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Group Sues Pentagon Over First Amendment Religion Issue
Yesterday, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and U.S. Army Major Paul Welborne. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, alleges that Army specialist Jeremy Hall, who is currently serving in Iraq, had his First Amendment rights violated last Thanksgiving when he was threatened and otherwise harrassed because he declined to participate in a Thanksgiving prayer ceremony.
According to Hall, who is an atheist, when he refused to join hands with other soldiers and pray, he was told by a staff sergeant (who first had to ask someone what an atheist was) that he could not eat Thanksgiving dinner with his peers. Hall, however, continued to eat his dinner at the table.
According to the complaint, in August, Hall received permission from a military chaplain to organize a group for atheist soldiers, but when the group met, Major Welborne broke it up, and also threatened to charge Hall with violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Hall says that Welborne further threatened him that he would block Hall's re-enlistment in the Army if the atheist group continued to meet. Hall alleges that Welborne disrupted the meeting and confronted those in attendance.
Hall's complaint is not unique. Just last month, the Pentagon's Inspector General responded to a complaint by an MRFF that Defense Department officials violated their own regulations by appearing in a video to promote a fundamentalist Christian organization.
A spokesman for the MRFF has indicated that the Hall lawsuit is just the first of many.
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The United Sates is in fact a Theocracy now. So why is this any surprise to anyone? Bush has empowered the theocrats as thanks for their putting him in office. Open your eyes. Every piece of legislation is scrutinized by christian leaders who meet with Bush, usually by phone every Monday. Every issue is discussed in our media in terms of "Is it okay with biblical teachings?"Atheists are despised more than ever before . I wish this soldier the best of luck but last I heard the military was evangelizing for fundamentalist beliefs.
I have little hope for the human race unless we can overcome the pernicious beliefs in ancient mythologies that are the root cause of so many of our historical and current conflicts. Too many people believe that they are the recipients of the true word of God (by whatever name they want to call him/her/them/it) simply because it is what has been taught to them as children, or because they succumbed to some charismatic lunatic's teachings. Until we can actually educate humanity to think for themselves rationally, what hope can there be?
As a science teacher who has taught both in the states and abroad, I can tell you we athiests don't stand a chance against the government and the school boards of the US. They all claim to promote critical thinking,but just try that in class and see how long you keep a job. Public Education may as well be indoctrination. I hope the soldier is able to leave the military and live his life how he chooses and not be part of this crusdae of george's.
It's really not just this administration that has a religious bias. Have you seen the crap that gets bipartisan support these days?
http://misanthropicscott.wordpress.com/2007/09/14/the-crap-that-gets-bip...
Atheists need to come out of the closet and assert our rights. The LBGT community has done such an admirable job of this. We need to learn the lesson. We need to be included in the anti hate crime bill.
For any that are unaware, there is a really good little organization called the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
http://ffrf.org/
They are doing an excellent job of bringing the issue to light. It seems obvious to me that freedom of religion necessitates the ability to choose none of the above.
As an aside, one piece of evidence that adele dooling is making a valid point, even if not wholly true ... yet, is our behavior in the UN Millennium Development Goals for Sustainability.
They were to include a piece on limiting population growth as a necessity for sustainability. Since it was rejected, I do not know the text. I assume it included the usual statements about educating women and getting them into the work force, which has been shown to have an amazing impact on quality of life and on birth rates. Three "nations" vetoed any mention of population reduction, Iran, The Vatican, and The U.S.
It's really not just this administration that has a religious bias. Have you seen the crap that gets bipartisan support these days?
http://misanthropicscott.wordpress.com/2007/09/14/the-crap-that-gets-bip...
Atheists need to come out of the closet and assert our rights. The LBGT community has done such an admirable job of this. We need to learn the lesson. We need to be included in the anti hate crime bill.
For any that are unaware, there is a really good little organization called the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
http://ffrf.org/
They are doing an excellent job of bringing the issue to light. It seems obvious to me that freedom of religion necessitates the ability to choose none of the above.
As an aside, one piece of evidence that adele dooling is making a valid point, even if not wholly true ... yet, is our behavior in the UN Millennium Development Goals for Sustainability.
They were to include a piece on limiting population growth as a necessity for sustainability. Since it was rejected, I do not know the text. I assume it included the usual statements about educating women and getting them into the work force, which has been shown to have an amazing impact on quality of life and on birth rates. Three "nations" vetoed any mention of population reduction, Iran, The Vatican, and The U.S.