U.S. Soldiers Punished For Not Attending Christian Concert

[Modbert]

Talk To Action | U.S. Soldiers Punished For Not Attending Christian Concert

On May 13, 2010, about eighty soldiers, stationed at Fort Eustis while attending a training course, were punished for opting out of attending one of these Christian concerts. The headliner at this concert was a Christian rock band called BarlowGirl, a band that describes itself as taking "an aggressive, almost warrior-like stance when it comes to spreading the gospel and serving God."

Any doubt that this was an evangelical Christian event was cleared up by the Army post's newspaper, the Fort Eustis Wheel, which ran an article after the concert that began:

"Following the Apostle Paul's message to the Ephesians in the Bible, Christian rock music's edgy, all-girl band BarlowGirl brought the armor of God to the warriors and families of Fort Eustis during another installment of the Commanding General's Spiritual Fitness Concert Series May 13 at Jacobs Theater."

"Those of us that chose not to attend (about 80, or a little less that half) were marched back to the company area. At that point the NCO issued us a punishment. We were to be on lock-down in the company (not released from duty), could not go anywhere on post (no PX, no library, etc). We were to go to strictly to the barracks and contact maintenance. If we were caught sitting in our rooms, in our beds, or having/handling electronics (cell phones, laptops, games) and doing anything other than maintenance, we would further have our weekend passes revoked and continue barracks maintenance for the entirety of the weekend. At that point the implied message was clear in my mind 'we gave you a choice to either satisfy us or disappoint us. Since you chose to disappoint us you will now have your freedoms suspended and contact chores while the rest of your buddies are enjoying a concert.'

"At that evening, nine of us chose to pursue an EO complaint. I was surprised to find out that a couple of the most offended soldiers were actually Christian themselves (Catholic). One of them was grown as a child in Cuba and this incident enraged him particularly as it brought memories of oppression."

In the Army.mil article, Maj. Gen. Chambers was quoted as saying, "The idea is not to be a proponent for any one religion. It's to have a mix of different performers with different religious backgrounds." But there has been no "mix of different performers with different religious backgrounds" at these concerts. Every one of them has had evangelical Christian performers, who typically not only perform their music but give their Christian testimony and read from the Bible in between songs.

So, thoughts USMB?

 

[DiamondDave]

Thoughts??.. I want an actual source, not some winger site

 

[HUGGY]

Oh my.... The "good" Christians that always claim they don't try to force their religion on anyone have some splainin to do!

 

[Truthmatters]

do you really think Fox would report this?

 

[DiamondDave]

ANY source other than a winger site... I don't care if it is the Washington Post, Fox, CNN, Reuters, or NPR

 

[AllieBaba]

Crappy source, let's see some corroborating evidence.

 

[Modbert]

Crappy source, let's see some corroborating evidence.

Man, you must of been so happy that DiamondDave said that so you can follow him on that one. Though you of all people saying that is ironic.

 

[DiamondDave]

Crappy source, let's see some corroborating evidence.

Man, you must of been so happy that DiamondDave said that so you can follow him on that one.

Well... got anything besides the winger site?

Thought not..

Exactly why there is a "Just Plain Stupid Shit By Stupid People" subforum

 

[strollingbones]

the majority always trys to oppress the minority....

 

[jillian]

Thoughts??.. I want an actual source, not some winger site

Well, i can't speak to the article, though it does seem consistent with this article from army.mil news

apparently major gen. chambers, a born again christian, thinks you're only ethically fit for duty if you have religion shoved down your throat on a regular basis.

and they're spending our money on this because?

Fort Lee Commanding General Reaches Out to Soldiers

 

[Modbert]

Well... got anything besides the winger site?

Thought not..

Exactly why there is a "Just Plain Stupid Shit By Stupid People" subforum

There are links when you go beyond the initial link. I didn't say whether it was true or not. I posted the story. I think you're overreacting to say the least because you didn't get the source you wanted and because you don't like this story.

See Jillian's link above as well.

 

[Truthmatters]

under Bush this became pretty standard.

 

[Truthmatters]

MILITARY RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FOUNDATION NOMINATED FOR 2010 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

 

[Modbert]

Thoughts??.. I want an actual source, not some winger site

Well, i can't speak to the article, though it does seem consistent with this article from army.mil news

apparently major gen. chambers, a born again christian, thinks you're only ethically fit for duty if you have religion shoved down your throat on a regular basis.

and they're spending our money on this because?

Fort Lee Commanding General Reaches Out to Soldiers

Oh, what's this.

At Fort Eustis, he promoted a series of concerts, featuring Christian performers, aimed at awakening Soldiers' spiritual awareness.

A concert series at Fort Lee, to be held quarterly, is a continuation of that outreach.

"The idea is not to be a proponent for any one religion," he said. "It's to have a mix of different performers with different religious backgrounds."

Chambers acknowledges without trepidation that there are some Soldiers who lack the moral upbringing or ethical consciousness to fulfill their promise as Soldiers.

"Our Soldiers today come from many different backgrounds." he said. "Some of those backgrounds did not include any kind of ethical, moral or civics-type training as children. Our intent is to expose that to them while they're here, and if it changes just a few behaviors then we've been successful."

 

[DiamondDave]

Thoughts??.. I want an actual source, not some winger site

Well, i can't speak to the article, though it does seem consistent with this article from army.mil news

apparently major gen. chambers, a born again christian, thinks you're only ethically fit for duty if you have religion shoved down your throat on a regular basis.

and they're spending our money on this because?

Fort Lee Commanding General Reaches Out to Soldiers

Nice leap... too bad you landed short... I usually think better of you, Jill

At Fort Eustis, he promoted a series of concerts, featuring Christian performers, aimed at awakening Soldiers' spiritual awareness.

"The idea is not to be a proponent for any one religion," he said. "It's to have a mix of different performers with different religious backgrounds."

Chambers acknowledges without trepidation that there are some Soldiers who lack the moral upbringing or ethical consciousness to fulfill their promise as Soldiers.

Not REMOTELY what you contended AT ALL

Funny... we have Chaplains, chapels, etc paid for as well.. and rightfully so

Epic fail Jill, epic fail

 

[Woyzeck]

I don't blame them for not going. Christian rock kinda sucks.

 

[jillian]

Thoughts??.. I want an actual source, not some winger site

Well, i can't speak to the article, though it does seem consistent with this article from army.mil news

apparently major gen. chambers, a born again christian, thinks you're only ethically fit for duty if you have religion shoved down your throat on a regular basis.

and they're spending our money on this because?

Fort Lee Commanding General Reaches Out to Soldiers

Oh, what's this.

At Fort Eustis, he promoted a series of concerts, featuring Christian performers, aimed at awakening Soldiers' spiritual awareness.

A concert series at Fort Lee, to be held quarterly, is a continuation of that outreach.

"The idea is not to be a proponent for any one religion," he said. "It's to have a mix of different performers with different religious backgrounds."

Chambers acknowledges without trepidation that there are some Soldiers who lack the moral upbringing or ethical consciousness to fulfill their promise as Soldiers.

"Our Soldiers today come from many different backgrounds." he said. "Some of those backgrounds did not include any kind of ethical, moral or civics-type training as children. Our intent is to expose that to them while they're here, and if it changes just a few behaviors then we've been successful."

oh yeah, that's what i was talking about. it just doesn't say in that article that they were disciplined for opting out. that's why i said the article was consistent.

 

[Modbert]

Nice leap... too bad you landed short... I usually think better of you, Jill

At Fort Eustis, he promoted a series of concerts, featuring Christian performers, aimed at awakening Soldiers' spiritual awareness.

"The idea is not to be a proponent for any one religion," he said. "It's to have a mix of different performers with different religious backgrounds."

Chambers acknowledges without trepidation that there are some Soldiers who lack the moral upbringing or ethical consciousness to fulfill their promise as Soldiers.

Not REMOTELY what you contended AT ALL

Funny... we have Chaplains, chapels, etc paid for as well.. and rightfully so

Epic fail Jill, epic fail

Can you not read? From my original link:

On May 13, 2010, about eighty soldiers, stationed at Fort Eustis while attending a training course, were punished for opting out of attending one of these Christian concerts. The headliner at this concert was a Christian rock band called BarlowGirl, a band that describes itself as taking "an aggressive, almost warrior-like stance when it comes to spreading the gospel and serving God."

But there has been no "mix of different performers with different religious backgrounds" at these concerts. Every one of them has had evangelical Christian performers, who typically not only perform their music but give their Christian testimony and read from the Bible in between songs.

 

[DiamondDave]

under Bush this became pretty standard.

Link?

 

[Modbert]

Maybe DiamondDave here can solve the $64,000 question. Since he doesn't believe that these soldiers are telling the truth, the question is why?