Those Extremists Out There.

For John, BLUF:  Be careful, you might be classified as an extremist.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

The Washington Times had an item Friday last, by Reporter Lachlan Markay, on a Defense Department attempt to define extremist groups.  Well, it wasn't Department of Defense, or even the US Army, but rather, a US Army Reserve outfit, but the fact is, they did do it.  Here is the lede.

The Defense Department came under fire Thursday for a U.S. Army Reserve presentation that classified Catholics and Evangelical Protestants as “extremist” religious groups alongside al Qaeda and the Ku Klux Klan.

Further down is the meat of the story:

While outfits such as al Qaeda and the KKK are explicitly violent, the presentation also lists Catholicism and evangelical Protestantism as extremist groups.

More than half of all Americans identify themselves as members of those two Christian denominations.  National Public Radio reported in 2005 that 40 percent of active duty military personnel were evangelical Christians.

The good news is that the Department of Defense acted quickly to (1) remove the offending slide and (2) defuse the blame.

I wonder if I count twice, since I am a Roman Catholic with an "Evangelical" side to me.  I accept the five key principles of Fundamentalism, as I think any Roman Catholic would.  Frankly, I blame Princeton Theological Seminar.

Regards  —  Cliff