According to an AFP story on Google News, soldiers who do not toe the funny-mentalist line are being singled out for butt-chewings and other punishments. Jeremy Hall, a 23-year-old US army specialist, was ordered to sit somewhere else in the mess hall if he didn't want to pray.
Later, the story continues, Hall was confronted by a major for holding an authorized meeting of "atheists and freethinkers" on his base. The officer threatened to discipline him and block his re-enlistment.
"He said: 'You guys are being a problem and problems can be removed,'" Hall said. "He was yelling at us and stuff and at the very end he says, 'I really love you guys, I want you to see the light.'"
Former Air Force lawyer Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, is suing the major and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for having breached Hall's Constitutional rights.
I was in the Navy back in the early 1960's. I clearly recall that, according to military law, one's religious beliefs, if any, were his own business and each soldier and sailor is free to conduct his spiritual affairs according to his own conscience. Or not.
It's the American way.
The irrational zealousness of the sergeant and the major in the story shows an almost islamic desire to force a particular brand of funny-mentalist doctrine 'pon all hands, under pain of separation from the unit, and punishment for those who don't comply.
Contrary to common thought, there are atheists in foxholes, and they make the best fighting men if they understand and agree with that for which they battle. For these sicko funny-mentalists to punish them for their divergent beliefs, or lack of belief, will damage the fighting unit far more than will leaving each soldier to live with his own thoughts.
Tip of the battered gray fedora to Diana Hseih.
Each individual lives his own life.
Warm regards,
Col. Hogan
Stalag California
5 comments:
Col., as you know, I'm a Christian. I'm not sure if I'm a fundamentalist. I've never really known exactly what that means. I realize though that it's not a term of endearment. If it means you believe the Bible, I guess I'm 'guilty'. However, I agree with you that it's completely wrong to force your beliefs onto someone else. Someone needs to pull this major aside and talk to him about treating his men with respect. We were not created to be robots or coerced into anything.
On a seperate but related subject. You know the daily, weekly, monthly rant that there must be a seperation of church and state? Here in the pothandle of Texas we had a primary vote and they changed all of our polling stations. They said it was to keep (undesirables) peoples out of the schools, fearful of a V-Tech type scenario. We are now voting in a church!! How's that for seperation of church & state?
Aurora,
Mom was a Lutheran, which I thought was a fundamentalist sect. In my early teens, she became Episcopalian, which was sort of Catholic-light--all the pomp and pageantry of Roman Catholicism but without the guilt. My dad was an lifelong atheist.
I take after my dad. I didn't, as a child, like Lutheranism at all, bit I did like the Episcopalian church. It was fun and it seemed to attract a nicer class of folks.
Years ago, though, I gave it all up. It doesn't stand the light of reason. I won't subjugate myself to an invisible, indescribable god any more than I will an earthly despot.
It doesn't at all mean that I don't respect a different choice in others. The only thing I don't respect is the individual who professes a specific philosophy and lives his life violating it willy-nilly.
IOW, if a philosophy is worth advocating, it's worth living.
It's the hypocrisy of the sergeant and his major that's the problem for me. To me, compulsion and philosophy (religion) shouldn't go together. Hence, the relationship of these men to islam.
Steve,
If they really want to keep undesirables out of the government children's prisons, they ought to bar the door to the teachers.
I had to vote in someone's garage. I wonder what that means?
Col., I understand your aversion. Sounds like your experiences of churches haven't been too positive. I take your point and I think the major is out of line as well.
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