This atheist finds he needs a foxhole

St. Petersburg Times ^ | May 4, 2008 | Robyn E. Blumner

[stuartcr]

Correct. The Chaplain was one of the most non-busy people on-bord.

[reagan_fanatic]

This doesn't pass the sniff test

Agreed. Me thinks someone is trying to push an agenda here.

[wideawake]

How, by having the guy get killed?

Hardly. How about, less dramatically, producing documents verifying that the Army moved him for his own safety?

[GunRunner]

Kind of like taking this article at face-value.

So you have some information to the contrary. Please share.

[stuartcr]

Yes

[GunRunner]

Because it would be American and intelligent to just go ahead and reprimand someone who has been accused of misbehavior - without any proof other than the say-so of a disgruntled subordinate and that subordinate's friend?

If it's true of course. If he lied about the incident, court martial him.

I guess you'd just rather ignore it. Religious discrimination in the military; no big deal huh?

[antiRepublicrat]

The author seems to delight in attributing the actions of a few people to the entire Army

Skewed news is nothing new. But even if all 8,000 complaints are true, that's less than half a percent of our military members. And given that these complaints were over time we're probably talking about a quarter percent with turnover. That is a pretty low rate of harrassment for an organization like our military, with stresses and vastly differing backgrounds of the personnel.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

This is un-American and stupid.

The staff sergeant and the superior should be reprimanded. There is no religious test for military service.

Agreed. The purpose of the US military is clear and well-defined, and meddling in religious matters is no part of that purpose.

[muawiyah]

Religious discrimination is in the eye of the beholder. The United States government has no authority under the Constitution to determine what is or is not religious in nature.

The government can only take action on the basis of strictly secular standards.

Constant verbal harrassment could be an action the military might be concerned about.

The government could not subject the statement "You're gonna' go to hell for that" to any sort of critical analysis that delved into the existence, or non-existence of Hell, or what goes on in Hell ~ for instance to determine if it was a "threat", a "promise", a "curse", or whatever.

What you find in this story is an attempt to make a mountain out of a molehill.

[antiRepublicrat]

You had an overactive imagination.

Nope. It was common knowledge. Jews and other Christian denominations knew to not rock the boat too.

but it’s not some sort of conspiracy aimed at you

Who's talking conspiracy?

[LottieDah]

Actually he has a good heart. It not his fault he was raised by hippies. At least he is patriotic. More than I can say for some creepy, souless eyed types.

[wideawake]

If it's true of course. If he lied about the incident, court martial him.

There was no conditional in your post - simply an outright call for punishment.

I guess you'd just rather ignore it. Religious discrimination in the military; no big deal huh?

I posted nothing of the kind.

But before we start condemning our military, perhaps we should first check to see if this individual's accusations are substantiated by anything more than his pique.

It's amazing that some on FR, of all places, have not learned the lesson of Scott Thomas Beauchamp.

[TalonDJ]

Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers.

The clear anti religious bigotry of a name like that blows this guys credibility completely out of the water. No sympathy.

[muawiyah]

B.S., rarely do you find any Jew who has the slightest idea of what Christian motivation is all about.

Those who do have lived out among the Gentiles for many years and have figured them out.

Again, overactive imagination seeing conspiracies among the Holy Rollers ~ get over it already.

That's not how it works.

[MEGoody]

Did he get harrassed because of his atheism?

[LottieDah]

No, he wasn’t harassed because of his atheism.

[MEGoody]

How, by having the guy get killed?

It should be easy enough to substantiate the incidents that caused them to believe his life was in danger.

That is, IF any such incidents occurred.

[B4Ranch]

No different than accusing Marines of murder on the say so of an disgruntled Iraqi rugrider.

[antiRepublicrat]

Those who do have lived out among the Gentiles for many years and have figured them out.

Thus not rocking the boat. Figuring them out is fine in civilian life, but not quite so easy in the military.

Again, overactive imagination seeing conspiracies

What's this thing you have for conspiracies?

[GunRunner]

There was no conditional in your post - simply an outright call for punishment.

I thought it obvious that punishment is only warranted if after investigating their veracity. I'll preface for you next time.