I saw this article @ DailyMail
Army Reserve training material lists Catholics, evangelical Christians and some Jews in ‘religious extremism’ category along with the KKK, Hamas and Al Qaeda
- Pentagon based conclusions on Southern Poverty Law Center report
A slideshow presentation shown to US Army Reserve recruits classifies Christians, including both evangelicals and Roman Catholics, as religious extremists, placing them in the same category as skinheads, the Ku Klux Klan, Hamas and Al Qaeda.
The presentation also warned that members of the military are prohibited from taking leadership roles in any organization the Pentagon considers ‘extremist,’ and from distributing the organization’s literature, whether on or off a military installation…. (snip)
Later in the slideshow is a list of groups that exemplify ‘religious extremism.’
Included are ‘evangelical Christianity,’ ‘Catholicism,’ ‘Ultra-Orthodox’ Judaism, and ‘Islamophobia.’
Most of the list is populated by more widely accepted examples of religious extremist groups, including Al Qaeda, Sunni Muslims, Hamas, and the Ku Klux Klan.
I see it as a move in the right direction – though it was rather a shock to those who see extremism by most Christians to be normal and even good. I’ve noticed Catholic writers argue that it’s terrible that people are using peer pressure and “bullying” to convince others that gay marriage should be legal. Meanwhile, the author turns a blind eye to the bullying by the Catholic and other Christians who bully gays to death. Churches have as their foundation peer pressure.
Father John Hollowell argues:
I just want you to know that if this is your sign [a pro-gay-equality symbol many shared on Facebook] then you are actively supporting my persecution, torture, imprisonment, etc. Perhaps you know that already, and perhaps that warms your heart, but I wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page here….
Because this man only sees the persecution done TO Catholics but never BY Catholics.
Meanwhile, another Catholic writer glories in the Inquisition – says it was one of the
“Ten Great Things About Catholicism” and wants to bring it back. Either these people don’t know anything about the extent that Catholics killed people for not believing what they were ‘supposed’ to believe – or they think that it was all fine and good to kill, torture and threaten people. But either way, the Catholics and the Evangelical type of Christians who think it is somehow their duty to kill or convert others should be seen as hate groups. It’s absurd for Catholics, esp. to claim victimhood when there are over a billion of them and their power, money and influence are as strong as they are.
For the liberal Catholics who are not extreme and do not push extreme views – they would be better off calling themselves something else, and giving their money directly to the needy.
