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The military has again selectively applied their policy saying "no" to an invitation to meet kids at a summer Bible camp and "yes" to marching in uniform in a gay pride parade.
A local pastor wanted the kids to meet various "rescue groups" and learn how they help and serve people in the community.
All the agencies showed up---except the National Guard. They said it violated "policy."
How can our military justify marching in gay pride parades while standing up a group of kids who admire and look up to them?
One Guardsman said, "It makes me wonder what I'm actually fighting for."
The pastor and the locals are in disbelief. The pastor says, "I don't think most Americans realize how much their religious liberty is in jeopardy."
Churches across America conduct summer vacation Bible schools and invite all the kids in the neighborhood and often, the town. Many attend---and many remember the experience as an important learning experience.
I still remember the head falling off my clay duck as I was trying to "glaze it"---and I remember Mrs. Enloe teaching us that we should not gossip and spread rumors. She said it's like emptying a feather pillow in the wind. You can never gather up the feathers and put them back in the pillow when you find the rumor was false.
Gary's lesson: Be more careful when making clay ducks and don't spread rumors. I was ten.
The kids at Bible Baptist Church in Carthage, Missouri learned a very different lesson this summer.
Pastor Kent Hogan says the church and the town are very patriot, so the theme for this year's Bible Camp was "God's Rescue Squad."
Each day various "rescue squads" visited the kids explaining how they serve the community. Example: Monday and Tuesday--paramedics. Wednesday--County Sheriff's Department and the K-9 Unit.
But on National Guard day, they didn't show up. They were to explain to the kids how they protect our freedoms, etc.
The kids were prepared to thank them for protecting our religious freedom. A great opportunity, it seems, for the Guard to do a little promotion.
Apparently there are more important issues.
They didn't show.
Pastor Hogan was shocked.
People in the church, and then in the community were also shocked---then upset when they heard the explanation.
The pastor says, "We were told it is against military policy....if the National Guard had assets on the church property it would look like they were sponsoring the Baptist religion."
Apparently the military believes they "are" sponsoring the gay pride parades they participate in.
The Guard also told the pastor they "didn't want to offend anyone in the community."
Apparently except patriotic people of faith and other normal conservative people.
The pastor reached out to their state representative, a Republican, who shared their disbelief but after calls and contacts, the "policy" stood.
So what is the "policy?"
"Army participation must not selectively benefit (or appear to benefit) any person, group, or corporation, (whether profit or non profit) religion, sect, religious or sectarian group, or quasi-religious or ideological movement."
The state representative told Fox News' Todd Starnes, "Pastor Hogan got blown off by the federal government."
This is not unique to Carthage, Missouri. It's becoming a pattern under this administration.
Several members of the Guard spoke to Starnes on the condition that he not disclose their name.
One said, "It makes me wonder what I'm actually fighting for."
Another said, "I will never understand why it's okay for the military to march in a gay pride parade but not allow them to spend an hour talking with kids who look up to them."
He said, "I never thought I'd see the day that this would happen in my home town."
These kids memory of this summer Bible camp will be, at best, a bit of confusion as to why the Guard didn't show.
The pastor isn't confused, but a bit more enlightened. He says, "I don't think most Americans realize how much their religious liberty is in jeopardy---if they did this to us---how bad is it somewhere else?"
It's bad Pastor, it's bad.
In fact it is so bad and blatant that concerned Congressmen are demanding answers.
In 2012, Republican lawmakers "blasted the Pentagon's decision" to allow troops to march in uniform at the San Diego gay pride parade. I recall that one of the military personnel was featured holding hands with his "husband" as they marched, representing the US military.
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va) called it a "dangerous exception" and the Armed Forces Readiness subcommittee said the decision was clearly "to advance the Obama administration's social agenda."
Wouldn't that be an "ideological movement?"
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla) wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Defense Department in which he said, "If the Navy can punish a chaplain for participating in a pro-life event or a Marine participating in a political rally, it stands to reason that the DOD should maintain the same standard for service members marching in gay-pride parades."
An adequate response was never received. And that was 2 years ago.
The march against the very values and principles that gave us the most free and blessed nation in human history continues.
Pastors and people alike are awakening to the fact that Patrick Henry was right.
Henry said, "When people forget God, tyrants forge their chains."
Our freedoms, although God-given, are fragile. If we don't stand and protect them, they can and will be lost.
Votes are powerful ways to communicate our deeply held beliefs. It's time.
Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Pro-Active. Be Blessed.