http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=17380
Atheist National Guard Officer Resigns Commission Over Remarks Made By Lt.
Gen. Blum and Others
Wayne Adkins
Contact Wayne Adkins at
On July 18th, 2006 Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, Chief of the National
Guard Bureau, lumped atheists and agnostics together with bigots and
in a paraphrase of an old untrue negative stereotype declared that
there are no atheists in foxholes. It is ironic that such a bigoted
remark would come during his speech about diversity to the NAACP. The
National Guard received a number of letters complaining about his
remarks and several atheist organizations denounced them. But the
Army, despite how it defines unlawful discrimination in its own
regulations, has decided that the remarks were not discriminatory. I
disagree.
Blums remarks are just the tip of the iceberg. Since troops have been
deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years there have been
numerous bigoted remarks made by military chaplains and other officers
disparaging atheists and perpetuating the myth that there are no
atheists in foxholes. Some have gone as far as claiming that atheists
are lesser soldiers than their religious counterparts. Chaplain Scott
McCammon said "You can know how to dig a foxhole, but unless you are
spiritually fit, you won't have the courage to stick your head out of
the hole." Chaplain Eric Albertson said "commanders recognize that
spiritually fit soldiers are better fighters, and can bring a spirit
of determination to the mission that is courageous and heroic." But
complaints by atheist soldiers are ignored despite the fact that Army
regulations prohibit such remarks.
Army Regulation 600-20, section 6-2, paragraph a says The U.S. Army
will provide EO and fair treatment for military personnel and family
members without regard to race, color, gender, religion, national
origin, and provide an environment free of unlawful discrimination and
offensive behavior. They have failed miserably at providing an
environment free of offensive behavior for atheists. The regulation
defines several terms in these sections which make it clear that the
public comments of Blum and others constitute unlawful discrimination.
Disparaging terms are defined as Terms used to degrade or connote
negative statements pertaining to race, color, gender, national
origin, or religion. Claiming that there are no atheists in foxholes
implies that they do not serve at all which is patently false or that
they all really do believe something other than what they say. It
implies that all atheists are liars and cowards. That fits the
definition of making negative statements about an entire group of
people based solely on their religious identification.
The first response given when atheists complain is that atheism isn't
an organized or acknowledged religion and therefore atheists are not
covered by the regulation. But the regulation defines the term
religion as A personal set or institutionalized system of attitudes,
moral or ethical beliefs and practices held with the strength of
traditional views, characterized by ardor and faith, and generally
evidenced through specific observances. The regulations definition of
religion includes a personal set of beliefs and does not require
organization or outside acknowledgement. The regulation also defines
prejudice as a negative feeling or dislike based upon a faulty or
inflexible generalization (that is, prejudging a person or group
without knowledge or facts). Claiming that there are no atheists in
foxholes is both a faulty and inflexible generalization.
On August 19th 2006 I submitted a formal Equal Opportunity (EO)
complaint on NGB Form 333 to the Ohio National Guard state EO office.
It was forwarded to the National Guard Bureau (NGB) EO office and they
signed for it on August 22nd. They then sat on it for seven weeks. It
was supposed to be forwarded to the Department of the Army Inspector
Generals (DAIG) office because it named a general officer. But they
sat on it until I called the DAIG office to find out the status of it.
They told me they never received it. When they called the state EO
office they found it had been sent to NGB EO a few days after I filed
it. When they called the NGB EO office, they NGB EO had to contact the
state and ask them to send another copy of it. They either lost it or
tossed it. This is not how formal EO complaints are supposed to be
handled in the military. Not at all.
Once it did reach the DAIG office they tried to dissuade me from going
forward with the complaint by asking me to resubmit the complaint if I
still wanted to proceed with this. They said it was not signed, did
not state how I was harmed and did not suggest a remedy, all of which
were untrue. I again sent them a copy of the complaint via snail mail
to verify that it had been signed and did contain the information
requested. They ultimately concluded that Lt. Gen. Blums remarks were
not discriminatory. Apparently, they have never read Army Regulation
600-20. I had to learn all of this through numerous phone calls that I
initiated because they never once initiated contact with me throughout
this complaint process. I was even told that to obtain the document
which answers the formal complaint I had to request it through the
Freedom of Information Act. So it turns out that the problem which I
had thought was limited to the unfortunate remarks of a few isolated
bigots is really a systemic problem. Its cultural. Its institutional.
The Army has not only failed at their stated goal of providing an
environment free of offensive behavior, they have perpetuated it. They
are nurturing it.
The Army uses taxpayer money to publish these bigoted remarks by Army
officers in Army publications and Department of Defense websites. They
use their Digital Video Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS) to beam
remarks from bigoted chaplains back to the US from the front and post
them on the DVIDS website so other publications can pick them up.
Worst of all, when soldiers complain about disparaging remarks made
about them on the basis of religion, when commissioned officers and
supposed leaders call them liars, cowards and lesser soldiers simply
because they lack a belief in the supernatural, the Army looks the
other way and disregards its own regulations designed to prevent
religious discrimination.
I can no longer be a part of an organization that denies my service in
combat, ignores discrimination complaints by soldiers, violates its
own regulations and protects bigots. This will serve as written
notification that I am resigning my commission as an officer in the
Ohio Army National Guard effective as soon as possible.
1st Lt. Wayne Adkins
XO, 196th MPAD
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