Look at what your tax dollars are now paying for. State Sponsored Religion!

[joecooool]

This just went out for bids yesterday -

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=85291d57e2448622924c76c649845798&tab=core&_cview=0

"Description: Community-wide, Outreach Youth Ministry program for High School Students, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Draft Description of Services: The Contractor shall all provide all labor, materials, equipment and transportation necessary to conduct a community-wide religious program for High School students, working alongside and in support of ministry provided by the Fort Bragg Ministry Team and chapel congregational adult volunteer leaders, Fort Bragg, NC.

The need for specialized Youth Religious Activities is outlined in AR 165-1. The primary focus of youth ministry services for this contract is to provide religious education and faith development opportunities for youth that are not regularly affiliated with established chapel congregational youth programs. The Contractor shall work closely with chaplains and leaders of congregational programs, as well as other military and civilian agencies, to provide training for congregational leaders, assist in planning, organizing and leading activities such as camps, retreats and service projects. The goal is to support and compliment ongoing chapel programs and enhance ministry and religious education for youth throughout the Fort Bragg community.

The Contractor shall also develop relationships and programs that extend chapel-based ministry to other significant locations and activities where youth live and spend time, such as neighborhood community centers, school and sports and recreational activities, etc. Services shall include creating supportive relationships with youth, one on one and small group discussions, weekly gatherings, day-long fellowship outings, weekend retreats, and week-long camps or service projects. The Contractor shall recruit, train and sustain a team of adult volunteer leaders as an integral part of the overall youth ministry services. It is the responsibility of the Contractor to articulate and develop promotional campaigns and endeavors, and to maintain records of supplies, materials and attendance of youth and volunteers

Specific Tasks. The Contractor shall ensure all programs and activities are inclusive of all Christian traditions.

Community-wide and/or Neighborhood Youth Outreach/Club Meetings: These are group meetings of teens and adult leaders are designed to attract and relate to youth from throughout the Fort Bragg military community, especially those that have limited consistent religious input in their lives. Meetings shall typically use a variety of communications medium that shall appeal to a diverse group of youth, such as music, skits, games, humor, and a clear, concise, relevant presentation of the Gospel. Creating a vibrant, safe, relational environment is an essential part of these meetings. A team consisting of the Chaplain Youth Ministry Pastor, Director of Religious Education and congregational adult youth leaders shall work with the contractor to develop specific content and format of these meetings, such as frequency, location, time, etc.

Weekend Retreats: Each retreat shall include at least one (1) over night stay. Retreats shall allow students extended time to build relationships with adult leaders and other students and provide opportunities to further explore issues of faith and spiritual growth. Contractor shall submit a detailed retreat plan to the Installation Chaplain for approval at least 30 days prior to the event. The plan shall address, at a minimum, ministry goals, schedule, adult leadership, speakers and program support, location, safety, budget, transportation and promotion.

Contact, Build Relationships and Spend Time With Students: Contractor and approved volunteer leaders shall meet students and build relationships during normal activities in the community. Contacts shall normally be 15 to 60 minutes in duration. Specific activities shall vary and shall include things such as time to get to know a student, one on one discussions or counseling, attending or participating in sport, recreation or school clubs or activities, meetings with small groups of students, one on one or small group Bible studies, etc. With the monthly report, the Contractor shall provide a by name, date and activity list of contacts conducted that month.

WTF??? Why is the government using tax dollars to fund this????? This is state sponsored religion! Ands on top of that, the government wants to know who's attending these functions.

[Night_Nurse]

1. So much for the "separation of church and state"... wtf is right. nt

[melody]

2. This garbage will be addressed by President Obama

And anyway, as soon as there's no money for Alabama to pay its necessary services, no one will be able to get to the church anyway.

[Pastiche423]

3. Obama will address this?

He was FOR it.

[melody]

4. The problem was the fire not the stuff that put it out

It's a much worse problem than just the current insolvency -- and that's what Obama will address.

[Pastiche423]

5. This post is about State sponsored religion

He already addressed it. He's FOR it!

[melody]

6. Okay, so you'd rather have McCain?

Those are our only two choices. If you don't vote for Obama, you may as well vote for McCain. That's not the desired reality but that's one we're faced with.

[Pastiche423]

7. There are FOUR people running for the presidency

In case you were unaware. :eyes:

[melody]

9. Actually, more than four -- there are only two with any chance of winning

When you're dealing with primates, you stand with the strongest pack you can find. The one that is closest to most sane people's perspective is the Democratic Party. They're not nearly perfect but backing them WILL keep the GOP out of office which is an even
bigger danger.

I'm sure your "idealism" will feel really nice when you're having to grow potatoes in your backyard to feed your family.

[Pastiche423]

11. I don't have a backyard and don't have a family

So, no worries for me!

[melody]

13. Then find out what you do have and utilize it to the best extent n/t

[earth mom]

8. WTF?! This is some scary shit folks!

:yoiks:

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

10. I just can't read this. I crawled outa my skin 2 miiles back.

No more today.

[Chemical Bill]

12. My tax dollars all go toward interest on the national debt.

Must be somebody else's tax dollars.

Bill:banghead:

[paparush]

14. Like Bragg really needs that? There's no shortage of Fundies in that part of NC. None whatsoever.

[Shallah Kali]

15. Did ya'll know that military mental health $ are being put into Christian baseball camps instead?

Baseball, Jesus, and Alaska's Military Bases
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/9/235113/0696

n March 2007, Fort Wainwright hosted an Army "Strong Bonds" retreat, contracting an organization called Unlimited Potential, Inc. to provide "social services." Unlimited Potential, Inc. is an evangelical baseball ministry with a military ministry whose mission is: "To assist commanders and chaplains in providing religious support to military service members and their families by sharing the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ through the medium of baseball..." and "to use our God-given abilities in baseball to reach those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and to also encourage and challenge those who do.

I should back up here and explain exactly what Strong Bonds, a program currently being investigated by MRFF, actually is. Plain and simple, it's an evangelistic Christian program operating under the guise of a pre-deployment and post-deployment family wellness and marriage training program. A few years ago, Strong Bonds replaced a decade old, proven program called Building Strong and Ready Families (BSRF), which was a collaboration between the Army Nurse Corps and the chaplains. Strong Bonds cut out the Nurse Corps, creating a program run entirely by chaplains, eliminating the important physical and mental health aspects provided by public health nurses, and turning the whole thing into a program of Christian religious retreats -- paid for with your tax dollars. A lot of tax dollars.

It began with the Department of Defense (DoD) paying an advertising agency $100,000 to "sell" the Strong Bonds program to Congress. The result of the DoD's ad campaign was an unprecedented amount of funding, now being spent liberally on religious retreats, typically held at ski lodges, beach resorts, and other attractive vacation spots, luring soldiers who would never attend a religious retreat to sign up for the free vacation. MRFF founder and president Mikey Weinstein sums up this form of coercion with the following analogy:

"It's like a time share sales promotion. You get an all expenses paid vacation at a great resort -- the only catch is you have to sit through a sales pitch for Christianity paid for by the United States armed forces, courtesy of the American taxpayer. The Strong Bonds program is nothing less than an unconstitutional scandal and an outrage."

MRFF has already amassed quite a collection of DoD contracts for Strong Bonds retreats, which include funding for travel and accommodations, training materials, outside trainers, child care, and, of course, Christian entertainers. That one Unlimited Potential baseball ministry thing at Fort Wainwright, for example, cost taxpayers $38,269. And, this same ministry has been "Serving Christ Through Baseball" at number of other Army bases in the United States, including Fort Bragg, Fort Benning, and Fort Drum, as well as many bases overseas, presumably at a similar cost per event.

But, of even greater concern than the clear constitutional violation of the spending of tax dollars on this scheme to promote Christianity, qualified health professionals like the Army Nurse Corps are being edged out of programs dealing with issues like PTSD, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide prevention in favor of a religious approach. And, Strong Bonds isn't the only place this is happening. MRFF has uncovered that suicide prevention in the military now often includes materials such as the teachings of Rick Warren and, completely unbelievably, the teaching of creationism.

[joecooool]

16. Why doesn't the news report on this?

This is clearly against what this country stands for. Could you imagine the uproar is there was a bid for Islamic youth programs?

[Shallah Kali]

17. The 'Christian' fundamentalists have been trying to rewrite history so it is what American stands fo

If this was any other religion this would be all over the news papers just like bill-os delusional war on Christmas has been for years. People forget that there is different sorts of Christianity beyond the details of worship services that just like Islam there are the peaceful sort and the sort that are quite the opposite that bomb women's health clinics and that look forward to their imagined end of the world where they will make war on anyone who does not convert to their version of Christianity. The biggest difference is that most of the Christian fundamentalists aren't willing to risk their hides for going to jail trying to bring back stoning of unchaste women, astrologers and gay people before they take over the government to make it fully legal.

[PufPuf23]

18. Christianity combined with military is evil.

IMO There should be zero chaplaincy service in the military and evangelism should be reason for court martial and dishonorable discharge.

People should be able to practice their faith but not use public assets to indoctrinate the most vulnerable (eg, soldiers, children, and those unfortunate by situation. Neither should religious groups be able to avoid property or other taxes.

"Our theology or burn in hell" Christianity is hate speech.

My opinion is the same about any religious faith; one would think the human race would get a clue though about the evil such belief systems have wreaked.

Mellow Christians such as here at DU disapppoint me in that they do not see the obvious and lessons of history. Christians of any stripe should be the front line of perversions against a Gospel of Love of divinity, existence itself, earth, life, and mankind.

[pleah]

19. I'm going into the vaseline business.