@ Tinka, and for all others who may be interested, the trailer is here: http://constantinessword.com/?page_id=7 . I wish this documentary to be brought on Dutch television, too. And thank you, Joan Ganz Cooney, for posting this.

Joan; the photos are wonderful. Thank-You so much for sharing such beauty. I love to learn about new things. Please keep doing your great talent.

ok I guess I am talking about the photos. But this happens to be about religion. All I know is when my Son was in basics He went to Church. He told me it was a for all religion. He even joined the chorus. Since he has been in the Army he has not mentioned anything about the soldiers being Atheist. But believe me I will let him know what is going on and see if any of the soldiers that he knows of this horrible situation. Thank -You for enlitening me of this problem. Sorry about the confusion.

I just finished a book by the Dalia Lama. Made me think about how Buddhists yearn for detachment while Christians yearn to be filled by the spirit. And Christians tend to be hawks while Buddhists trend toward being doves. Is that hunger to be filled at the root of militarism?

What a fascinating, interesting conversation. It’s most refreshing that most of those posting their thoughts and opinions express deep convictions with such sincerity. I thought I’d add to this with this link that describes my “religion”. Hope you enjoy reading it: http://www.dreammanifesto.com/handbook-spirit-love-compassion-tolerance…. Peace. Amber

I must say that the whole issue is ridiculous although not an uncommon story in America but there is one issue I must comment upon. If a god were a “she” it would be considered a goddess, not a god. The term god implies a male aspect which even as an agnostic I also find rather ridiculous. One would assume if a being were all powerful it would at least transcend gender so the whole “he” or “she” buisiness would be right out the window

AAAAAAAHHHHH COVER IT UP!!!!!!

Do we really know what this soldier believes or perhaps by knowing he would be sent home, he calculated a situation not that different from “Corporal Klinger’s” hoping for a Section 8 discharge. It’s all wrong no matter how you slice it.

That has to be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever read.

Religious and nationalist fervor often go hand in hand. My country, My God…right or wront. Well, to change the topic somewhat, here is a great link…a little test called BELIEF-O-MATIC: http://www.beliefnet.com:80/story/76/story_7665_1.html It take about 5 minutes to complete this—and voila! It tells you what you ARE in percentages. Two of my friends were 100% Pagan. I am 100% Secular Humanist with other leanings in lower percentages. Great fun. Remember what Seneca said: “fear begets gods.”

I’m with you on this one! It’s like a forcible attempt to make sure our forces are “Christian,” and that is totally wrong! It truly embarrasses me as both an American, and as a Christian. In my opinion it is a truly sad day when this happens because it is really eating away at our freedom. This is what the rulers in the Middle Ages did for heaven’s sake!

War is a dirty business. Yet, religious wars around the world continue….and….those who risk their life everyday to succeed in their war effort want and need his God to watch his back. “Believe as I do or I’ll kill you” is not what spirituality is about. The law of love flows through most religions of the world (www.LawofLove.com) and is Divine Law that can neither be ignored or put aside. But “Onward Christian Soldiers” is not a song about practicing Divine Law. Put simply, “Love is Law, Law is Love.” This amounts to the same thing as “the gift of giving” without the “hope of reward or pay,” or serving others. Now that society has matured enough to empirically scrutinize religion, we may just come to the conclusion that religion is “man-made” whereas “spirituality” is the personal relationship we have through our belief in a supernatural agent that many of us refer to as “God.” Transpersonal psychologist and psychiatrist Roger Walsh, author of “Essential Spirituality” (John Wiley & Sons), tells us that for the first time in human history every single one of our global problems is human-created. Every one is a reflection of our individual and collective choices and behavior. And this means that the state of the world is a reflection of the state of our minds.” “Our world is in grave trouble, we all know this. Our world is in grave, grave trouble, but our world also rests in good hands, because, actually, it rests in yours.”

After the Vietnam War, when the draft no longer existed, the military became more and more the stronghold of conservatives, who were generally “angry” about the Vietnam War protests, and those very conservatives tended to be more mainstream Christian. If the US would still be on “draft” status, with no way out for college, family, etc, this Iraq war would have taken a far different turn. It would have included ALL the military age people. Even the Bush twins. Perhaps it would never have even begun. It is horrendous to think we have allowed a small percentage of economically vulnerable Americans to put their lives on the line for the rest of us, especially for trumped up reasons. However, I see this Christian proselytizing as a very bad sign for the military which is supposed to represent us all. It all comes from the top, in my opinion. And…how do you KNOW there are no athiests in foxholes? I’d venture to say that many athiests have sacrificed their lives so that others would have the right to go on being Christian. They just couldn’t tell you they were atheists…since so many Americans seem to think that an athiest is like a “devil-inspired-commie-pinko”. And weren’t we fighting for…among many tenets…freedom of religion? Spare me.

Amen, Joan (if you’ll excuse the expression! lol).