[MAPC-discuss] Thirsty Iraqis, GIs must get baptised to get a bath

Sun Apr 6 11:11:30 CDT 2003

. Ignore them.]
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* Thirsty Iraqis, GIs must get baptised to get a bath
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Subject: [SSOClist] Thirsty Iraqis, GIs must get baptised to get a bath

      (*Editor's Note: In all of the stories that have come and gone in
recent months, this could well be the most offensive of them all. ''It's
simple," says Evangelical Christian Army chaplain Josh Llano. "They want
water. I have it, as long as they agree to get baptized." In so many ways,
this represents the true mindset of the individuals who have pushed this
war. It is right down the line with the actions of this administration over
the past three years; recall that, when our airmen were being held in China
back in 2001, Mr. Bush was only concerned with whether or not they had
Bibles. - wrp)

      Army Chaplain Offers Baptisms, Baths
      By Meg Laughlin
      Miami Herald
      Saturday 05 April 2003

      CAMP BUSHMASTER, Iraq - In this dry desert world near Najaf, where the
Army V Corps combat support system sprawls across miles of scabrous dust,
there's an oasis of sorts: a 500-gallon pool of pristine, cool water.

      It belongs to Army chaplain Josh Llano of Houston, who sees the water
shortage, which has kept thousands of filthy soldiers from bathing for
weeks, as an opportunity.

      ''It's simple. They want water. I have it, as long as they agree to
get baptized,'' he said.

      And agree they do. Every day, soldiers take the plunge for the Lord
and come up clean for the first time in weeks.

      ''They do appear physically and spiritually cleansed,'' Llano said.

      First, though, the soldiers have to go to one of Llano's
hour-and-a-half sermons in his dirt-floor tent. Then the baptism takes an
hour of quoting from the Bible.

      ''Regardless of their motives,'' Llano said, ``I get the chance to
take them closer to the Lord.''

     A blue-eyed 32-year-old with an abundance of energy, Llano goes out
every day to drum up grimy soldiers for his pool.

      He talks to truck drivers, tank drivers, computer specialists --
anyone and everyone. He goes out to the combat zone to the fighting soldiers
and the combat support soldiers who keep them in supplies.

      ''You have to be aggressive to help people find themselves in God,''
he said.

      He calls himself a ''Southern Baptist evangelist,'' and justifies the
war and killing with a verse from the Gospel of Matthew, which he often
recites: ``Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the
things that are God's.

      ''This means we are called upon by our government to fight and that is
giving unto Caesar, as the Bible tells us,'' he said.

      Earlier this week, word went out that portable showers might be
installed here soon, but Llano was undaunted.

      ''There is no fruit out here, and I have a stash of raisins, juice
boxes and fruit rolls to pull out,'' the chaplain said optimistically.

      © Copyright 2003 by TruthOut.org
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