[Vision2020] Of, By & For SOME of the pe

[Tom Hansen]

The Army supports virtually all faiths.

I sugeest yo uboth read up on it before yo umake any further claims.

http://www.usachcs.army.mil/

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho





> On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 10:55 PM, Donovan Arnold
> <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > My sympathy is with the victim, which is the US taxpayer having to 
deal with
> > frivolous lawsuits for things that ultimately serve no purpose.
> 
> > The reason that other soldiers are allowed to meet with religious 
leaders
> > isn't for a hobby. It is because at any moment they could be meeting 
their
> > Maker. So they see a religious leader to prepare for that event, last 
rites
> > and preparing for the end of this life.
> 
> Soldiers (military personnel in general) aren't "allowed" to meet with
> religious leaders -- it's a right they exercise just like you do, no
> strings attached.    There is no permission involved, which is what
> you seem to be be implying.  If this isn't your implication, then nip
> my missaprehension in the bud.
> 
> > It is not to have a community meeting, play golf, bingo, eat donuts and
> > discuss the stupidity of those that think there is a super being 
floating on
> > a cloud.
> 
> Some military attend worship services officiated by chaplains, some
> attend "normal" services.  There isn't any rule.  Chaplains work
> stateside and abroad, during war and during peace.  They do indeed get
> involved in social activities with their congregation, including golf,
> bingo, eating donuts, spaghetti feeds, and bible studies, where
> atheism, agnosticism, pantheism, Buddhism, and all variety of belief
> are discussed, much like in "normal" religious communities.
> 
> Most the time, military aren't actually in any more jeopardy of
> meeting their maker than an average civilian.  But the chaplains don't
> close up shop.  The still spread the gospel -- usually in a fairly
> low-key, ecumical way -- and hosting bingo parties, donut and coffee
> klatches, spaghetti feeds, and bible studies.
> 
>  Atheists don't need to make amends with God, because they don't
> > believe in one.
> 
> Correct.  But their freedom to commingle still shouldn't be curtailed,
> which is what the lawsuit was ultimately about.  Stop atheists from
> commingling, and next they will stop Mormons, Seven Day Adventists,
> Jehovah's Witnesses, and members of any minority belief system that
> the status quo regard with suspicion or distaste.
> 
> As a non-theist, I know how comforting it can be to associate with
> others of my kind, especially when struggling in a high stress
> environment.  When I was sitting in Taif, Saudi Arabia, far from my
> wife and children, uncertain when, or if, I would return, fellowship
> would have been nice.
> 
> Did you know that there were many converts to Islam during Desert
> Storm and Desert Shield?  A few of the converts were white, but most
> were black.  Standing in line at the chow hall, waiting for my portion
> of forbidden pork, suddenly the black airman who had eaten pork  on
> Monday wasn't eating it on Tuesday.  Surreptitious prayer mats
> appeared.  This was pre-9/11, but Islam was even then perceived with
> alarm by many of the Christian community on Taif.  Still, atheists
> were a lower species.
> 
> Some people are non-theists for the wrong reasons.  Some become
> non-theists out of anger, out of petulance, or out of the desire to
> shock.  Quite  a few, however, become non-theists after a long
> struggle, and end up as non-theists as prisoners of their own
> conscience.  These people don't adopt non-theism casually, any more
> than most people would take on leprosy casually.
> 
> So the fellowship of one's peers is arguably doubly important to a
> non-believer.  We are in a hostile environment regardless of our
> physical location.   There is hyperbole involved here, but not much.
> 
> Three cheers to Spc. Jeremy Hall for standing up for me, and others
> like me.  I count him as a "true" American, who understands what he
> has sworn to protect from firsthand experience.
> 
> Chas
> 
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"People who ridicule others while hiding behind anonymous monikers in chat-
room forums are neither brave nor clever." 

- Latah County Sheriff Wayne Rausch (August 21,
2007)

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