When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was excited, he said, to see an officer attending.
But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism, Specialist Hall wrote in a sworn statement. “People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!” Major Welborn said, according to the statement.
Major Welborn told the soldiers he might bar them from re-enlistment and bring charges against them, according to the statement...
At the July meeting, Major Welborn told the soldiers they had disgraced those who had died for the Constitution, Specialist Hall said. When he finished, Major Welborn said, according to the statement: “I love you guys; I just want the best for you. One day you will see the truth and know what I mean.”
50 comments
Ok, the barring from re-renlistment and bringing charges against them? On what grounds?
"Died for the Constitution'? You mean the same document that gives those same soldiers the right to believe as they like?
The founding fathers were deists, buddy.
Also, maybe you should check out the Treaty of Tripoli.
The article is absolutely amazing
“You’re promoted by who you pray with.”
“They don’t trust you because they think you are unreliable and might break, since you don’t have God to rely on,”
“The message is, It’s a Christian nation, and you need to recognize that.’ ”
seven officers, including four generals, who appeared, in uniform and in violation of military regulations, in a 2006 fund-raising video for the Christian Embassy, an evangelical Bible study group.
Part of me says if they only want Christians in the Military then so be it. But on the other hand, that means the Christians are the ones with all the weapons.
"I love you guys; I just want the best for you. One day you will see the truth and know what I mean.”
You want what is best for us? Well if your God shared the sentiment, then you would not have to worry about it at all, now would you? As for the "truth"...yes, everyone will someday realize the "truth", that the entirety of existence is constructed for the enjoyment of the late Lyndon Johnson, who continues to influence reality from beyond our petty human perceptions.
Lyndon Johnson died for your sins...do you dare to shun his love and sacrifice?
Any asshole can become an officer, no matter how ignorant or delusional he or she is.
This is why the Army has sergeants.
Some founding fathers were Christians, some were deists, some agnostic, etc..
Major Welborn needs refresher courses on freedom and rational thinking.
So let me get this straight Major Welborn. The US Army is fighting an unpopular war, with an all volunteer force and several of them happen to be atheists. But, because of the fact that they don't worship Jesus like you do it's ok to deny them the ability to re-up, even if they have combat experience and are willing to go back there.
Oh, and Spec. Hall, if you're reading this you need to talk to these guys asap: http://militaryreligiousfreedom.org/
Love = punishment, banishment, stripping of rights and priveledges.
according to the fundy dictionary.
I support Specialist Jeremy Hall's decision to sue the people that gave him injustice while trying to protect everyone's freedom's, including his own.
As for Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, I want to give a well warm fuck you if you think for a second you have a right to call yourself an American and call us traitors. Just to let you know, my great-grandfather (who passed away few years ago) served in World War II (the Second Great War) and was an American atheist as well. He didn't believe in an afterlife nor any religious beliefs. What he did believe in was the right to have freedom in this country, the very same freedom that he fought for to protect, even your own fundie-hatred towards our own.
They might be barred from re-enlisting?
When we have stop loss keeping people in who don't want to be in anymore?
And this is a threat how?
Unfortunately this officer reminds me of several people when I was in the Navy.. stupid and narrow minded.. but aware that their rank means you can't call them on it.
Those men, sir, are serving their country in the same capacity that you are, how dare you spit on them for the freedom of belief that you're supposed to be fighting for.
Yeah, I know Iraq isn't a threat to USan free speech, but I wanted to use THEIR argument against themselves.
@Osiris
Not holding up the Constitution? The military may not have good armor, but it has truly amazing mirrors.
Also, with the stop-loss in the news, it seems that the military would rather have convicted felons than people who are openly gay or atheist.
I hate the people who claim atheists are going agaisnt the constitution and all that when its those people who are going against it.
Why do so many christians think America was founded by christians for christianity?
It's sorta stupid because if this Major was a true christian he would not send his men out to kill anyone as it goes against the commandments.
At the end of the day if a solider is an atheist or not they still do a job no matter what, but to be a complete cunt and say their a disgrace to their country is taking the piss, mean they joined up to fight for their country!!!
"Major Welborn told the soldiers they had disgraced those who had died for the Constitution"
Check out Arlington sometime ya f***tard, particularly all those non-christian emblems on many of the gravestones.
I have always had the theory that the free thinkers should stop developing the technological weapons used by the military.
Do you really think UAVs and reactive armour were developed by a fundie. Much less anti-reactive armour ammunition that instantly erodes metal plating with liquid metal.
Rewriting history does not change history.
If the military only wants Christians, cool. Let them all get blown up and leave the decent human beings to live and run this country when they grow up. I will not have to feel so concerned when it is 25 fundies a day who get blown to bits "for the cause", since by their thinking, the military is only for them and god is on their side and all that...wasting my time on them would be irrelevant since their god would take care of them.
By god, I think that is the answer to the fundie problem, and the low enlistment number problems in the military.
“People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!” Major Welborn said,..."
- Major Wellborn is certainly not Major Well-Informed. The founding fathers in general were Deists.
I wouldn't have chosen this quote for a number of reasons. 1, it comes from a newspaper which features only one side of the story. Second, the major is backpedaling, watching what's going on.
@tmr: "I will not have to feel so concerned when it is 25 fundies a day who get blown to bits "for the cause", since by their thinking, the military is only for them and god is on their side and all that..."
So I guess we don't need to spend good tax dollars on body armor and reinforced vehicles either.
@Antichrist
"Part of me says if they only want Christians in the Military then so be it. But on the other hand, that means the Christians are the ones with all the weapons."
And that's why we have the second admendment. (Although, these days, it's rather hard for your average citizen to be as well equipped as the military)
I don't question the fact that this guy is probably a total idiot and a bigot and that what he said is this or similar. However, I think that it's wrong to quote this for a number of reasons.
Oh, oh -- dig these 3 paragraphs from the article:
Specialist Hall came to atheism after years as a Christian. He was raised Baptist by his grandmother in Richlands, N.C., a town of fewer than 1,000 people. She read the Bible to him every night, and he said he joined the Army “to make something of myself.”
“I thought going to Iraq was right because we had God on our side,” he said in an interview near Fort Riley.
In the summer of 2005, after his first deployment to Iraq, Specialist Hall became friends with soldiers with atheist leanings. Their questions about faith prompted him to read the Bible more closely, which bred doubts that deepened over time .
I've said it before and I'll say it again: The one book that has convinced more Christians to give up their religion than any other ... is the Bible.
This person makes a great point. It is clear in the constitution that only Christians have rights, and the founding fathers made it clear that they were all devout Christians.
End sarcasm.
Did you miss the part about freedom of religion? Because that's kind of the FUCKING REASON PEOPLE CAME TO AMERICA.
Major Freddy J. Welborn, please resign your commission immediately and get the hell out of the army.
I do not trust you to defend me, my rights, or my country.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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