Soldiers must burn their trash

[Father Heathen]

Giving Bibles to Christians is proselytizing? Virtually no Christians?

Afghanistan is a predominantly muslim country with a sizable portion of fundamentalists and extremists.

If the intent was to use these Bibles for the sole purpose of stirring-up violence, then I'm against it.

Of course stirring up violence by giving out bibles wasn't their intention, but that doesn't change the fact that it would.

Finding a legitimate method of share Christianity and utilizing these Bibles for those purposes only is what I'm talking about now.

And that's what would stir up violence. Jeopardizing military missions and the lives of troops by potentially ******* off the muslim population just to "spread the good word" isn't worth it. It's both reckless and pointless.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

I know this is a little off topic...

but I would LOVE to hear someone... anyone's take on the bible...
who read it FRESH... with absolutley NO pre'planted/pre'concieved notions,
or prior knowledge about it.... or what it's supposed to be for.

Apparently, some people don't want this to happen.

I think if you gave away 500 or such bibles to people like that,
you would get absolutely nothing that looks anything like modern christianity
as a result. I say give those bibles away! stand back... and watch... lolol

I agree. Look at the followers described in the book of Acts.

Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)
42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

I rather doubt if anyone would even finish it actually.
haha. or make it to the New Testament.

I'm sure their would be people who wouldn't finish it, but some would. I did.

Maybe for the sake of completing the experement...
just cut it down to the new testament.

a tactic some modern Christian churches utilize.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

Afghanistan is a predominantly muslim country with a sizable portion of fundamentalists and extremists.

and what would you say to the Christians 2000 years ago. Don't share Christianity with Rome.

Of course stirring up violence by giving out bibles wasn't their intention, but that doesn't change the fact that it would.

When in Afghanistan...

And that's what would stir up violence. Jeopardizing military missions and the lives of troops by potentially ******* off the muslim population just to "spread the good word" isn't worth it. It's both reckless and pointless.

I think American soldiers in that area of the world is reckless and pointless, but hey, we are there.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I can see why the military would not want the Bible's getting out. The last thing I'm sure any military base would want is an angry mob of Muslim extremist thinking the US Military is trying to convert everyone.
But burning them? I'm sure there were plenty of other options open to get rid of them.

 

[Panda]

I can see why the military would not want the Bible's getting out. The last thing I'm sure any military base would want is an angry mob of Muslim extremist thinking the US Military is trying to convert everyone.
But burning them? I'm sure there were plenty of other options open to get rid of them.

They couldn't hand them out, it is a waste of money and effort to send them back. I suppose any of the soldiers that wanted one could take it and they used the rest to make a nice camp fire.

 

[Alceste]

I can see why the military would not want the Bible's getting out. The last thing I'm sure any military base would want is an angry mob of Muslim extremist thinking the US Military is trying to convert everyone.
But burning them? I'm sure there were plenty of other options open to get rid of them.

They didn't burn them, they threw them into the trash.

They burn all kinds of trash, not just the trash that happens to be Pashto Bibles. You think they should have redesigned their rubbish management system to accommodate a special, non-incendiary fate for garbage that is religious in nature?

 

[gnomon]

In America the image of an individual in fatigues, holding a weapon and the copy of Koran invokes terrorism.

I wonder what the image of an individual in fatigues, holding a weapon and a copy of the Bible invokes in Afghanistan?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Giving Bibles to Christians is proselytizing?

They weren't intended for Christians, they were intended for Muslims to help convert them to Christianity. And yes, that is proselytizing.

Virtually no Christians?

Yes.

If the intent was to use these Bibles for the sole purpose of stirring-up violence, then I'm against it. Finding a legitimate method of share Christianity and utilizing these Bibles for those purposes only is what I'm talking about now.

The intent was to use these Bibles to spread Christianity, with no regard given to the fact that it would stir up violence.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

They weren't intended for Christians, they were intended for Muslims to help convert them to Christianity. And yes, that is proselytizing.

I agree and so did the Christian representative in the OP's article; he made the right call.

My point was not about promoting the intentions in which the Bibles were initially distributed, but in the manner that they were disposed of, ie. BURNED!!!!

Can Bibles be redirected to appropriate means, to the people it was intentionally written for?

 

[blackout]

I agree and so did the Christian representative in the OP's article; he made the right call.

My point was not about promoting the intentions in which the Bibles were initially distributed, but in the manner that they were disposed of, ie. BURNED!!!!

Can Bibles be redirected to appropriate means, to the people it was intentionally written for?

Honey, really. What difference does it make.
It's paper... and cardboard.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I agree and so did the Christian representative in the OP's article; he made the right call.

My point was not about promoting the intentions in which the Bibles were initially distributed, but in the manner that they were disposed of, ie. BURNED!!!!

Keep in mind, though: it's not like they dumped all the Bible in a pile, poured gasoline over them, lit them on fire, sang happy songs and then whizzed on the ashes. They threw the Bibles in the regular garbage, and at this base, the regular garbage gets incinerated.

In a perfect world, I would have preferred that the Bibles get recycled, but since paper recycling is very water-intensive and needs quite a bit of specialized equipment, I can understand why a military base in Afghanistan wouldn't be doing it.

Can Bibles be redirected to appropriate means, to the people it was intentionally written for?

It was intentionally written for Muslims. It would have been entirely inappropriate to "redirect" them to these people by any means whatsoever.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

It was intentionally written for Muslims. It would have been entirely inappropriate to "redirect" them to these people by any means whatsoever.

I disagree.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I disagree.

About which point? That the Bibles were written for Afghan Muslims, or that it would be inappropriate to give the Bibles to Afghan Muslims?

 

[Father Heathen]

I disagree.

So you think it's appropriate for the U.S. government, via the military, to endorse a particular faith and to needlessly and recklessly jeopardize missions and lives just to proselytize? What about non-christian tax payers and non-christian soldiers? Why should it cost them?

As for burning the books; they're just paper. They should've instead been text books for schools, that way they would've actually been useful and worth giving to the Afghanis.

 

[Alceste]

Jeremy, out of curiosity, how do you think American Christians would react if an Islamic country invaded Texas and started handing out English copies of the Koran?

 

[Jeremy Mason]

About which point? That the Bibles were written for Afghan Muslims, or that it would be inappropriate to give the Bibles to Afghan Muslims?

It's the later point I was referencing.
Once again, I'm not promoting proselytizing, but sharing. Here at RF I am glad to say that I have Muslim friends. If we can promote healthy dialog amongst each other, I'm sure there are people in Afghanistan who can do the same.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

So you think it's appropriate for the U.S. government, via the military, to endorse a particular faith and to needlessly and recklessly jeopardize missions and lives just to proselytize?

Of course not. I thought I said the Christian representative, in the OP's article, made the right call.

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/1606675-post49.html

the point that you so eloquently pointed out...

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/1594992-post10.html

The article said they considered returning the books to the church, but were afraid that they would attempt to get them back into Afghanistan by some other means. It's a PR concern regarding proselytizing potentially angering the muslim populace and inciting violence against American troops.

I got to be honest, but me thinks some people don't want Christianity to be shared or described in any way to people in Muslims countries, period.

I believe there is a right and wrong way in dealing with, albeit, a sensitive topic as religion within the Pashtun people. There is good and bad in all of us and the more we can "share" about our lives with each other, the little less afraid we will become.

​

We hear at RF are an example of free/polite debate. If we break the rules, we are notified.

I can only hope for the day when we have Afghan RFer(s). :jam:

 

[Jeremy Mason]

Jeremy, out of curiosity, how do you think American Christians would react if an Islamic country invaded Texas and started handing out English copies of the Koran?

I can't speak for American Christians, but I can speak for myself.
I believe all Christians should read the Koran as well as all other text. I'm reading the Bhagavad Gita currently.

As for invading countries, I stated that hear:
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/1605081-post43.html

I think American soldiers in that area of the world is reckless and pointless...

Plus, we have A_E holding the fort down in Texas.

 

[Duck]

I got to be honest, but me thinks some people don't want Christianity to be shared or described in any way to people in Muslims countries, period. ​

​

One of the largest problems with this perspective is that the individuals "sharing" Christianity with the local Muslim population, however well meaning in intent are currently perceived as conqerors, and most likely would be travelling around to "share" their religion in a large and well armed group.

Getting back to the hypothetical invasion of Texas argument, those individuals distributing pick a religious text are doing so after conquest of Texas, and they are doing so in well armed groups of 10 or so, at security checkpoints, while some of their comrades (we will be generous and say the one's actually handing you the book are not) are pointing weapons at you. See the potenital issues?

No matter how "good" the "news" one is trying to share religiously, doing so by the sword is not the way to generate converts. It is particularly heinous for an organization that should be secular, and whose leaders have emphasized the secular nature of the mission. My personal feeling is that the individual soldiers that received these shipments and/or brought these books into the country in question should be publically tried. The US military is NOT a Christian organization, no matter what evangelicals think and proselytization should and cannot be tolerated.

I believe there is a right and wrong way in dealing with, albeit, a sensitive topic as religion within the Pashtun people. There is good and bad in all of us and the more we can "share" about our lives with each other, the little less afraid we will become.​

I agree, there is a right and wrong way to deal with sharing knowledge about religions between peoples, unfortunately doing so while occupying their country after ousting their legitimate (albeit incredibly reprehensible and even evil) government is, not really the correct time or place to do so.

 

[mobious]

shareing your religion with someone uaushaly means forceing it down their throughts.