Atheists ask Obama for probe on religion in the military
by Brittney Bain
Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS) A national atheist lobbying group is calling on President-elect Barack Obama to overhaul military policies in an effort to reduce what it sees as religious discrimination in the armed forces.
In a letter sent Monday (Nov. 10), the Secular Coalition for America asked Obama to scrutinize new appointees to ensure fairness to atheist soldiers, to survey the military on current religious conditions, and to establish a commission on “religious accommodation” within the Defense Department.
“We wrote these recommendations before we knew the outcome of the election,” said Lori Lipman Brown, director of the coalition. “The truth is we had no better expectations of one candidate over the other when it came to this particular issue.”
The group also asked for chaplain-training curriculum that addresses free exercise of religion. One-fifth of military personnel identify themselves as atheists or having no religion, the Secular Coalition said.
“For the past three years we have seen the problems of harassment, coercive proselytizing, efforts to convert and discrimination against those holding certain beliefs go unresolved,” Brown said.
The military operates under Department of Defense Directive 1300.17, which allows members to observe their respective religions. In addition, Directive 1350.2 states that “persons shall be evaluated on individual merit, fitness, and capability, regardless of … religion“.
But many in the Secular Coalition have their doubts about department policy and concerns about the incoming president.
“Our president-elect has been alternatively labeled as an atheist and a Muslim,” said Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. “The truth is he’s a Christian and in many ways he’s worn religion on his sleeve.”
“As we hope for change, we want to make sure that he understands our position as well,” Torpy said.
At a Washington news conference, former Army 1st Lt. Wayne Adkins said he submitted his resignation of commission as an officer in 2006 after feeling he was discriminated against because of his nonbelief. Adkins said he was expected to pick a religion for identification on his dog tags and felt pressured to “be religious.”
“We need an overhaul, and it needs to come from the top down,”
Adkins said.
Subscribe by Email
Good article. I’ve donated to another organization that fights for religious freedom in the military. It’s called The Military Religious Foundation.
http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/
It’s founder comes from a military family. His son experienced discrimination in the Air Force, which lead him to activism.
I’ve read a lot of stuff about his issue, and believe me, what’s going on in the academies is disturbing. For starters, check this out: Campus Crusade for Christ. A guy named Scott says his vision is to not just bring Air Force cadets to Christ, but ultimately, the whole world. He targets “lonely” and “isolated” recruits and prepares them for their purpose, to be missionaries for Christ in uniform:
This article caught a little attention. They posted the story link on their site.
“Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers”
http://maaf.info/news.html