Since his last combat deployment in Iraq, Jeremy Hall has had a rough time, getting shoved and threatened by his fellow soldiers. The trouble started there when he would not pray in the mess hall."A senior ranking staff sergeant told me to leave and sit somewhere else because I refused to pray," Hall, a 23-year-old US army specialist, told AFP.
Later, Hall was confronted by a major for holding an authorized meeting of "atheists and freethinkers" on his base. The officer threatened to discipline him and block his re-enlistment.
"He said: 'You guys are being a problem and problems can be removed,'" Hall said. "He was yelling at us and stuff and at the very end he says, 'I really love you guys, I want you to see the light.'"
Now Hall is suing the major and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, accusing them of breaching his constitutional rights. A campaign group, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, is waiting for the Pentagon to respond to a lawsuit filed in a Kansas federal court on Hall's behalf.
It alleges a "pernicious pattern and practice" of infringement of religious liberties in the military.
Hard to insist that God is Love when you are spreading hate and fear.
2 comments:
So in fact, there are atheists in foxholes?
I'm glad this guy is suing on constitutional grounds, but I fear a non-com will not have much of a chance against a major and Gates.
Not only atheists, but Democrats are in the military (*gasp)!
Blackwater is run by a rightwing fundamentalist, Christianists are trying to take over the Air Force... I think it's an agreement Bush had with our religious fanatics: You give me the vote, I'll give you the military. Holy Wars and the Rapture, here we come!
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