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Military atheists want new rules on prayer
Stars and Stripes ^ | 12 Nov 08 | Leo Shane III

Posted on 11/11/2008 9:15:45 PM PST by GATOR NAVY

WASHINGTON — A coalition of atheists and agnostics wants the new White House to protect young military members from what they see as rampant religious discrimination in the services.

The Secular Coalition for America held a news conference Monday urging new rules against proselytizing and more training for chaplains on how to handle nonreligious troops.

"When they say ‘there are no atheists in foxholes’ it’s slanderous," said Wayne Adkins, a former Army first lieutenant who served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. "To deny their existence is to deny that they serve."

The coalition also wants President-elect Obama to develop a new directive for all chaplains and commanders that eliminates public prayers from any mandatory-attendance events for troops and ensures the Defense Department will not endorse any single religion, or even the idea of religion over nonreligion.

Jason Torpy, a retired soldier and president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, said his group isn’t opposed to Christianity or any other organized religion.

"We just recognize that religion and religious people get a lot of support from the military," he said. "What about the rest of us?"

Torpy said his group has fielded hundreds of complaints from servicemembers who believe they’ve been harassed, passed over for promotion or forced into retirement for not following the religious preferences of their commanding officers.

Adkins said equal opportunity office investigators in the service ignored his complaints about harassment and mistreatment because he was an atheist, which in part led to his decision to leave the service.

Army Maj. Laurel Williams, currently stationed in Florida, said she has filed complaints about military conventions and programs that are little more than Christian rallies, but received little or no response.

About one-fifth of current servicemembers identify themselves as having no religious preference, according to Defense Department statistics.

Only a small percentage of troops identify themselves as atheists or agnostics, but Torpy said that’s because they fear retribution. Without new rules, he said, there isn’t any guarantee they can avoid that kind of treatment.

"We’re as dedicated to the military as our Christian counterparts," he said. "We just want to serve our country, too."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: antiamerica; antiamerican; antichristian; antitheism; atheism; atheismandstate; atheists; ingodwetrust; military; thenogodgod; unamerican
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To: jude24; P-Marlowe; Gamecock; enat; pissant; jazusamo; Girlene; lilycicero

Commanders definitely have more of an eye toward the pastoral skills of the chaplain than they do toward the strictly religious ministry.

The issue when it came down to it in federal court decades ago was the right of soldiers fully to practice their faith when placed by their nation in dangerous and/or separated locations. The court actually ruled that the chaplaincy was the best answer to the problem despite any areas where there might be an appearance of conflict between church and state.

If it is a responsibility to provide those soldiers with “beans and bullets,” so that they won’t die, then it’s also a responsibility to provide what they consider a critical need about life after death, should such occur.

My experience and my reading of history says that on the battlefield with death staring them in the face, believers are adamant about fully practicing their faith. I’m not just talking about “let us pray.” They want the full range: worship, prayer, minister, sacraments, funerals, fellowship, bible, teaching, preaching, and even Sunday School.

The person who becomes that religious leader occupies a very powerful position in the minds of those soldiers. It behooves any commander to have the confidence of any religious leader who rises to prominence among warriors. And THEY will have a religious leader, whether officially or unofficially.


41 posted on 11/12/2008 5:04:22 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain Pro Deo et Patria)
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To: LiteKeeper

Should have pinged you to #41


42 posted on 11/12/2008 5:30:24 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain Pro Deo et Patria)
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To: kosta50; Kolokotronis; wagglebee

Same.

Should have pinged you to #41.


43 posted on 11/12/2008 5:31:41 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain Pro Deo et Patria)
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To: DaveyB; NFHale; hiredhand; Squantos
There are no atheists in the after-life.

Yeppers, all will see & believe, and most will be praying for an end to the torment...

44 posted on 11/12/2008 5:46:44 AM PST by Gilbo_3 ("JesusChrist 08"...Trust in the Lord......=...LiveFReeOr Die...)
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To: GATOR NAVY

I could whine day and night (I used to) about being a minority, but I don’t. Athiests as well as all minorities need to understand that most “slights” are unintentional, most people don’t “join” a majority to persecute, and everyone has some issues. Most people are just trying to get along in life. The people that just want to stir up trouble, or to persecute, need to be addressed, and I am sure they are. Tolerance goes both ways.


45 posted on 11/12/2008 5:53:21 AM PST by PghBaldy (I shall call him President Little Squirt...)
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To: xzins
A coalition of atheists and agnostics wants the new White House to protect young military members from what they see as rampant religious discrimination in the services.

Xzins, make no mistake what these people want. They want to undermine the military and the country with their beliefs in self over God. This country was founded on the quest of religious freedoms, not a quest from religious freedom. If they would like a religion free country, maybe they should find a new territory, and stake a claim.

Their agenda is not dissimilar to the homosexual agenda which tries to tag along with civil rights issues using discrimination as their battle cry. Radical atheists/agnostics try to tag along with the religious freedom issue and claim discrimination, again, as their battle cry.

Atheists/agnostics believe in no God. How are they being discriminated against? Noone has stopped them from believing in nothing. They want to stop Christians and others from believing in something because it offends them.

The radicals among the bunch will continue to fight for their rights over yours using this country's rules - the Constitution. This is right out of Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, rule #4 (I believe) - paraphrased - use your enemy's rules against them. Radicals have no rules, except the quest for power through revolution.
46 posted on 11/12/2008 6:03:42 AM PST by Girlene
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To: xzins

It is man’s nature to rely less on God when things are going well and draw closer to Him in times of difficulty. I believe that this is a natural response even to those who claim to be atheists. The phrase, “there are no atheists in foxholes,” sprang from experience.

I cannot imagine how the military would operate without chaplains and I cannot begin to express my gratitude for what you and all of the other chaplains throughout history have done. Not only do you have all of the ministerial duties that other clergymen do, you have the incredible duty of counseling young men and women who are dealing with the guilt of taking human life even though it is justified.


47 posted on 11/12/2008 6:06:09 AM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: Tzimisce

The religion of Secular (atheistic) Humanism has a funny, and infuriating, legal standing.

It has been ruled that SH IS a religion when it comes to conscientious objection and protection from discrimination,

but NOT a religion when faced with the establishment clause.

How CONVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENIENT.


48 posted on 11/12/2008 6:09:27 AM PST by MrB (The 0bamanation: Marxism, Infanticide, Appeasement, Depression, and Thuggery)
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To: Air Force Brat

“Evolution is the greatest engine of atheism ever invented.” (Provine, W.B.)


49 posted on 11/12/2008 6:11:17 AM PST by MrB (The 0bamanation: Marxism, Infanticide, Appeasement, Depression, and Thuggery)
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To: Gilbo_3

It is written:
“ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.’ “
So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.


50 posted on 11/12/2008 6:14:24 AM PST by MrB (The 0bamanation: Marxism, Infanticide, Appeasement, Depression, and Thuggery)
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To: Girlene

There is no doubt they intend to whine and use against the military the separation of church and state doctrine. It won’t be the first time.

They were wrong then, and they are wrong now. On the battlefield, the issue is winning the war. And an involved chaplain on the battlefield is a combat multiplier in that he has a direct impact on that unit’s esprit de corps.


51 posted on 11/12/2008 6:15:53 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain Pro Deo et Patria)
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To: wagglebee

You are correct. Despite the atheist’s claim in the article, the old adage, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” is a reflection of reality.

Make no mistake. There WILL be ministers on the battlefield. Does a commander wish to have such an important influence on the fighting spirit of his warriors outside his purview?


52 posted on 11/12/2008 6:19:22 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain Pro Deo et Patria)
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To: xzins
Make no mistake. There WILL be ministers on the battlefield. Does a commander wish to have such an important influence on the fighting spirit of his warriors outside his purview?

Exactly. If chaplains were eliminated, servicemen would naturally gravitate toward other servicemen who were grounded in their faith. Especially on the battlefield, it is imperative that people understand that they are not alone in their feelings of fear, grief and guilt -- they are going to talk with someone about it no matter what the atheists think.

If atheists can find inner peace without God, good for them; however, the reality remains that most people cannot and the stress of war only serves to magnify one's need for God.

53 posted on 11/12/2008 6:28:40 AM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: onedoug
“Secular troops cannot win wars against religious enemies.”

The Normans captured Pope Leo IX in 1053.

Soviet Russian troops overran many nations.

North Vietnam's Viet Cong won over South Vietnam and the US military.

Religious adherence is no guarantee of victory against secular troops.

That being said, in my four years in the USAF I saw no religious discrimination against atheists or agnostics or any other religion (other than in basic training where Christians got to go to church on Sunday and everybody else had to clean the barracks).

Atheists are America's most despised religious minority, yet they are overrepresented in the US military, and underrepresented in the prison system; and not known for flying planes into skyscrapers.

54 posted on 11/12/2008 6:29:02 AM PST by allmendream (Wealth is EARNED not distributed.... so how could it be Redistributed?)
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To: MrB
Amen...

funny how all the 'atheists' can be so sure of nothing...

I would suspect most are agnostic, and use the other term merely for political gain...

55 posted on 11/12/2008 6:31:15 AM PST by Gilbo_3 ("JesusChrist 08"...Trust in the Lord......=...LiveFReeOr Die...)
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To: GATOR NAVY

I was an athiest when I joined the Army. I also got saved in the Army and it had nothing to do with public prayer I’m happy to say.


56 posted on 11/12/2008 6:32:28 AM PST by DungeonMaster (Dan 4:17 and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.)
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To: GATOR NAVY
Never having been in the service I can only rely on friends comments.

One friend who was in the Navy, Vietnam era, use to say that during boot camp, if you didn't go to services on Sunday, you were given lots of dirty work to do, like clean the head. Knowing this, atheist would go to services just to avoid the inevitable latrine duty etc.

57 posted on 11/12/2008 6:35:16 AM PST by Vaquero ("an armed society is a polite society" Robert A. Heinlein)
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To: allmendream

In addition to Christians being permitted to attend church on Sunday, the military chaplaincy also saw to it that Jews & other SD types were free on Saturdays and Muslims on Fridays.

The whole point of recognizing religious requirements is that one make decisions to accomodate that requirement. If one (an atheist, for example) has zero requirements, then it’s hardly fair to criticize the system for not accomodating that which doesn’t exist.

I don’t think atheists are the most despised religious minority. First, they claim not to be religious at all. Second, most outrageous cults are far more despised.

Since atheists have no practices, identifying marks, requirements, etc., they really are simply out of sight.


58 posted on 11/12/2008 6:54:11 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain Pro Deo et Patria)
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To: xzins
I'm not sure that option was extended at Lackland AFB to Jews and Muslims, or maybe it was just that we had none. Only a few didn't go to Church on Sunday, and I think after the first one most of the hold outs (when they realized it was sit in the pews and listen or get to work) ended up going the next Sunday.

Atheists are the most despised religious minority according to polling. They are a very small % of the U.S. population, yet I constantly read about them in the conservative press. They seem some commentators favorite bogeyman, despite their ‘invisibility’ in prominence, numbers, influence, etc.

59 posted on 11/12/2008 6:59:37 AM PST by allmendream (Wealth is EARNED not distributed.... so how could it be Redistributed?)
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To: Vaquero
That was exactly what I saw in boot camp in the early 90’s at Lackland AFB. It was “go to church on Sunday” or “clean the barracks”. Many of the holdouts on the first Sunday ended up going the next Sunday, and I don't think it was because they were moved by the Holy Spirit. ;)
60 posted on 11/12/2008 7:01:44 AM PST by allmendream (Wealth is EARNED not distributed.... so how could it be Redistributed?)
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