Jewish extremists infiltrating the military

I have said before that I have no problem with people of faith, so long as they are rational, skeptical  individuals. Because let’s face it, they have no idea if some almighty being exists, and neither do I. And frankly, I really don’t care if such a being exists because that wouldn’t change the way I live my life or how I treat other people. The ones I do take issue with however, are the believers, those who are  arrogant enough to presume they are the one’s who have it right. So ideologically driven that they must take up ‘His’ cause and fight ‘His’ wars. It does not matter which religion we point to, they each have their share of extremists. These folks are not only irrational and arrogant, they are downright dangerous.

The BBC highlights the transformation taking place within the Israeli military from a secular entity, to one with a growing number of believers. Here are some excerpts.

 

Military rabbis are becoming more powerful. Trained in warfare as well as religion, new army regulations mean they are now part of a military elite.

They graduate from officer's school and operate closely with military commanders. One of their main duties is to boost soldiers' morale and drive, even on the front line.

 

Gal Einav, a non-religious soldier said there was wall-to-wall religious rhetoric in the base, the barracks and on the battlefield.

As soon as soldiers signed for their rifles, he said, they were given a book of psalms.

And, as his company headed in to Gaza, he told me, they were flanked by a civilian rabbi on one side and a military rabbi on the other:

"It felt like a religious war. Like a crusade. It disturbed me. Religion and the army should be completely separate," he said.

 

 

 

But military rabbis, like Lieutenant Shmuel Kaufman, welcome the changes. In previous wars rabbis had to stay far from the front, he says. In Gaza, they were ordered to accompany the fighters. "Our job was to boost the fighting spirit of the soldiers. The eternal Jewish spirit from Bible times to the coming of the Messiah."

Please visit the link for more.

For those with access, BBC 2/Newsnight is airing a full report this evening at 10:30 pm, local time.