I received an email from an “atheist in a foxhole” recently. He’s a teacher in a very religious, conservative part of Texas. (Yes, I know. Who knew there were any other parts of Texas?)
He has a dilemma, though, and he’d like some input:
Our school, as part of a Veteran’s Day celebration, has asked its veterans to lead a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. While I have no problem saying the pledge in general, I do have a problem with one particular phrase. You know the one.
On normal days I simply omit the offending duo of words. This day however will not be normal and my dilemma is this: Do I simply say the Pledge and not rock the boat? Do I say the Pledge and omit “under god” and announce to the community my scorn for their superstition? Do I simply refuse to participate altogether?
One piece of information that may change your answer is that the writer will be reciting the pledge (or not) with seven other veterans. So it’s possible that if he simply omitted “Under God,” he would go unnoticed.
But it’s still an interesting question and I wonder what people would say if he were the only veteran in the school.
During his Inaugural Address, President Obama gave a shout-out to us:
“For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers.”
It could be considered lip-service (and nothing more, some could argue) but it was a meaningful gesture for a lot of us.
While addressing the massacre at Fort Hood during his radio address, President Obama made this comment:
“Thursday’s shooting was one of the most devastating ever committed on an American military base,” Mr. Obama said in prepared remarks. “And yet, even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display, we also saw the best of America.”
Mr. Obama was also quick to note the diversity of U.S. military personnel. “They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers,” he said. Mr. Hasan, a Muslim, was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan.
Again, it may not seem like much, but it goes a long way to combatting the stereotype that there are no atheists serving the military. I’m glad he did it and I hope he continues to include in when talking about the diversity of viewpoints in America.
American Atheists president Ed Buckner was also thrilled to hear it (via email alert):
We thank the president for including us in the diverse population that is the people of the United States. We appreciate the fact that President Obama has acknowledged what we have always known: Of course there are Atheists in foxholes, and there are and always have been men and women who have worn the uniform of this nation and have served with courage in the military and in many other ways.”
We should still go after the President for encouraging faith-based initiatives and the like, but he deserves our appreciation when he does something right. This is one of those gestures that can make a big difference.
They have been nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
Who nominated them?
The nominator of MRFF for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize is identified as a Senator from a foreign nation, which is an ally of the United States, and the only Christian legislator in the upper chamber of that country’s national parliament.
Why were they nominated? You can see the redacted letter sent to the Nobel committee here:
In the years since its founding, MRFF has been contacted, reached out to and retained by nearly 15,000 active duty United States marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen and veterans, 96% of whom, amazingly, are actually Christians of various denominations. These Christian armed forces clients of MRFF find themselves targeted by power wielding fundamentalists, superior to them in the military chain of command, who do not consider Catholics or mainstream Protestants to be “true Christians.” The remainder of MRFFs clients consists of a galaxy of non-Christian, religious minorities such as Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Wiccans, atheists and agnostics and many others.
You can argue there are people and groups more deserving of the Nobel Prize, but it’s hard to deny the importance of a group that watches over improper use of religion in the armed forces.
The military was regularly providing flyovers at countless evangelical Christian events all over the country, not only violating the regulations prohibiting military participation in religious events, but spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money in the process.
Most recently, MRFF got ahold of a response letter from the military to a request for further Air Force participation in a Christian ceremony:
Your Air Force aviation support request doesn’t fall into either approved category, as such, we are unable to approve it. Air Force and DoD policy prohibit support for events which appear to endorse, selectively benefit, or favor any special interest group, religious or ideological movement.
In other words, the Air Force said it would not participate in the “God and Country Festival” in Idaho last week. It’s a specifically Christian event and that violated the Constitution.
Organizers don’t deny the explicitly Christian nature of the annual patriotic rally.
“Yes, it’s about as Christian as you can get — we believe in promoting Christianity,” [Director Patti] Syme said. “And we have no plans to change that.”
Kudos to military personnel for fixing a 42-year-long error.
Now, cut to this morning…
Gretchen Carlson of Fox and Friends heard about what transpired. She invited Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition to discuss the event.
A partial transcript:
Carlson: So when I first read this story, I actually found it hard to believe. Because for 42 years, at this rally in Idaho, the Pentagon has authorized a flyover. Suddenly this year, a new president in office, and a new policy. What do you make of it?
Mahoney: Well, we’re stunned, actually, and it’s a reminder that our Constitution promises freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. I think the viewers need to understand, the flyovers that were held for 42 years were not to endorse or promote any religion, but to honor the military, who was there in force.
…
Mahoney: I think it causes one to pause and say, ‘What changed? After 42 years, what changed?’ And Gretchen, the only indicator we have is that we have a new commander in chief.
And I think that we are wondering, when we look at President Obama: Is there a culture of hostility toward expressions of faith in the public square — particularly Christian?
That pain you feel is the aching in your brain.
President Obama has nothing to do with this.
And the God and Country Festival is explicitly favoring one religion: Christianity.
You know if military planes were flying over a mosque because of an Islamic celebration, Mahoney and Carlson would be saying something entirely different.
Within a week the Coalition approached Obama. They let him know they had never been part of that “list” [of belief systems] before — never had had a seat at the table — and they would appreciate it if he would continue to include them whenever appropriate.
…
Obama agreed and remained true to his word. And then came the moment approximately 50 million Americans — who identify themselves with terms like agnostic, atheist, materialist, humanist, nontheist, skeptic, bright, freethinker, agnostic, naturalist, or non-believer — will never forget. In his inauguration speech, Obama said, “…Our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers.” Two weeks later he talked about “non-believers” and “humanists” at the National Prayer Breakfast.
[Secular Coalition Advisory Board Chair Woody] Kaplan gives a sense of both the historical and personal significance of Obama’s words.
“The shock came at the inaugural speech — arguably the biggest speech a President ever makes — and he listed us there” he says. “And he’s continued to do that — he mentioned us twice at Notre Dame. And then he did it [this month] in Normandy. I can’t tell you what a pariah group feels about those statements. For the first time we have a seat at the table. We’re not thought of, evidently, as automatically unethical.”
…
As the Coalition continues to carry out its mission of increasing the visibility of — and respect for — nontheistic viewpoints, and protecting the secular character of our government, it seems to be moving forward with great confidence. This comes as no surprise, given the fact that there are now more nontheists in America than Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Mormons and Jews combined, and the organization itself has made huge strides.
And because it’s the group I work most closely with, I have to point out my favorite part:
The Coalition described the “full spectrum of nontheists it represents” within its nine member organizations. (Now ten, with the recent addition of American Atheists). Among those organizations are the Society for Humanistic Judaism, Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, and the American Humanist Association. The Obama Administration expressed particular interest in reaching out to the Secular Student Alliance. The Coalition also addressed some of the issues of greatest concern to nontheists, including coercive religious proselytizing in the military, faith-based initiatives, and employment discrimination.
And interested they were! I spoke to Associate Director of Public Engagement Paul Monteiro earlier this week to talk about the students the SSA represents, the type of work our groups do (including community service), and how we can work with the administration (in a non-partisan way) in the future.
Occasionally, I get emails that are both thrilling and depressing all at once. This certainly qualifies.
It comes from Cadet Captain “Bob,” who is part of an Army JROTC program at his high school.
He recently took part in an extra-curricular quiz bowl activity (similar to Jeopardy!) that resulted in his team making it to the national finals. The week-long competition just ended and his team placed very well.
During the week, though, “Bob” noticed a problem. His story is below and I urge you to read the whole thing:
Although these past five days have been a life-changing experience, one thing bothered me. It wasn’t some major event, but rather a three-minute grace (longer than even my devout Christian teammate expected) before two meals.
I have been to functions where the speakers are quite accepting and when they say grace, there are no references to God but rather to “our great American farmers, the great servicemen who make it possible for us to live this way, etc.” and do not alienate people of different faiths. I was kind of hoping that these graces would be the same way. They weren’t… I remember quite clearly she said “our heavenly father” and other names that made it impossible for her thanks to be directed at anybody except for Jesus and the Christian God. It made me uncomfortable that she didn’t tone it down to even “spirit,” for I understand that from a military point of view, atheists are essentially sinners that won’t be found in foxholes and are rarely recognized unless it’s for alienation or demotion. For her to ignore the cadets of other faiths was more appalling to me than her lack of recognition for the faithless.
During graces, all cadets (around 400 of us) were required to stand, bow heads, and clasp hands. I stood, out of great respect for the colonel, but did not do anything else. One of my team members was also an atheist, which I did not realize until that moment. We had a kind of bonding moment right then in that moment of non-prayer and discreetly scanned the room for more atheists.
There were at least two more cadets on a different team not participating in grace (We discovered later that one was atheist, and although the other was Christian, she did not pray because she thought having grace in that way was rude to people of different faiths).
At my home JROTC program and in my school in general, there is a bit more freedom to make stronger and more frequent references to God. In the past few years, I and my fellow cadets have been able to fight for our cause. Here is a list of a few of my experiences with this:
During my school’s Military Ball, there had been a 20-year tradition of giving grace to the Christian God. During my freshman year, I sat there uncomfortably and said nothing. I did this sophomore year as well. But last year, junior year, I became a cadet officer. I had the power to change this, so another atheist and I in our company talked to our Senior Army Instructor and made it quite clear that there were at least four atheists in our battalion and five people that were not Christian. From last year onward, our Military Ball will no longer have graces — we will have a moment of silence instead.
We won the (small) right to, when saying the pledge, stay silent during the phrase “under God.” Previously, we would have been ordered to do push-ups if we did not fully participate in the pledge.
Sometimes we have tests in which we must repeat the JROTC cadet creed, which ends with “May God give me the strength to live by this creed.” For our school tests only, we no longer have to say these phrases.
My non-JROTC friends and I managed to get your blog and numerous other atheist sites unblocked for being “Tasteless.” I was honestly surprised Friendly Atheist wasn’t blocked under “Cult Religions.”
One of my former cadets was a devout Mormon. Upon meeting me during rifle team practices, she said, “Wow, I didn’t know that atheists were nice!” Awkward, but I’m glad she knows we aren’t evil creatures from Hell.
During many of our speeches, great men such as Major General Bartell and Lieutenant General Van Antwerp told us that leadership consists of doing the right thing and not waiting for somebody else to speak up before you do. I’ve always tried my best to live by that creed. I am an American freethinker. I am an Army JROTC cadet. I will be an atheist in a foxhole. I have won only small fights within the community, but these will accumulate into a bigger statement and pave the way for future cadets to take action.
As long as I stand tall, I will always fight for the rights and recognition of atheists in our country.
How amazing is it to know we have people like him representing us?
Obviously, I’m not using his real name or mentioning his state of residence. Why not?
“Bob” mentioned:
I have nearly been fired twice from hard-won leadership positions because higher-ups gained knowledge of my atheism and already am in a state of jeopardy because one of my instructors discovered that I’m also bisexual.
As of last week, the members of the Secular Coalition for America — the group in Washington D.C. that lobbies on behalf of the non-religious — included the following nine organizations:
As of this afternoon, there is a new group to add to that list: American Atheists.
The group was voted in as the tenth member organization of the SCA — an excellent addition of one of the most historic and proudly-atheist groups in the country.
Plainfieldrobraises an interesting point, though. If you say no to joining the Boy Scouts, what about the military? They also discriminate against gays, and while they don’t openly kick out atheists, they definitely make it difficult for non-religious people to serve.
Rob won’t let his child join the Boy Scouts, but…
… I’m a veteran and the US military has a policy against letting gays & lesbians serve openly. Yet, I will absolutely ask that [my son] consider serving his Country regardless whether that policy remains in force in 12 years.
I will do this because I think service to Country outranks joining a social organization for young boys & men. However, it raises the difficult question — Am I being morally inconsistent? I don’t think so — but I would like to hear some other thoughts…
I’m back from my short vacation and started my first day with the Secular Coalition for America. The good news is that I got to visit family in New York, the bad news is that I wasn’t around when some of my coworkers scored an exclusive meeting with White House officials.
Last week they met with Paul Monteiro, the White House Associate Director of Public Engagement. One of his roles is to act as the ‘religious liaison,’ interacting with religious lobbying groups – and now the Secular Coalition as well.
From what they tell me, the meeting went very well. Mr. Monteiro is a Seventh-day Adventist himself, but was very friendly and made it clear that he welcomed us, and wanted to hear our point of view. He agreed to have regular meetings with us to make sure he knows about our concerns.
Of course, there’s still lots of progress to be made. But there have been positive steps. First President Obama went out of his way to include us in speeches, even in the national day of prayer proclaimation. Now his office is listening to us, too. It’s a signal that we’re a welcome part of the nation and the political process.
At the meeting, they discussed coercive religious proselytizing in the military, the faith-based initiatives, and employment discrimination. What else do you think we should address?
If you could tell an administration official what nontheists care about, what would you say?
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