Quote Originally Posted by marct View Post
Really? It is certainly a fairly common perception, at least amongst a lot of the people who have followed the rise of the religious right in the US.
Two completely different sets of people, imo. Religious right are political activists who appeal to religious authority to bolster their views. Evangelicals are Christians who feel an obligation to spread the gospel - those among this group concerned with politics are more the exception than the rule.

I find it hard to believe that any large number of Evangelicals joined to proselytize since 9/11, but I would be shocked if even a dozen members of the religious right joined for that reason. The religious right are more likely to be the folks who target practice on the Koran, rather than handing out Bibles. Understand your experience differs - not sure what to make of that. I've deployed with four different battalions - 2 infantry, 1 armor, 1 SF - and never witnessed anything even approaching this. I have known a handful of Evangelical Christians. They all adhered to the view that they were to spread the gospel, but also understood that they had an obligation to obey those appointed over them, recognizing that proselytizing had nothing to do with their duties and also understanding that proselytizing was strictly forbidden.

Quote Originally Posted by marct View Post
I've thought it was a significant problem for years . How to defend against it? Well, the best way is to publicize the #### caning of people who step over the line.
I agree, though I also wonder if that plays right into the hands of our adversaries. Publicizing it keeps it on peoples' minds. On the other hand, not publicizing said ####-canning can help to reinforce the perception that nothing is being done. Seems like a lose-lose in either case. Too bad that a handful of small unit leaders fail to prevent this from happening in the first place and put us in this awkward situation.