The New Crusaders

By Ron Beasley

Cernig touched on this below but I think it deserves a little more attention.

Iraqis claim Marines are pushing Christianity in Fallujah

FALLUJAH, Iraq — At the western entrance to the Iraqi city of Fallujah Tuesday, Muamar Anad handed his residence badge to the U.S. Marines guarding the city. They checked to be sure that he was a city resident, and when they were done, Anad said, a Marine slipped a coin out of his pocket and put it in his hand.

Out of fear, he accepted it, Anad said. When he was inside the city, the college student said, he looked at one side of the coin. "Where will you spend eternity?" it asked.

He flipped it over, and on the other side it read, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16."

"They are trying to convert us to Christianity," said Anad, a Sunni Muslim like most residents of this city in Anbar province. At home, he told his story, and his relatives echoed their disapproval: They'd been given the coins, too, he said.

The vast majority of the Iraqis already hate the American occupiers and this is like throwing gasoline on the fire.  Anything that further alienates the Iraqi population threatens the lives of US troops even more than they are threatened now.  The military says it will investigate but I'm sure the investigation will be like all the others and concentrate on some enlisted men. But it wouldn't have happened without the knowledge and help of a high ranking officer or two.  If they were to find that officer I would bet you would find someone with ties to some Christian Taliban group in the US.

Comments

[Cernig]

Hi Ron,

An update says the US military has confirmed the story.

The U.S. military confirmed Thursday that a Marine in the Iraqi city of Fallujah was passing out coins with Gospel verses on them to Sunni Muslims, a U.S. military spokesman in Fallujah told McClatchy Thursday.

"It did happen," said Mike Isho, a spokesman for Multi National Forces West. "It's one guy and we're investigating."

Regards, C

[Ron Beasley]

Thanks Cernig but I find it hard to believe it was one Marine working in a vacumm. Where did he get the "coins"? I doubt that he minted them himself. It sounds like this has been going on for awhile - who was simply ignoring the practice? It does sound like your standard military investigation however.

[Steve Hynd]

Oh agreed, Ron. I've seen reports about how disproportionate the evangelicals are as a military demographic. Some put it as high as 70% of the officer corps.

Regards, C

[Mike Lameyer]

You go men.