A Phony Christian Soldier

Geesh, I wouldn't have noticed this story if I hadn't been perusing Crooks and Liars because I'd dropped by Althouse to see what crazy boxed wine induced hilarity she was posting and she pointed to this wingnut post about Rep. Pete Stark's righteous floor speech (whew!), proving that there is sometimes value reading wacko blogs:

A U.S. soldier who said his Christian beliefs compelled him to love his enemies, not kill them, has been granted conscientious objector status and honorably discharged, a civil liberties group said on Tuesday.

Capt. Peter Brown -- who served in Iraq for more than a year and was a graduate of the elite U.S. military academy West Point -- said in a statement issued by the New York Civil Liberties Union that he was relieved the Army had recognized his beliefs made it impossible for him to serve.

"In following Jesus' example, I could not have fired my weapon at another human being, even if he were shooting at me," said Brown, who plans to continue seminary classes he began by correspondence while in Iraq.
...
Brown said he had no conflict between his faith and military service until after he graduated from West Point in 2004 and began to study scripture and his belief.

During his Iraq deployment he applied for discharge as a conscientious objector but the request was denied, the NYCLU said. In July 2007 the NYCLU and the American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal court in Washington, D.C., to order the honorable discharge.

Not the first soldier to apply for CO status, and hopefully not the last.  How odd that once somebody studies Scripture and listens to their conscience, they learn what Christ really said and decide he meant you shouldn't kill people.

As right as it is, this takes a lot of courage, even when you're not talking about refusing to serve in the Wehrmacht...

ntodd

Comments

[Apprentice to Darth Holden]

Well, obviously Captain Brown is one of the "phoney soldiers" that Rush Limbaugh, multi-tour combat veteran and bemedaled war hero was ranting about the other day.