Speaker says prayer has place in soldier’s arsenal

[unhappycamper]

More than 150 people packed the Rheinlander in Baumholder to celebrate the 2009 Nation Prayer Breakfast.


Speaker says prayer has place in soldier’s arsenal
By Seth Robbins, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Saturday, February 7, 2009

BAUMHOLDER, Germany — Prayer is not often thought of as a weapon, but Col. John F. Haley said it should be in the arsenal of every soldier, just like their M-16.

Haley, the featured speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast in Baumholder, illustrated his point with a quote from Mohandas Gandhi.

"Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement," Gandhi said. "Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action."

On Friday, it brought together more than 150 soldiers, spouses and children. Everyone, including the guest speaker, was surprised by the large crowd, since most of the Baumholder garrison is deployed.

"You could feel it in the room. These people are together," said Haley, of the 405th Army Field Support Brigade and stationed in Seckenheim.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60540

[MrModerate]

1. Back when my father was in the Air Force . . .

And we traveled all over the place with the 366th Tactical Bombing Wing, he had a word for this type of officer: a "Sky Pilot." Usually someone in a non-flying, non-combat-ready role.

They were rare then -- mostly people declined to wear their religious beliefs on their sleeves out of respect for each other. Now the US military is overrun with prosletyzing zealots. I can't believe it makes the military more effective. As the recent history of the Air Force Academy has proven, it creates a hostile workplace and chases away talented people who can't stomach having god shoved down their throats by sanctimonious twits.

Now, voluntary prayer breakfasts are probably, well, voluntary. But still makes me uncomfortable.