| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"johac" |
| Date: |
08 Aug 2007 06:45:02 PM |
| Object: |
Atheist Mistreatment in Iraq |
Prejudice against atheists in the military. Is the military now
controlled by the Dominionists? It's starting to look like it. I wonder
if this has any bearing on the Tillman case.
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Atheist Mistreatment in Iraq
By Ed Brayton Tue Aug 07, 2007 at 10:39:44 PM EST
No, not by radical Muslims but by our own military. This email was
forwarded to me from a soldier in Iraq whose friend is being harassed at
another base for organizing a meeting of atheists on the base. The email
was originally sent to Kathleen Johnson, the military director for
American Atheists, who is currently serving in Iraq herself. The full
email is below the fold:
Kathleen Johnson:
Thought you'd be interested in this report of the first-ever meeting
of Atheist service-members in Iraq under the umbrella of the MAAF-Iraq
chapter of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. This
meeting was put together by the same young MAAF member who recently had
his second letter published in the Stars and Stripes.
One of our members, a young Atheist enlisted soldier, thought he
would like to see if he could generate some interest in MAAF meetings at
his Forward Operating Base (FOB) here in Iraq (not the base I'm at, by
the way). He got things coordinated and started hanging flyers, and
after weeks of having to re-hang his flyers almost daily because some
vandal kept tearing them down, he finally succeeded in having a small
MAAF meeting. I wasn't there because the meeting wasn't on my FOB, but I
knew he was holding it and was expecting to hear from him after the
meeting. Keep in mind that this young soldier did everything right - he
went through the Chaplain's office and jumped through all the hoops it
takes to legally hold meetings that are religiously or philosophically
based. Four soldiers attended this meeting - all of them very junior
enlisted soldiers with the exception of one Major (an O-4), who claimed
to be a "freethinker".
Well, to make a very long story a little shorter, the Major turned
out to be a fundamentalist Christian who verbally berated the other
attendees, accused them of plotting against Christians and disrespecting
soldiers who have died protecting the Constitution, and threatened them
with punishment under the UCMJ for their activities (said they were
"going down") and said he would do whatever it took to shut the meetings
down. Keep in mind that by this point, he had two of the attendees (one
soldier fled when the shouting started) standing at the position of
attention so that he could yell at them, berate them, and humiliate
them. This apparently went on for several minutes at which time the
Major shut down the meeting by saying he wasn't some "push-over
Chaplain" and that he would not tolerate the meetings to continue.
The young MAAF member who hosted the meeting is absolutely freaked
out about what happened, but he said he's going to continue with the
meetings and isn't going to be bullied by the prayer warriors. I've
advised him to immediately notify the Chaplain sponsor of what happened
to get guidance while I try to figure out what to do next. I should hear
something back from him tonight sometime and there's even a small
possibility I might be able to score a mission to his FOB and attend one
of his meetings in the next few weeks (if I do, I'll meet with the
Chaplain in person).
As for immediate action, he's going to get me the names of his
Chaplain sponsor and the name of the officer who disrupted the meeting.
My intent right now is to make a formal report to the most senior
Chaplain I can find along with possibly an Equal Opportunity complaint
against the officer if we can get him fully identified. I may not be
eligible to make that complaint because I wasn't there, but I can at
least smooth the way for this young troop to make one if he elects to.
At the very least, I can make the EO office formally aware of what
happened there.
More info will follow when I get it, but right now, feel free to
disseminate this information since I've intentionally sanitized it for
names and locations. I will be happy to forward any words of support to
him if they get mailed to my (redacted email) address - he could really
use some encouragement right now, I think.
I've forwarded it along with the contact information for this soldier to
Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. They may
have already been aware of it; if not, they are now. He'll raise an
appropriate stink about it, I'm sure.
---
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/8/7/223944/5016
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
.
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| User: "Father Haskell" |
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| Title: Re: Atheist Mistreatment in Iraq |
08 Aug 2007 11:39:51 PM |
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On Aug 8, 7:45 pm, johac <jhachm...@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Well, to make a very long story a little shorter, the Major turned
out to be a fundamentalist Christian who verbally berated the other
attendees, accused them of plotting against Christians and disrespecting
soldiers who have died protecting the Constitution, and threatened them
with punishment under the UCMJ for their activities (said they were
"going down") and said he would do whatever it took to shut the meetings
down.
Sounds like Frank Burns from the original M*A*S*H. Should
have invited him in for coffee and donuts. Hospitality would
have been the *last* thing he expected. He'd have blown
an artery.
.
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Atheist Mistreatment in Iraq |
09 Aug 2007 06:21:11 PM |
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In article <1186634391.477225.183420@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>,
Father Haskell <fatherhaskell@yahoo.com> wrote:
On Aug 8, 7:45 pm, johac <jhachm...@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Well, to make a very long story a little shorter, the Major turned
out to be a fundamentalist Christian who verbally berated the other
attendees, accused them of plotting against Christians and disrespecting
soldiers who have died protecting the Constitution, and threatened them
with punishment under the UCMJ for their activities (said they were
"going down") and said he would do whatever it took to shut the meetings
down.
Sounds like Frank Burns from the original M*A*S*H. Should
have invited him in for coffee and donuts. Hospitality would
have been the *last* thing he expected. He'd have blown
an artery.
Which might not have been such a bad thing, :-)
I don't know why these people feel so threatened by a few non-believers.
Is their faith that weak?
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
.
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| User: "Uncle Vic" |
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| Title: Re: Atheist Mistreatment in Iraq |
10 Aug 2007 12:01:10 AM |
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One fine day in alt.atheism, johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net>
bloodied us up with this:
In article <1186634391.477225.183420@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>,
Father Haskell <fatherhaskell@yahoo.com> wrote:
On Aug 8, 7:45 pm, johac <jhachm...@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Well, to make a very long story a little shorter, the Major
turned
out to be a fundamentalist Christian who verbally berated the other
attendees, accused them of plotting against Christians and
disrespecting soldiers who have died protecting the Constitution,
and threatened them with punishment under the UCMJ for their
activities (said they were "going down") and said he would do
whatever it took to shut the meetings down.
Sounds like Frank Burns from the original M*A*S*H. Should
have invited him in for coffee and donuts. Hospitality would
have been the *last* thing he expected. He'd have blown
an artery.
Which might not have been such a bad thing, :-)
I don't know why these people feel so threatened by a few
non-believers. Is their faith that weak?
Yes.
--
Uncle Vic
aa Atheist #2011
Supervisor, EAC Department of little adhesive-backed "L" shaped
chrome-plastic doo-dads to add feet to Jesus fish department.
Convicted by Earthquack.
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: Atheist Mistreatment in Iraq |
25 Aug 2007 07:16:19 PM |
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On Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:45:02 -0700, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Prejudice against atheists in the military. Is the military now
controlled by the Dominionists?
For years, starting with the Army Chaplain General who had/has a Dutch
last name.
It's starting to look like it. I wonder
if this has any bearing on the Tillman case.
Certainly. Don't forget that if you aren't for Jesus/Bush you're
against him.
[]
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| User: "Uncle Vic" |
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| Title: Re: Atheist Mistreatment in Iraq |
08 Aug 2007 11:10:43 PM |
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One fine day in alt.atheism, johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net>
bloodied us up with this:
Prejudice against atheists in the military. Is the military now
controlled by the Dominionists? It's starting to look like it. I wonder
if this has any bearing on the Tillman case.
This month's AQOTM deals with this issue. Fundy christers fear us, even
want to kill us because we represent the possibility that they are wrong.
--
Uncle Vic
aa Atheist #2011
Supervisor, EAC Department of little adhesive-backed "L" shaped
chrome-plastic doo-dads to add feet to Jesus fish department.
Convicted by Earthquack.
.
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Atheist Mistreatment in Iraq |
09 Aug 2007 12:06:10 AM |
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In article <Xns9986D772FB3BAvicman@216.196.97.142>,
Uncle Vic <address@withheld.com> wrote:
One fine day in alt.atheism, johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net>
bloodied us up with this:
Prejudice against atheists in the military. Is the military now
controlled by the Dominionists? It's starting to look like it. I wonder
if this has any bearing on the Tillman case.
This month's AQOTM deals with this issue. Fundy christers fear us, even
want to kill us because we represent the possibility that they are wrong.
Their faith must be very weak if they feel threatened by a small
minority.
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Atheist Mistreatment in Iraq |
09 Aug 2007 06:38:06 PM |
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On Aug 9, 1:06 am, johac <jhachm...@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
In article <Xns9986D772FB3BAvic...@216.196.97.142>,
Uncle Vic <addr...@withheld.com> wrote:
One fine day in alt.atheism, johac <jhachm...@remove.sbcglobal.net>
bloodied us up with this:
Prejudice against atheists in the military. Is the military now
controlled by the Dominionists? It's starting to look like it. I wonder
if this has any bearing on the Tillman case.
This month's AQOTM deals with this issue. Fundy christers fear us, even
want to kill us because we represent the possibility that they are wrong.
Their faith must be very weak if they feel threatened by a small
minority.
I'm beginning to think perhaps that particular minority ain't quite as
small as folks thought it was. I'd like to think *we* had something to
do with that..<g>
-PF, Atl.
etc.
.
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| User: "Jon Skinner" |
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| Title: Re: Atheist Mistreatment in Iraq |
10 Aug 2007 11:16:42 AM |
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<panamfloyd@hotmail.com> wrote:
On Aug 9, 1:06 am, johac <jhachm...@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
In article <Xns9986D772FB3BAvic...@216.196.97.142>,
Uncle Vic <addr...@withheld.com> wrote:
One fine day in alt.atheism, johac <jhachm...@remove.sbcglobal.net>
bloodied us up with this:
Prejudice against atheists in the military. Is the military now
controlled by the Dominionists? It's starting to look like it. I wonder
if this has any bearing on the Tillman case.
This month's AQOTM deals with this issue. Fundy christers fear us, even
want to kill us because we represent the possibility that they are wrong.
Their faith must be very weak if they feel threatened by a small
minority.
I'm beginning to think perhaps that particular minority ain't quite as
small as folks thought it was. I'd like to think *we* had something to
do with that..<g>
The EAC Mind Control Beams are working a treat in my neighborhood:
http://www.messengersouth.com.au/article/2007/07/24/1640_south_news.html
--
Jon
aa#277
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Atheist Mistreatment in Iraq |
10 Aug 2007 12:28:47 AM |
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In article <1186702686.771601.113290@i13g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
wrote:
On Aug 9, 1:06 am, johac <jhachm...@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
In article <Xns9986D772FB3BAvic...@216.196.97.142>,
Uncle Vic <addr...@withheld.com> wrote:
One fine day in alt.atheism, johac <jhachm...@remove.sbcglobal.net>
bloodied us up with this:
Prejudice against atheists in the military. Is the military now
controlled by the Dominionists? It's starting to look like it. I wonder
if this has any bearing on the Tillman case.
This month's AQOTM deals with this issue. Fundy christers fear us, even
want to kill us because we represent the possibility that they are wrong.
Their faith must be very weak if they feel threatened by a small
minority.
I'm beginning to think perhaps that particular minority ain't quite as
small as folks thought it was. I'd like to think *we* had something to
do with that..<g>
I don't think anyone knows for certain how many we are. Many atheists
seem to be reluctant to 'come out' due to social or family pressure.
Hopefully that will change.
-PF, Atl.
etc.
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
.
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