One of the things I used to do in the Navy was let the guys know, as soon as I got to a new assignment, that I was a Christian. I figured that if I did that right off, they would help hold me to it. So somehow, some way, on the first day, I would let somebody know. I knew that the word would get around, and it didn’t much matter how it got around. Oh, great, a Jesus freak.
Then would come the orientation. Guys would take me aside to let me know what kind of Christian it was acceptable to be around these parts. My favorite story along these lines came out of some such conversation. I heard a number of times (on the Tusk) that it was just fine that I was a Christian, just so long as I wasn’t a Christian like LaRussa. LaRussa, and I may not be spelling his name right, was what might be called an aggressive witness. He seems to me to have been the right sort, a sailor of high courage. One horror story that was related to me was this one.
One time some of the fellas decided they were going to set up a projector and screen in the torpedo room, and watch themselves some porn. LaRussa, being the right sort to handle these guys, climbed up into a bunk located right behind the screen, and during the course of their festivities, read Scripture to them.