J
John_Higgins
Guest
The full article is at Washington Post
The video can be found at Video
So, what do you think? This veteran (whose sister was a colonel in the Pentagon) will add his comments after some of you do.
John
Defense Department Asked to Examine Officers’ Acts Supporting Christian Group
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 11, 2006
A military watchdog group is asking the Defense Department to investigate whether seven Army and Air Force officers violated regulations by appearing in uniform in a promotional video for an evangelical Christian organization.
In the video, much of which was filmed inside the Pentagon, four generals and three colonels praise the Christian Embassy, a group that evangelizes among military leaders, politicians and diplomats in Washington. Some of the officers describe their efforts to spread their faith within the military.
“I found a wonderful opportunity as a director on the joint staff, as I meet the people that come into my directorate,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack J. Catton Jr. says in the video. “And I tell them right up front who Jack Catton is, and I start with the fact that I’m an old-fashioned American, and my first priority is my faith in God, then my family and then country. I share my faith because it describes who I am.”
Pete Geren, a former acting secretary of the Air Force who oversaw the service’s response in 2005 to accusations that evangelical Christians were pressuring cadets at the Air Force Academy, also appears in the video. The Christian Embassy “has been a rock that I can rely on, been an organization that helped me in my walk with Christ, and I’m just thankful for the service they give,” he says.
The full article is at Washington PostThe 10-minute video is on the group’s Web site, Christianembassy.com. The organization was founded nearly 30 years ago by the late Bill Bright, who also founded Campus Crusade for Christ. The Christian Embassy Web site says the group holds prayer breakfasts each Wednesday in the Pentagon’s executive dining room and organizes small groups to help military leaders “bridge the gap between faith and work.”…
It sounds as if Christian Embassy didn’t get all their ducks in a row before filming (or releasing) the video. The film is not primarily about the military or military officers, but given the recent controversy about Klingenschmitt appearing in uniform as well as the charges of evangelical pressure at the Air Force Academy the film makers should have known to be more careful.Catton said yesterday that he does not remember whether he sought approval to appear in the video, which he said was made in 2005. “If someone asked me today to do it, I for sure would ask permission,” said the general