Our Tax Dollars At Work Helping Evangelicals Stalk Military Children

While Ed Brayton was raking in the pot in Las Vegas, his guest bloggers were hard at work ensuring we were kept apprised of the burning stupid. And this post by Chris Rodda should outrage us all:

The government-funded targeting of the children of our servicemen and servicewomen by Christian religious organizations is an issue that the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) has been gathering information on for some time now. The countless complaints and reports from members of our armed services that we receive about this completely unconstitutional practice include everything from Christian "public service announcements" being snuck into non-religious programming on the Armed Forces Network to the complete lack of youth programs that are not Christianity-based, leaving our non-Christian military parents with the dilemma of either turning their kids over to Christian evangelists or having to explain to them why they can't participate in all the fun and exciting activities, events, and trips with the other kids.

These youth programs, many funded by Department of Defense (DoD) contracts, are designed to target and evangelize the "unchurched" among our military youth. No comparable non-Christian youth programs exist for the children of our servicemen and servicewomen who are of other religions or non-religious.

The tactics employed by the Christian military youth ministries range from luring teenagers with irresistible events and activities to infiltrating the public middle and high schools in the communities surrounding military bases, where most children of military personnel attend school. And, with this month being the fifth annual observance of National Stalking Awareness Month, it seems quite timely to note that one of these organizations, Youth For Christ Military Youth Ministry, actually goes as far as stalking military children, following their school buses to find out where they live and what schools they go to. Even the job descriptions for DoD contracts make it clear that stalking kids is expected. One recently posted Army base position requires that the contractor target "locations and activities where youth live and spend time, such as neighborhood community centers, school and sports and recreational activities, etc." to draw in "youth that are not regularly affiliated with established chapel congregational youth programs."

We give these fucktards millions of dollars to do this crap. I hope Obama's got room on his crowded to-do list to pencil in yet another housecleaning mission. Let the frothing fundies fund their own damned bullshit.