[Atheist soldier is denied a promotion]
According to the lawsuit, Hall was counseled by his platoon sergeant after being informed that his promotion was blocked. He says the sergeant explained that Hall would be "unable to put aside his personal convictions and pray with his troops" and would have trouble bonding with them if promoted to a leadership position.
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"but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States"
US Constitution, Article VI
I guess the sergeant doesn't think military leaders count as people in a position of "public trust under the United States".
We are well and truly fucked. We've got a fundamentalist mercenary army on one hand, and a fundamentalist-corrupted volunteer army on the other.
Rome was nice while it lasted, and so was America.
I can imagine the outcry if the positions were reversed:
"According to the lawsuit Foyer was counselled by his platoon sergeant after being informed that his promotion was blocked. He says that the sergeant explained that Foyer would "unable to put aside his religious convictions and would no doubt pray to his sky-daddy to protect his troops rather than rely on strategy, or body armour" hence would have trouble not endangering them if promoted to a leadership position."
Well, at least we now know why there're no atheists in foxholes!
@stogoe, it you want a good play book on the evils of a mercenary private army, wath Jericho. The only thing missing in the plot is James Dobson as president, otherwise it would be a fundy wet-dream come true.
"He says the sergeant explained that Hall would be "unable to put aside his personal convictions and pray with his troops" [...]"
Fuckers. I would have walked in the next day and said I'd converted to Islam and demanded my promotion. I would also assure him that any troops under my command would be required to pray to Allah five times a day.
And this is why Americans are seen as fuckheads to everyone else...
Seriously, wow. Only a Fundometer of 4.6?
Well if atheists are "unable to put aside their person convictions", send them all home.
In fact if this is a holy war, send home every soldier that isn't a fundie. Then grab every male between 18 and 40 out of your churches.
What?? He's not good enough to lead, but he is good enough to die for your religious ass?
The very idea of having a Christian sentiment running through any army is chronic hypocrisy. How do you reconcile teachings like "turn the other cheek" and "love your enemies" with taking up a rifle and firing it at another human being? Maybe i'm looking at it too simply, but it seems to me that a basic interpretation of Christ's teachings should exclude his followers from military service.
As a retired Army NCO, I'm amused by the concept of being required to pray with my troops. Never heard that one in PLDC, BNCOC, or any other training course.
The only way this story makes sense is if a flag was placed on his promotion at the company/battalion level. Otherwise, it would have to reach all the way up to the Five-Sided Funny Farm, and we'd see a lot more cases like this.
Or the guy is just a whiner who doesn't deserve E-5 and is taking a comment out of context.
Of course, apparently the guy, according to the news, has denied his words. And when he receives a sanction if proved the poor atheist soldier right, the bunch of fundies will cry persecution.
At last the sollution to the energy crisis in the United States, strap some copper wire on the corpses of the founding fathers and place some magnets around, presto, the spinning will keep the lights on for a long time.
Gridlore wrote:
"The only way this story makes sense is if a flag was placed on his promotion at the company/battalion level. Otherwise, it would have to reach all the way up to the Five-Sided Funny Farm, and we'd see a lot more cases like this.
Or the guy is just a whiner who doesn't deserve E-5 and is taking a comment out of context."
A lot of the posters in the Snopes thread linked above are in basic agreement with you.
This isn't as bad as it sounds folks. An effective arguement can be made defending the seargents actions. I'm sure all of you know the wedges that can be driven between people on account of religious differences. It can be argued that putting an atheist at the head of a group that is bound to be largely christian in a war zone is a bad move. I'm not saying I agree, I'm saying it can be logically argued, and there is no reason for the sergeant to DIAF.
Doesnt the military have, you know, ACTUAL PRIESTS to pray with the troops?
Currently a group of fundie chaplains is suing on the grounds that they have a First Amendment right to devote all their time to trying to convert soldiers who don't belong to the same sect as the chaplains instead of trying to tend to soldiers' spiritual needs regardless of individual belief. So the goal of the chaplains slipped into the military by groups like the Assemblies of God is to prey on the troops, not to pray with them.
"He says the sergeant explained that Hall would be "unable to put aside his personal convictions and pray with his troops" and would have trouble bonding with them if promoted to a leadership position."
What is this, the Crusades?
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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