OneLight Posted May 7, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 22 Topic Count: 1,294 Topics Per Day: 0.21 Content Count: 31,762 Content Per Day: 5.22 Reputation: 9,763 Days Won: 115 Joined: 09/14/2007 Status: Offline Share Posted May 7, 2009 Here is the story in full, as printed on the web: The U.S. military is confirming that it has destroyed some Bibles belonging to an American soldier serving in Afghanistan. Reuters News says the Bibles were confiscated and destroyed after Qatar-based Al Jazeer television showed soldiers at a Bible class on a base with a stack of Bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages. The U.S. military forbids its members on active duty -- including those based in places like Afghanistan -- from trying to convert people to another religion. Reuters quotes Maj. Jennifer Willis at the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, who said "I can now confirm that the Bibles shown on Al Jazeera's clip were, in fact, collected by the chaplains and later destroyed. They were never distributed." According to the military officials, the Bibles were sent through private mail to an evangelical Christian soldier by his church back home. Reuters says the soldier brought them to the Bible study class where they were filmed. The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told a Pentagon briefing Monday that the military's position is that it will never "push any specific religion." Grant you, I enlisted in the 70's and never swore not to pass on Gods word to anyone. Is this something new in the pledge to serve our country or is it an added "rule" when it comes to Islam? What is lacking in this story is why the bibles were sent. There is a difference between a soldier giving bibles to those who ask for them and a soldier trying to convert someone from Islam. Could it be that they want to know about Christ? Could it be that the soldier was asked for bibles and he was just giving them what they asked? Were these soldiers standing on the corner or forcing anyone to listen? God gave us a commandment that comes first, no mater what any pledge states. Matthew 28:19-20 (New King James Version) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HIS girl Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Nebula - the assumption was made due to the fact the Bibles had been translated into local dialects... I agree Onelight with your comments... ALSO...would randomly leaving the Bibles on street corners be a crime? I wouldn't think so....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest yod Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Ok - so the soldier knew he was going against rules but still went ahead regardless to spread the Gospel..Is that bad? Is it naiive? Brother Andrew (from Open Doors Ministries) smuggled Bibles behind the Iron Curtain at the risk of his own life. It's NOT bad, not at all. I admire what this soldier was trying to do and that is what the Lord would have him do. But then we come to the practical part of the whole thing. It's a crime punishable by death in that country to try to convert a muslim to ANY other faith and Afghans, by association, would be put in great danger. The soldier was breaking the law of the country in which he's stationed and U.S. military regulations as well. This is one of those dilemnas to which there are no easy answers. it was illegal and punishable by death to pray in that same area during Daniel's time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HIS girl Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 'yod' it was illegal and punishable by death to pray in that same area during Daniel's time. Go Daniel!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Believer1997 Posted May 7, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 66 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 6,363 Content Per Day: 1.12 Reputation: 119 Days Won: 9 Joined: 11/07/2008 Status: Offline Share Posted May 7, 2009 If this soldier volunteered and made an agreement with the military not to do this - he is going back on his word and in doing so he could have put his comrades in danger. There are ways to spread the word without violating your agreement with the military. I don't think he was wrong to want to spread it - I think he was wrong the way he engaged in it. God Bless him - his heart was in the right place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HIS girl Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 'yod' it was illegal and punishable by death to pray in that same area during Daniel's time. Go Daniel!! I will say it again in case you mised it... Daniel never agreed not to and then went back on his word. RG -Daniel knew the law of that land and the consequences...so he was breaking the law... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest yod Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 it was illegal and punishable by death to pray in that same area during Daniel's time. but Daniel never agreed not to and then went back on his word. That's a ridiculous distinction. Daniel wasn't a volunteer sent there to defend a foreign nation either...so what? Are you saying that the christians involved should submit to a military policy that forces them to deny God? I don't think they had a voice or choice in the matter, much like Daniel under Darius. There was a law imposed upon Daniel and these modern soldiers. Who should we obey when civic law contradicts the law of the Lord? Daniel 6: Finally these men said, "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God." 6 So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: "O King Darius, live forever! 7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions' den. 8 Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HIS girl Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 RG -Daniel knew the law of that land and the consequences...so he was breaking the law... yes, but he never agreed to those laws in the first place, so he while he was breaking the law, he was not breaking his word. this solider agreed to the rule, so when he broke it he not only broke the rule, he broke his word. you do see the difference dont you? Yes RG - I DO see the difference. Do you think this soldier is unique in this position? Breaking his word on behalf of God? I have a feeling other soldiers have done that before him....I don't have concrete evidence but I doubt he is the first... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebula Posted May 7, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 10 Topic Count: 5,823 Topics Per Day: 0.75 Content Count: 45,870 Content Per Day: 5.94 Reputation: 1,897 Days Won: 83 Joined: 03/22/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/19/1970 Share Posted May 7, 2009 I'm missing something. The article says nothing about the soldier attempting to give the Bibles to Muslims. It says they were at a Bible study with the Bibles. What evidenced do they have that they were trying to convert Muslims? i guess it would be that no one else really reads Pashto and Dari languages. There are Christians over there, you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nChrist Posted May 7, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 438 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 2,947 Content Per Day: 0.54 Reputation: 300 Days Won: 9 Joined: 04/28/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 04/18/1949 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Unless I missed something, there are many questions that this article doesn't answer that would have a big bearing. Examples: Was this soldier trying to convert them to Christianity, or were they already Christians wanting Bibles in their own language? Are we really talking about a broken rule or oath? We really don't know from the information given in the article. Can Christians have Bible studies while serving in the military? Yes, most obviously. Are there circumstances where there would be nothing wrong at all with giving away Bibles? Yes, unless there is some rule not mentioned in the article. I served in the 60s, and I really don't have a clue about what has changed in the Armed Forces since then. The rules then simply involved common sense. Example: you couldn't beat or threaten someone to get them to read the Bible or worship God. I could envision some circumstances that would make what this soldier did wrong. On the other side of the coin, there are NO circumstances where destroying these Bibles would have been right. There are people all over the world begging for Bibles in their own language. If one applies common sense first, soldiers still have Relgious Freedom. The contents of the article I read don't indicate any facts that the soldier did anything wrong. One would need more information for any reasonable determination. However, the "political correctness police" don't think they need the proper information or common sense. Regardless, U.S. Military Authorities were wrong in destroying these Bibles. nChrist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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