Conspiracy fail: Baptist website was blocked for Malware, not anti-Christian agenda at DoD
Baptist Press: Malware responsible for site block
Lt. Col. Damien Pickart, a Defense Department spokesman, said the military’s software filters detected malware at sbc.net and blocked the website. The malware since has been removed off the website, and the denomination’s website unblocked, he said.
“The Department of Defense is not intentionally blocking access to this site,” Pickart told The Tennessean in an email. “The Department of Defense strongly supports the religious rights of service members, to include their ability to access religious websites like that of the SBC.”
Social media sites were buzzing Thursday (April 25) over allegations that the military had blocked the website for other reasons. FoxNews first reported that Southern Baptist-endorsed chaplains on military installations had unsuccessfully tried to access sbc.net, and had received a message: “The site you have requested has been blocked by Team CONUS (C-TNOSC/RCERT-CONUS) due to hostile content.” The site was not blocked at the Pentagon, FoxNews said.
The Associated Press wrote a story summarizing what had happened, and that story was carried on websites around the world. Some Christians focused on the phrase “hostile content” and wondered whether the denomination’s traditional positions on abortion, gay marriage and the Bible were the reason the military was blocking the site.
Chris Chapman, the SBC Executive Committee’s director of information systems, said sbc.net — like the websites of many other organizations — is a target for hackers. He also said the military’s filters are at an “optimum level” in blocking content, not simply “recognizing invading viruses” but also blocking anything that possibly could be harmful.
I’m sure Bryan Fischer and his droogs will be falling all over themselves apologizing and correcting their error right away.