Friday, April 26, 2013

Army Computers Label Baptist Website as 'Hostile'

After myriad recent instances of military hostility toward Catholics and Evangelical Christians, the Army was quick to blame the most recent debacle on the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Hundreds of military personnel reported that their base computers responded with a warning of "hostile content" when they tried to access the SBC website, which Army officials say was caused by Army computers detecting malicious software on the SBC website.

For background, read Obama's Army Says Christians are Worst Terrorists and also read West Point Study Warns of Christian Terrorists

In addition, read Air Force Engages War on Christianity, Say Lawmakers as well as President Obama Denies Leading War Against Christianity

-- From "Defense Department blocks Baptist website, calls content ‘hostile’" by Cheryl K. Chumley, The Washington Times 4/25/13

Chaplains with the Southern Baptist Convention said the U.S. military has blocked access to its website on bases around the nation, calling the content “hostile” and inappropriate.

Chaplains told Fox News that SBC.net had been censored, and those trying to access the site at various military bases were greeted with a warning: “The site you have requested has been blocked by Team CONUS … due to hostile content,” Fox News reported. Team CONUS is in charge of the computer network for the Defense Department, Fox News said.

“The Department of Defense is not intentionally blocking access to this site,” Lt. Col. Damien Pickart said on Fox News. “We are working diligently to investigate what might be causing access issues for some of our service members and to correct the situation as quickly as possible.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Southern Baptist website blocked by malware, not Army" by Bob Smietana, The Tennessean 4/26/13

Lt. Col. Damien Pickart, a Defense Department spokesman, said the military has software filters to ban pornography and gambling sites and to detect malware, malicious software that can harm other computers. One of those filters caught the malware on the Baptist site.

That malware has since been removed, said Pickart, and the Baptist site was unblocked Thursday afternoon.

But the incident has revealed cracks in the traditionally close ties between the military and conservative Christians.

Southern Baptist spokesman Roger “Sing” Oldham called the situation “deeply disturbing” in a statement Wednesday.

Oldham said he was glad the military was able to find the problem. He said SBC employees were working on removing the malware and updating the system to better protect it from viruses.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Pentagon Blocks, Says it Will Free Access to Southern Baptist Website" by Todd Starnes, Foxnews.com 4/25/13

Hundreds of Southern Baptist military personnel and chaplains across the nation reported earlier this week they could no longer access the SBC.net website on base computers. Instead, they received a message saying the website had been blocked due to “hostile content.”

The block was first made public by an Army officer who contacted the American Family Association. They sent an action alert urging its members to contact the Pentagon and ask them to “stop the military’s alarming trend of hostility towards faith and religious freedom in our military.”

Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, told Fox News that Southern Baptist military chaplains were among those unable to access the website.

“It’s a concern for the Dept. of Defense to block the website of one of the major evangelical denominations in the country,” Crews told Fox News. “The Southern Baptist Convention has the largest number of chaplains in the military representing Southern Baptist soldiers and churches. Those chaplains need access to their denomination’s website.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.