U.S. Military Teaches Foreign Students That Liberals Subverted America's Judeo-Christian Heritage
There's a program in the military called the International Military Student Officer (IMSO) program. This program is run by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and exists in all branches of the military. But, while this program is run by the military, the Secretary of State is responsible for its "continuous supervision and general direction." The IMSO program includes military training (particularly the training of foreign military personnel on equipment acquired by their countries from the United States) as well as instruction in such things as foreign policy, civil affairs, and security. Another of its core missions is to "Promote better understanding of the United States, its people, political system, institutions, democratic values, and way of life." To fulfill this mission, the program also includes intensive instruction on American government and culture -- and you just ain't gonna believe some of the stuff being taught! Foreign military students are taught that America is a Christian nation, and that liberals, starting with the liberal justices appointed by F.D.R., have subverted America's so-called judeo-christian heritage, and how the "courts struggle with ... accommodation of atheists demanding religion be kept out of public life." These are the last three paragraphs of a lengthy essay on American religion in the "American Family Life and Community Life: Religious Institutions" section of the IMSO training:
What comes before these three paragraphs is a several thousand word essay about the history of American religion. Much of this essay is factual, but as I was reading it, I couldn't help thinking that, while it wasn't actually wrong, it seemed a bit disjointed and incomplete. Well, a little bit of poking around looking for the source of the essay explained that. Much of it is plagiarized from a book, Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life by Robert Neelly Bellah, but it is selectively plagiarized, omitting parts that would conflict with the above three-paragraph conclusion, which is not from the book. For example, a number of statements in the book talking about religion being disestablished in America in the historical timeframe of when this disestablishment actually took place are omitted. Obviously these historically factual statements would conflict with the IMSO version's conclusion -- that it was the "trend" begun by F.D.R.'s liberal court that "led to the complete disestablishment of church and state." In addition to the omissions and addition of the three-paragraph conclusion above, other changes are made to what Robert Neelly Bellah actually wrote, such as the insertion of a few other paragraphs that do not appear in the book. For example, this passage from the book also appears in the IMSO essay:
What immediately follows this passage in the book is:
The book then continues with some other examples of individuals who have embraced various religious and spiritual practices, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. But in the IMSO version, a very different conclusion is drawn about religious individualism -- it leads to radicalism and tragedy. What follows the Jefferson and Paine quotes is this paragraph, inserted in the IMSO essay in place of the book's examples of figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman.
The religion section of the IMSO training isn't the only place that incredible distortions of America can be found. One of the craziest is actually found in the section titled "Political Processes," where foreign military students learn all about our country's political parties. I think this paragraph shows just how distorted a view of America these foreign students are being taught:
Really? America's political parties are "nonideological in nature?" Better make sure none of those foreign military students happen to turn on a TV and catch one of those Republican primary debates! Just refer to your instructions and get them watching "Television religious programs (mainstream, fundamentalist)," as the religion section suggests. The military is well aware of the influence it can exert on the foreign students in the IMSO program, and that it is what these students are taught that will be taken back with them to their home countries as a "true" picture of America. This is emphasized repeatedly in the information for the American military sponsors of the foreign students. The Air Force's IMSO handbook, for example, says: "To the visiting student entering training, you are the one individual who has the opportunity to influence the international student's perceptions and attitudes about America, its government, its people, and our military," and, "For many visiting students, the glimpses of American society you provide them will be their greatest source of information about the U.S." Do the American IMSO sponsors have much of a choice about the information they impart to the foreign students? Well, not really. According to IMSO instructions, the DoD's eleven topic script is to be adhered to.
Yep, a "skillful IMSO" will have no problem getting foreign military students to take a very distorted view of American religion and politics back to their home countries if they do things right!
U.S. Military Teaches Foreign Students That Liberals Subverted America's Judeo-Christian Heritage | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 hidden)
U.S. Military Teaches Foreign Students That Liberals Subverted America's Judeo-Christian Heritage | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 hidden)
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