Bible Study Guides on Military Website
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:22 pm
A series of Bible study guides were removed from the US Army's Fort Leavenworth web site late Monday following a report by Truthout that disclosed how the materials used by chaplains during Bible sessions for soldiers appeared to be anti-Semitic, and that disseminating it through a web site maintained by the federal government may have violated the law mandating the separation between church and state.
...Janet Wray, spokeswoman at Fort Leavenworth, confirmed that the bible study guides have been removed from the chaplain's section of the website and said that officials at the army base were reviewing the materials. When contacted over the weekend about the study guides and the apparent anti-Semitic content contained in the documents, a person who answered the telephone at the Fort Leavenworth chaplain's office refused to disclose his name when asked for comment. The individual, a male, said there have not been prior complaints about the Bible study guides and that "I would not characterize the material as anti-Semitic."
"I guess if you're Jewish you may see it that way, but we're discussing the gospels as it appears in the New Testament," this person said, who added that there was no plan at the time to remove the study guides from the web site.
The study guides were posted at the link http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/Staff/chapla ... guides.asp. Late Monday evening the documents were quietly removed from public view of the chaplain section of the US Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth website. On Tuesday, a visit to the web address said "the page you are trying to find is unavailable or the address has been typed incorrectly." On Wednesday morning a visit to the web address prompted a request for a password. Truthout has posted the study guides and screen grabs of the website before it was scrubbed.
...Indeed, the study guides ask soldiers whether they "think it is possible for you to win one person to Christ this year?" The guides ask: "How would you proceed to accomplish that?; 1. By making a commitment to do that; 2. By learning how to present the gospel in such a way as to challenge someone to accept Christ as Lord; 3. By bathing my goal in prayer; 4. By praying for some specific person to accept Christ; 5. By inviting and encouraging a specific person to come to this Bible study, and continuing to pray for their salvation and/or spiritual growth. What effect could our group have on the population at Fort Leavenworth if we deliberately embarked on such an effort and prayed for each other daily?"
Read the rest here.
...Janet Wray, spokeswoman at Fort Leavenworth, confirmed that the bible study guides have been removed from the chaplain's section of the website and said that officials at the army base were reviewing the materials. When contacted over the weekend about the study guides and the apparent anti-Semitic content contained in the documents, a person who answered the telephone at the Fort Leavenworth chaplain's office refused to disclose his name when asked for comment. The individual, a male, said there have not been prior complaints about the Bible study guides and that "I would not characterize the material as anti-Semitic."
"I guess if you're Jewish you may see it that way, but we're discussing the gospels as it appears in the New Testament," this person said, who added that there was no plan at the time to remove the study guides from the web site.
The study guides were posted at the link http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/Staff/chapla ... guides.asp. Late Monday evening the documents were quietly removed from public view of the chaplain section of the US Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth website. On Tuesday, a visit to the web address said "the page you are trying to find is unavailable or the address has been typed incorrectly." On Wednesday morning a visit to the web address prompted a request for a password. Truthout has posted the study guides and screen grabs of the website before it was scrubbed.
...Indeed, the study guides ask soldiers whether they "think it is possible for you to win one person to Christ this year?" The guides ask: "How would you proceed to accomplish that?; 1. By making a commitment to do that; 2. By learning how to present the gospel in such a way as to challenge someone to accept Christ as Lord; 3. By bathing my goal in prayer; 4. By praying for some specific person to accept Christ; 5. By inviting and encouraging a specific person to come to this Bible study, and continuing to pray for their salvation and/or spiritual growth. What effect could our group have on the population at Fort Leavenworth if we deliberately embarked on such an effort and prayed for each other daily?"
Read the rest here.