
Serving soldiers

One more note on forgiveness. Here's a story about a Colorado State Trooper and what happened after his partner was killed and he was wounded.


State Trooper Escapes Death, Shows Forgiveness

By Mark Martin
CBN News Reporter

For Colorado state trooper Scott Hinshaw, getting dressed everyday is a blessing after almost losing his life.

Amazingly, Hinshaw is ready for the popular Bicycle Tour of Colorado -- 463 miles of mountains and valleys.

Nearly four years ago, an interstate car accident left him with broken legs, post traumatic stress disorder and anger.

The teen driver killed his fellow trooper, Zach Templeton. He said he became filled with hate.

"I needed to get better. And part of getting better was forgiving," Hinshaw recalled.

Forgiveness launched him on the road to recovery.

Hinshaw has since thrown the first pitch at game four of the World Series, and even become the godfather of the young driver that hit him in the crash, Cody Loose.
read more of this here

State Trooper Escapes Death, Shows Forgiveness

Air Force Academy Survey: Proselytizing Cited

Faith plays a big part in the lives of a lot of our servicemen and women but it is of their own freewill they decide how to worship, when to worship and in what manner they worship. Trying to get them to convert to one denomination over another is appalling when they should be trying to sooth their souls and ease their minds. This is one of the biggest reasons they do not trust military chaplains even if most of them do their jobs the right way. 

I believe in the power of prayer and I am a devoted Christian but that is where it ends when I am working with veterans or their families.  My job is to help their souls heal not to get new members into a church someone told me to. I believe military chaplains are very important and that the biggest issue is that there are not enough of them to go around but my blood boils when I read about what too many of them are doing.  They end up pushing them away from the very faith they are trying to force them into. No one is served by this.  Not the men and women serving, not the chaplains and not the military as a whole. God is not served either by pushing people away.

AF Academy Survey: Proselytizing Cited


October 29, 2010
Associated Press
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- An Air Force Academy survey found that 41 percent of cadets who identified themselves as non-Christian said they were subjected to unwanted proselytizing at least once or twice last year.

Overall, 19 percent of all cadets said they were subjected to unwanted proselytizing.

Participation by cadets in the official academy survey, conducted in December and January, was both voluntary and anonymous. Forty-seven percent, or 2,170, of the cadets participated in the poll.

Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, the academy superintendent, had resisted disclosing specifics of the survey but now plans to release some details on Friday after several groups, including The Associated Press, filed Freedom of Information Act requests.

read more here
AF Academy Survey

Endorsing or enforcing faith within the military?

Is this endorsing or enforcing faith within the military? Big difference and both are wrong. I keep addressing the fact that there is much to be debated even within branches of the Christian faith, yet one is being pushed over all others. This is not just about pushing Christianity on the troops, which also insults the other faiths in the military, it insults the core of the individual.

There are many atheists, agnostics, you name it and they are still good people. There is a long list of reasons why a person does not believe in God or a Higher power or any other choice of faith and it is not up to us to tell them they have to belong to any of them in order to be a "good soldier" or even a good citizen.

I am a chaplain, not a member of the military and I have never served. I just married into it and was raised with it. I have also invested a lot of time in my faith. The point is, it's "my" faith. There are people who are truly blessed and comforted by their faith and that's a wonderful thing.

When the mind, body and spirit are all addressed when trying to heal PTSD, miracles happen. It does not matter what faith it is as long as there is a reconnection to it. Even those who have no particular faith at all are finding that their spiritual connection to something they always held helps. But this book is not about healing the individual according to their own faith. It's saying point blank that if someone is not a "believer" they are damaging the troops. For the General in charge to endorse this book, it slaps the troops in the face. Not only was it a mistake for him to endorse this book, it was wrong to top that off with pushing it. Faith is up to the person and their connection to God under the faith they believe in or not believing at all. It's up to them.

General Petraeus' Endorsement of Religious Book Draws Fire

Bryant Jourdan


Military.com

Aug 21, 2008
August 20, 2008 - Gen. David Petraeus is used to controversy surrounding the war in Iraq, but his publicized thoughts on an Army chaplain's book for Soldiers put him squarely in the middle of the ongoing conflict over religious proselytizing in the U.S. military.

The book is "Under Orders: A Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel," by Army Chaplain (Lt. Col.) William McCoy, and according to Petraeus' published endorsement of the work, "it should be in every rucksack for those times when soldiers need spiritual energy."

But the endorsement - which has spurred a demand by a watchdog group for Petraeus' dismissal and court martial on the grounds of establishing a religious requirement on troops - was a personal view never intended for publication, the book's author now says.

"In the process of securing … comments for recommending the book I believe there was a basic misunderstanding on my part that the comments were publishable," McCoy said in an Aug. 19 email to Military.com. "This was my mistake."

In addition to Petraeus, Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling also is quoted plugging the book in press releases and advertisements and on the jacket.

"General Petraeus has, by his own hand, become a quintessential poster child of this fundamentalist Christian religious predation, via his unadulterated and shocking public endorsement of a book touting both Christian supremacy and exceptionalism," Weinstein told Military.com Aug. 16.

And by endorsing a book that argues only those who believe in God can fully contribute to the military mission or unit, Weinstein contends that Petraeus insults ""the integrity, character and veracity of approximately 21 percent of our armed forces members who choose not to follow any particular religious faith."
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10970