WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) commended Army Secretary John McHugh for swiftly intervening after learning about another Army briefing that listed Christian Evangelical groups as a "threat" to the United States. The latest incident occurred at Fort Hood, the site of a domestic terrorist attack by radical Islamist Nidal Hasan in November, 2009.
The Army Secretary responded to the string of incidents by issuing an order to "cease all briefings ... on the subject of extremist organizations or activities." The letter described the hate labeling of Christian evangelical groups as "inaccurate, objectionable, and otherwise inconsistent with current Army policy."
Of the growing number of anti-Christian incidents in the U.S. military, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, a Marine Corps veteran, said:
"In recent months, Army instructors have begun relying on the Southern Poverty Law Center, an anti-Christian group, as a source for its briefings. We can infer from the Secretary's letter that he recognizes that the Southern Poverty Law Center's labeling is 'inconsistent' with current Army policy. The Southern Poverty Law Center's mission is to advance the agenda of the Left, whereas the military's mission is to defend and uphold the constitution of the United States. These series of incidents reveal the conflicting missions.
"As a veteran of the Marine Corps and an American citizen I have been shocked that the Army has been training members of the military to identify Evangelicals here in America, who believe in the values the military is committed to protecting, as a threat to our country.
"On the very base that was the site of mass murder carried out by a radicalized Muslim soldier, it is astonishing that it is Evangelical groups that are being identified as a 'threat.' We will continue to monitor this situation to ensure that instructors carry out their role to train our troops to defend our freedom, and not push the Southern Poverty Law Center's anti-Christian propaganda," concluded Perkins.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization linked in federal court to a domestic terrorism attack on the Family Research Council in August, 2012, has been used as a resource for these briefings.
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