COMMENTARY:

Pentagon Chaplain Accused of Aiding Proselytizing

According to documents obtained by the watchdog group the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and made available to Truthout, David Kistler, President of Hickory, North Carolina-based H.O.P.E. Ministries International, embarked on a "DC Crusade" along with dozens of members of the evangelical organization for two weeks that included two days inside the Pentagon proselytizing and preaching the "gospel" to government employees and "saving souls."

Kistler is a somewhat controversial figure whose sermons contain apocalyptic messages and bizarre prophecies. He believes certain Democratic lawmakers will burn in hell while "good Christians," such as President Bush, will be swept up into the heavens.

The Rapture will soon vacuum up good Christians, including George W. Bush, to Heaven, he said in a past sermon to his congregation. Ted Kennedy, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton will not be Raptured up to Heaven. Following The Rapture, the Anti-Christ will appear and children will be "micro-chipped."

Col. William Broome, the Pentagon chaplain, and his deputy, Maj. Alan Pomaville, invited Kistler's group to speak to DOD employees at a Pentagon prayer breakfast June 6 and in the Pentagon auditorium June 7, according to a copy of a recent newsletter published by H.O.P.E Ministries. Kistler, according to written statements made to his congregation, spent a considerable amount of his time at the Pentagon proselytizing to DOD employees in violation of federal law.

"I am thrilled to report that three souls were saved among those who attended those events," Kistler wrote in the newsletter sent to members of his congregation.

Neither a Pentagon spokesman nor a representative for H.O.P.E. ministries returned numerous calls for comment.

Two years ago, Kistler and H.O.P.E. Ministries staged an event at the Pentagon with the blessing of the DOD's former chaplain who, in authorizing the event, appeared to violate the basic laws governing the separation of church and state.

In a letter sent to his congregation in June 2005, Kistler said H.O.P.E. Ministries conducted "two services in the Pentagon courtyard," a non-public space where employees eat their lunch and access to civilians is restricted.

"Both services were very well received. Just how many were saved, I do not know. I was told, by one of the Chaplains Corps., that numerous people had no doubt called on Christ for salvation at the end of the services, and that many more would be saved in the following days," Kistler wrote in a letter to his congregants. "Because we were in a very public part of the Pentagon where large numbers of employees eat their lunch, and the potential of being accused of 'coercing' people toward Christianity, we were not allowed to give a typical invitation, or to ask for an outward response on the part of those who accepted Christ. While we could not do a normal type invitation, there were no restrictions on the gospel message I preached."

Kistler said that following his sermon in the courtyard, a Pentagon chaplain told him the event was "cutting edge evangelism" and "never before had a preacher been allowed to present the message of the gospel in the courtyard."

"As we left the Pentagon, the Chaplain's Assistant told us, "It's not a matter of IF you'll be back here to conduct services, but WHEN," Kistler wrote. "At present, we are working on the details of returning either next year or 2007."

A former US Air Force chaplain, who requested anonymity because the chaplain continues to work for the government, said its clear federal laws were broken by having Kistler preach to Pentagon employees.

"The preacher clearly indicates that his purpose was proselytizing," the former chaplain said. "But proselytizing is not a legitimate spiritual need which military chaplains are tasked to meet. Had it been announced that the 'courtyard' was to be reserved for a Christian Evangelical Service - and only for that purpose then such a service - including 'calls to accept Jesus' would be permissible. The denominational perspective of the service would be clearly presented in advance and Pentagon employees could choose to be present at or avoid the service."

The former chaplain added that Kistler's service "was designed to impose itself on Pentagon members who had merely gathered for lunch in the courtyard. That is to say the primary purpose of the courtyard space is for informal social gathering - not religious services. If the Chaplains wish to change the purpose and function of the space they need to inform military members in advance. Setting up an amplified Evangelical service in the midst of a military lunch crowd is an opportunistic approach to 'ministry' and an attempt to proselytize which is not permitted in the U.S. Armed Services."

Mikey Weinstein, the president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said H.O.P.E Ministries' presence inside the Pentagon in 2005 and in June is a blatant violation of the laws separating church and state.

Weinstein said he and his legal staff are still preparing to file a comprehensive federal lawsuit against the DOD for widespread First Amendment and Bill of Rights violations as well as similar violations of Clause 3, Article VI of the Constitution, which prohibits any "religion test" for any position in the federal government.

Weinstein said the lawsuit has been delayed only because of the "overwhelming, non-stop reports of out-of-control Christian fundamentalism his organization has been receiving" from soldiers who indicated to Weinstein's staff that rampant Christian fundamentalism has plagued the halls of the DOD and soldiers on the battlefield in Iraq are being forced by their superiors to accept Jesus Christ as their saviors. Weinstein, a former White House attorney under Ronald Reagan, general counsel H. Ross Perot and an Air Force Judge Advocate (JAG), has called for Congressional hearings into the Pentagon's attempts to "Christianize" the military and the DOD.

"We need immediate and sustained bipartisan and Congressional oversight coupled with no-holds barred federal litigation to stop this unconstitutional, fundamentalist, Christian contagion and its military lick spittle sponsors from the West Wing to West Baghdad," Weinstein said.

Earlier this month, In a story first reported by Truthout, an investigation by the Pentagon's inspector general concluded high-ranking Army and Air Force personnel violated long-standing military regulations when they participated in a promotional video for an evangelical Christian organization while in uniform and on active duty.

The report recommended Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack Catton, Army Brig. Gen. Bob Caslen, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, Maj. Gen. Peter Sutton, and a colonel and lieutenant colonel whose names were redacted in the inspector general's report, "improperly endorsed and participated with a non-Federal entity while in uniform" and the men should be disciplined for misconduct. Caslen was formerly the deputy director for political-military affairs for the war on terrorism, directorate for strategic plans and policy, joint staff. He now oversees the 4,200 cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point. Caslen told DOD investigators he agreed to appear in the video upon learning other senior Pentagon officials had been interviewed for the promotional video.

The Army generals who appeared in the video appeared to be speaking on behalf of the military, but they did not obtain prior permission to appear in the video. They defended their actions, according to the inspector general's report, saying the "Christian Embassy had become a 'quasi-Federal entity,' since the DOD had endorsed the organization to General Officers for over 25 years."

The inspector general's report recommended the "Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Army take appropriate corrective action with respect to the military officers concerned."

The 47-page report was also highly critical of Pentagon Chaplain Col. Ralph G. Benson, whom the inspector general's report accused of knowingly misleading the DOD when he requested permission from DOD officials to film a video inside the Pentagon claiming he was interested in gathering information about the Pentagon's "own ministry."

In fact, the report says Benson was determined to use the video to "attract new supporters" to the Christian Embassy, an evangelical organization that evangelizes members of the military and politicians in Washington, DC via daily Bible studies and outreach events.

Two weeks ago, following a story published by Max Blumenthal in The Nation, the Pentagon scrapped plans to send so-called "Freedom Packages" to soldiers in Iraq. The packages, put together by the fundamentalist Christian ministry called Operation Straight Up, contained among other things, Bibles and the apocalyptic computer game "Left Behind: Eternal Forces," in which "soldiers for Christ" hunt down enemies of Christianity.