Monday, April 8, 2013

Catholicism and Evangelical Christianity--Extremist Religious Groups?

Well, that's staggering. Excerpts:
...The Archdiocese for the Military Services and Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty recently became aware of a U.S. Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief that expressly listed “Catholicism,” “Evangelical Christianity” and other religious groups as examples of “religious extremism” alongside groups such as “Al Qaeda”, “Hamas” and the “KKK.”

The Archdiocese is astounded that Catholics were listed alongside groups that are, by their very mission and nature, violent and extremist.

According to an investigation and reply from the Army Chief of Chaplains office, the training in question appears to have been an isolated incident not condoned by the Department of the Army. The Archdiocese and the Chaplain Alliance explained that the Army can and should take steps to prevent such incidents in the future...
From the presentation itself:
Supremacist: Any person(s) maintaining the ideology, quality, state of being, or position of being superior to all others in something. (pg. 7)
A definition so broad as to appear to include the US military, Olympic medalists, and the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the WCC.
Ideologies justify, legitimize and rationalize one particular version of reality despite other explanations and ideas. (pg. 8)
Like a physics textbook, or this presentation?
Religious Extremism:...Evangelical Christianity (U.S./Christian)...Catholicism (U.S./Christian)...

Extremism is a complex phenomenon; it is defined as beliefs, attitudes, feelings, actions, or strategies of a character far removed from the “ordinary.” Because ordinary” is subjective, no religious group would label itself extreme or its doctrine extremism.” However, religious extremism is not limited to any single religion, ethnic group, or region of the world; every religion has some followers that believe that their beliefs, customs and traditions are the only “right way” and that all others are practicing their faith the “wrong way,” seeing and believing that their faith/religion siperior to all others. (pg. 24)
And we're on a list with the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, Hamas, the KKK, Sunni Muslims (Iraq/Islam), the Nation of Islam, Fundamentalist Mormons, and Islamophobia. Oh, ye scholars of religion and religious folk, to me! Is this a slightly incoherent, incredibly broad list, or what? Behold, the dictatorship of relativism in full bloom!

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