SALON

Thursday, Apr 25, 2013 9:30 PM UTC

Southern Baptist site blocked on military bases

By

Topics: From the Wires, ,

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Some military chaplains trying to access the Southern Baptist Convention website this week were surprised to find it blocked with a message that it contained “hostile content.”

The problem left military officials having to explain to leaders of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination that it was an unintentional software glitch.

Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Damien Pickart said Thursday in an interview that the problem seemed to be with the commercial software the military uses to protect its network. The software blocks access to prohibited sites, like those for pornography or gambling, as well as sites that might have some type of malware associated them, often unbeknownst to the site’s owners.

“It probably doesn’t help that the message that comes up when a site is blocked will often say ‘malicious content,’ or in this case it said ‘hostile content.’ People will look at that and think, ‘What is hostile about this site?’

“It should probably say there might be malicious software associated with the site.”

Pickart said the department was working diligently to find and fix the issue blocking the SBC’s website.

The department strongly supports the rights of service members, including their ability to access religious websites, he said.

SBC spokesman Sing Oldham said the military has told denominational leaders the blockage was accidental. Even so, he called it “deeply disturbing.”

In a statement to the media, Oldham said, “If the government has blocked any part of the sbc.net website for any purpose that would be an unconscionable breach of trust with the American public.”

Ron Crews is the executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, which represents groups that send chaplains to the military. He said chaplains need to access their denominations’ websites for materials and information.

The Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention has 16 million members and Crews said it provides more military chaplains than any other faith group.

He said many evangelicals have become concerned since the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that chaplains and other military personnel who hold conservative religious views about homosexuality — such as believing that homosexual sex is sinful — will face discrimination.

“We’re just hopeful that the military’s going to resolve this quickly and that chaplains will be able to maintain communication with their denominations,” he said. ” … We want to make sure the military is not singling out evangelicals in some way that’s putting them in a negative light.”

More Travis Loller.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Facebook has been used to find ex-lovers, childhood BFFs or the one who got away. He used it to find the guy who, without his consent, made him his drug mule.
257 points258 points | 24 comments
vote
“This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann”
174 points175 points | 79 comments
vote
Poll: 3 in 10 voters say “armed revolution might be necessary” - 29% say they believe they'll have to act "in order to protect our liberties" in the next few years
44 points45 points | 18 comments
vote
"New evidence reveals big banks still illegally foreclosing on thousands of homes – and weak settlement allows it."
28 points29 points | comment
vote
Are millennials delusional? New research suggests that members of "Generation Me" are warped by a profound sense of entitlement
27 points28 points | 22 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations