any thoughts on this?

[DKSuddeth]

You obviously went to a public school.

I went to a public school :

 

[5stringJeff]

Originally posted by acludem
Whether or not they are forced to, should we be allowing groups to pass out pamphlets asking troops to pray for the President? Does this cause divisiveness in the military, regardless of whether or not one is forced to pray? I think it does cause divisiveness, and I think it is inappropriate for the military to allow these pamphlets to be handed out.

To quote Gene Hackman in Crimson Tide: "We're here to defend democracy, not practice it"

acludem

I'm not going to jump in on the democracy/republic debate - off topic.

If you think that practicing religion causes diviseness, then that's your opinion. It is not the opinion of the DoD, who has repeatedly defended the right of soldiers to worship freely; for example, DoD is constantly defending the existence of chaplains in the armed forces to foster spiritual growth amongst its troops.
I did not read the story, but I'm assuming that these pamphlets were handed out at or near a religious (Christian) service, so many of the Marines who got the pamphlets would be praying for people anyway. Regardless, it is not "divisive" to ask people to pray for their leaders; in fact, it is a Biblical mandate.

 

[_dmp_]

I ask people to pray for me. Sometimes I send out emails asking for Prayer. Does that make me egocentric?

No - it is an acknowledgement of my weakness - being 'human'.

 

[DKSuddeth]

Originally posted by dmp
I ask people to pray for me. Sometimes I send out emails asking for Prayer. Does that make me egocentric?

No - it is an acknowledgement of my weakness - being 'human'.

You're human???

but, but.....but I thought you were BLACK??

 

[_dmp_]

Originally posted by DKSuddeth
You're human???

but, but.....but I thought you were BLACK??

uh oh! looks like William Joyce hijacked Duane's Screen name!!!

 

[acludem]

I am in college, I graduated from a public high school. I go part-time in the evening and work full-time. I have a 3.9 GPA. Good enough for you? Of course, I noticed you didn't really even respond to my message, you just decided to insult me. As for the republic debate, that was NewGuy's idea, not mine. I simply went through that to show how silly his argument was and the fact that I do, in fact, know what I'm talking about when it comes to questions of political science. It was his "response" to the Gene Hackman quote that started that argument.

I don't think religion is what is divisive, I think handing out pamphlets to troops in combat asking them to prescribe to a particular religion is divisive.

acludem

 

[5stringJeff]

Speaking of hijacking... why don't you paste your own face on a Bob Marley picture, punk!

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Originally posted by acludem
I am in college, I graduated from a public high school. I go part-time in the evening and work full-time. I have a 3.9 GPA. Good enough for you? Of course, I noticed you didn't really even respond to my message, you just decided to insult me. As for the republic debate, that was NewGuy's idea, not mine. I simply went through that to show how silly his argument was and the fact that I do, in fact, know what I'm talking about when it comes to questions of political science. It was his "response" to the Gene Hackman quote that started that argument.

I don't think religion is what is divisive, I think handing out pamphlets to troops in combat asking them to prescribe to a particular religion is divisive.

acludem

So you just think free speech is divisive.

 

[Merlin1047]

Look who's talking smarty butt. I made a follow up post in regard to that didn't I?

Okay, okay. I missed that.

I was overcome by guilt at accusing you falsely.

Considered slashing my wrists, but that's messy.

Got the gun, but the bullets were rusty and I didn't want to risk a case of tetanus.

Maybe you can just nag me to death.:

Seriously, I'll try to look more carefully next time.

 

[clumzgirl]

Let's "make pretend" that W DID ask troops to pray for him. Isn't that an act of humility? I, for one, would advocate praying for the president. Lord knows, he needs it about now.

And I HIGHLY doubt he would present the troops with tacky little pull-put cards in a pamphlet. Sounds more like something Billy Grahamers would do...

 

[acludem]

I never said free speech was divisive, that was John Ashcroft who said that. I said handing out religious pamphlets asking people to pray is divisive. If troops want to pray, let them do it on their own without outside interference.

acludem

 

[Hobbit]

Originally posted by clumzgirl
Let's "make pretend" that W DID ask troops to pray for him. Isn't that an act of humility? I, for one, would advocate praying for the president. Lord knows, he needs it about now.

And I HIGHLY doubt he would present the troops with tacky little pull-put cards in a pamphlet. Sounds more like something Billy Grahamers would do...

Not really. Asking soldiers for favors when you're the most powerful person in the world is in poor taste. It wouldn't exactly be too rude if a third person came up and said, "I'll be praying for you, but let's both pray for president Bush. He may not be risking his life, but this whole thing is on his shoulders." That wouldn't be too bad. However, the president asking troops for prayer is like Bill Gates asking me for a small loan. Okay, maybe that's a bit extreme, but you get the picture.

 

[NewGuy]

Originally posted by Hobbit
Not really. Asking soldiers for favors when you're the most powerful person in the world is in poor taste. It wouldn't exactly be too rude if a third person came up and said, "I'll be praying for you, but let's both pray for president Bush. He may not be risking his life, but this whole thing is on his shoulders." That wouldn't be too bad. However, the president asking troops for prayer is like Bill Gates asking me for a small loan. Okay, maybe that's a bit extreme, but you get the picture.

-Which was the same road I was headed down with my first uninformed response. Again, if this was the scenario, it IS in poor taste, serves as nothing more than a re-election ego boost and undermines morale.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Originally posted by acludem
I never said free speech was divisive, that was John Ashcroft who said that. I said handing out religious pamphlets asking people to pray is divisive. If troops want to pray, let them do it on their own without outside interference.

acludem

But you see, "handing out pamphlets" is a specific instance of the abstract class "free speech" . You can't deny something in the specific yet claim to adhere to it in the abstract. You're either stupid, or intentionally inconsistent.

 

[5stringJeff]

Originally posted by acludem
I never said free speech was divisive, that was John Ashcroft who said that. I said handing out religious pamphlets asking people to pray is divisive. If troops want to pray, let them do it on their own without outside interference.

acludem

John Ashcroft said free speech is divisive? A quick Yahoo search shows nothing of the sort... source?

And since you are not Christian, I will let you know that in the church, we routinely use handouts, devotional guides, even handwritten notes to guide our prayers. It is nothing unusual to get something like this at a worship service.

 

[DKSuddeth]

Originally posted by gop_jeff
John Ashcroft said free speech is divisive? A quick Yahoo search shows nothing of the sort... source?

it sounds like he's referring to ashcrofts statement about those who are protesting against rights infringements and lost liberties via the patriot act are only aiding the terrorists and destroying our resolve and unity.

 

[5stringJeff]

Originally posted by DKSuddeth
it sounds like he's referring to ashcrofts statement about those who are protesting against rights infringements and lost liberties via the patriot act are only aiding the terrorists and destroying our resolve and unity.

Huh. I must have missed that one too. And while I can understand the thought process of wanting to show national resolve, free speech is free speech.