Jefferson picks up the term and uses it in his Act for Establishing Religious Liberty saying no one should be "enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods,nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief;"

I came up with the phrase about "conscience abuse" on my own.

by Mainstream Baptist on Sat Feb 11, 2006 at 10:15:28 PM EST

Lynn noted, "It is shocking that there is no similar provision for regular Air Force personnel who do not wish to participate in prayer or other religious activities."

When I was in the USAF in Basic training, there was no provision for flight members who did not wish to attend church. They could either march to a church service (Catholic or Protestant) or have a "GI Party" in the barracks, or police litter on the parade grounds. After freezing my hiney off picking up gum wrappers and cigarette butts in the San Antonion November, I chose to endure (more like snooze through) the Catholic mass.

It is interesting how the culture has changed- our chaplain at Sunnyvale held regular midnight breakfasts, but it wasn't mandantory to go- but they sure had good food, and no religious program. The midnight breakfasts were for fellowship and appreciation as military members, not for promotion of religion. The Chaplain was taking care of his USAF family, not his religious family, and we appreciated that- and him.

Chaplains like Chaplain Rowell are becoming rare in today's secterian military atmosphere. The increase in aggressively evangelical sects has made religious practice a prickly thing. Pagan members do not have chaplains, and if the more aggressive evangelicals are now permitted to prosetylize and 'molest' the unchurched, they will be much more overt about it. This was apparent in the final years of my enlistment, when it was clear that my own religion, although legally recognized, was considered not compatible with continued military service. I was honorably discharged after 13 years of flawless service.

The USAF should be ashamed for caving in to the demands of the aggressive Christian element. This will corrode the esprit de corps of the USAF, and further promote the false legitimacy of a Christian majority. It could also be instrumental in a religious coup of our government, which is growing increasingly possible. This is a terrifying thing to think about it, but it is a real threat.

by Lorie Johnson on Sun Feb 12, 2006 at 03:03:32 PM EST

A notable quote by Tony Perkins:

Dr. Haggard sees the new Air Force policy as fully respectful of minority rights while not infringing on the rights of majorities.

Umm... the majority and minority have different rights in this country??  And here I thought we were all Americans and all had the same rights and responsibilities...

-Emily
emilywynn.blogspot.com


by EmilyWynn8 on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 06:08:20 PM EST

"Spiritual Rape" is a very apt term.  Not only does it cause harm to people psychologically, spiritually, and often physically...much like rape, it can make one very much avoidant of anything remotely like what one went through, it's the use of something normally associated with caring as a weapon of hate, and leaves permanent scars.

I left the spiritually abusive Assemblies of God church I grew up in a good six years ago, and I still have the scars.  I'm not sure I'm ever going to be comfortable in any kind of church or formal religious setting ever again (not even the Unitarian Universalists--some of my own church anxiety has kept me from being involved with them).  I consider myself doing well for finally (after six years out of that mess) not twitching when someone mentions the Bible or Jesus (and actually consider a post I have done mentioning examples of scripture-twisting by dominionist groups a major step in that I didn't run screaming from the base material!)--yes, for a long time I couldn't even hear someone mention God because it reminded me too much of the hell I went through.  I still don't like to watch the news too much because some of the things like codewords used in Presidential speeches I still find intensely "triggering" of very, very bad memories.  I am ashamed to admit that when Bush was elected for a second term I had a literal panic attack (and sometimes I still do on bad days).

This is something I'm probably going to have to deal with for the rest of my life--longterm consequences of what is called "complex post traumatic stress disorder".

Two of the most common causes of complex PTSD are sexual abuse (especially in childhood) and--as it turns out--spiritual abuse.

No, "spiritual rape" is not an exaggeration at all.  I'm probably going to be always a little leery of Christian evangelicals (even non-dominionist ones) because quite frankly too much reminds me of what I went through literally having the Bible used as a tool of abuse for 26 years of my life. :(

by dogemperor on Mon Feb 13, 2006 at 08:22:07 PM EST