U.S. Soldier harassed for Atheism

[DarkWaters]

Today, there was an interesting and disconcerting article in the New York Times about a U.S. soldier being harassed by superior officers for openly discussing his atheism.

Can anyone comment from personal experience on how serious harassment for atheism is in the U.S. armed forces?

[Jim A.]

Well, it's been twenty-two years since I was in the military (I was a Navy Corpsman, last stationed with Marines in Hawaii and detached to Korea), but I would wager the risks for being an atheist in the service are the same today: minimal.

I think it depends on how loudly you profess your atheism, and why. If you constantly "preach" atheism while on duty or in the barracks, you probably might run into some problems. But when I was in, I was agnostic, and was able to talk openly about it--at appropriate times--and nothing happened to me.

But there are situations where someone might run into trouble, though I don't think they are many. I describe such a situation in my practice short short story (admittedly, not a very good one!), "Foxholes". You can find it in the Poetry and Short Stories section of the "For Members, By Members" department of the Ayn Rand Forum website: www.4AynRandfans.com.

[Myself]

"Do you believe in God now?"

"No, but I believe in Plexiglas"

I hope Hall wins his case. I had a teacher in high school, a Vietnam vet, who used to always tell us "there are no atheists in the foxholes." Hall's perfect response shows that a reality oriented approach to combat is possible...

[Mammon]

DarkWaters, last night I went a seminar in my hometown, in the Civic Center of Town Hall called "The Dismantling of God." It was about how God is being taken out of public (read:taxpayer funded) buildings, schools and such.

I was going to write about it elsewhere on here, but the speaker and the group presenting it basically said you can't have freedom if you are not a Christian in this country. The country was founded for Christians, to be a Christian nation and that the 1st Amendment was only there to make sure that no one Christian sect would dominate over the others.

Given the attitude of "liberals" towards the military, the people within the military have taken up a "consertative" stance to counter act it. Which to them means everything is pro-Christian. I've been raised in a military home and lived on Air Force Bases for a good bit of my life, and I can say that the attitude towards atheists is negative. They associate atheists with "liberals" and the associate "liberals" with "anti-military." I'm really trying to figure out where this attitude came from, but it's certianly being spread by the right-wing pundits like Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity.

When I tried to get into at the National Guard, they looked at me funny for saying I was an atheist. But I didn't get in, I've always wondered if that had anything to do with it.