The US Department of Defense has now listed Catholics and Evangelical Christians as religious extremists, that is, religious terrorists. Catholics and Evangelicals are now lumped in the same list as are the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda, the KKK and Hamas.
The slide presentation, in the context of talking about the rise of extremism, gives the impression that religious belief, whatever it is, and however it frames its claims for truth and how these truth claims are applied, are the same and to be rejected. Religious tenets can be widely different from another but that doesn't mean they lead to violent actions. Ideas are not intolerant, people can be; faith is a way of knowing the world, a way of perceiving reality, faith relates to matters of salvation. It is true that we need "religious types" need to make sure that the faithful are properly taught what is held by the Church body. If you are interested, here is the offending presentation: Extremism Presentation & Extremist Organizations.pdf
When I saw this news item the other day I had to say to myself that secularism has now gone to a new level of intolerance and ignorance.
If you hold that Jesus Christ is THE way, THE truth, and THE life, and He is the Savior for all, then you are considered an extremist. If Christ is true, then He's true for all people for all time.
It is now claimed by the Army Chief of Chaplains this incident is an unique event and the US Army doesn't condone the training program. I am skeptical about the turn-around. You can step back from the reality but you can't step away from the fact that anti-Christian sentiment is now promoted by the US government.
I have to say, the response of the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA and the USCCB office on religious liberty gave very weak responses (the AMS news release) to this issue.
News from Catholic Culture and the NCRegister.
Here's the news release by Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty: Military training materials.pdf
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