[Vision2020] Atheistic Soldier Files Suit

[Tom Hansen]

>From the Army Times -

-------------------------------------------------

Atheistic soldier files suit

Fort Riley spc. says he is being harassed for lack of faith 
By John Milburn - The Associated Press
Posted : May 12, 2008

Like hundreds of young men joining the Army in recent years, Spc. Jeremy 
Hall professes a desire to serve his country while it fights terrorism. 

But now stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., he is at the center of a legal 
controversy. He has filed a lawsuit alleging he’s being harassed and that 
his constitutional rights have been violated because he doesn’t believe in 
God. The suit names Defense Secretary Robert Gates. 

“I’m not in it for cash,” Hall said. “I want no one else to go what I went 
through.” 

Known as “the atheist guy,” Hall has been called immoral, a devil 
worshipper and — just as severe to some soldiers — gay, none of which, he 
says, is true. Hall even drove fellow soldiers to church in Iraq and 
paused while they prayed before meals. 

“I see a name and rank and United States flag on their shoulder. That’s 
what I believe everyone else should see,” he said. 

Hall, 23, was raised in a Protestant family in North Carolina and dropped 
out of school before earning his GED. It wasn’t until after he joined the 
Army that he began questioning religion, eventually deciding he couldn’t 
follow any faith. 

But he feared how that would look to other soldiers. 

“I was ashamed to say that I was an atheist,” Hall said. 

It eventually came out in Iraq in 2007, when he was in a firefight. Hall 
was a gunner on a Humvee, which took several bullets in its protective 
shield. Afterward, Hall said, his commander asked whether he believed in 
God. 

“I said, ‘No, but I believe in Plexiglas,’” Hall said. “I’ve never 
believed I was going to a happy place. You get one life. When I die, I’m 
worm food.” 

The issue came to a head when, according to Hall, a superior officer, Maj. 
Freddy J. Welborn, threatened to bring charges against him for trying to 
hold a meeting of atheists in Iraq. Welborn has denied Hall’s allegations. 

Hall said he had had enough but feared he wouldn’t get support from 
Welborn’s superiors. He turned to Mikey Weinstein and the Military 
Religious Freedom Foundation. 

Weinstein is the foundation’s president and a graduate of the Air Force 
Academy. He had previously sued the Air Force for acts he said illegally 
imposed Christianity on students at the academy, though that case was 
dismissed. He calls Hall a hero. 

“The average American doesn’t have enough intestinal fortitude to tell 
someone to shut up if they are talking in a movie theater,” Weinstein 
said. “You know how hard it is to take on your chain of command? This 
isn’t the shift manager at KFC.” 

Hall was in Qatar when the lawsuit was filed on Sept. 18 in federal court 
in Kansas City, Kan. Other soldiers learned of it and he feared for his 
own safety. Once, Hall said, a group of soldiers followed him, harassing 
him, but no one did anything to make it stop. 

The Army told him it couldn’t protect him and sent him back to Fort Riley. 
He resumed duties with a military police battalion. He believes his 
promotion to sergeant has been blocked because of his lawsuit, but he is a 
team leader responsible for two junior enlisted soldiers. 

No one with Fort Riley, the Army or Defense Department would comment about 
Hall or the lawsuit. Each issued statements saying that discrimination 
will not be tolerated regardless of race, religion or gender. 

“The Department respects (and supports by its policy) the rights of others 
to their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs,” 
said Eileen Lainez, a spokeswoman for the Defense Department. 

All three organizations said existing systems help soldiers “address and 
resolve any perceived unfair treatment.” 

Lt. Col. David Shurtleff, a Fort Riley chaplain, declined to discuss 
Hall’s case but said chaplains accommodate all faiths as best they can. In 
most cases, religious issues can be worked out without jeopardizing 
military operations. 

“When you’re in Afghanistan and an [improvised explosive device] blows up 
a Humvee, they aren’t asking about a wounded soldier’s faith,” Shurtleff 
said. 

Hall said he enjoys being a team leader but has been told that having 
faith would make him a better leader. 

“I will take care of my soldiers. Nowhere does it say I have to pray with 
my soldiers, but I do have to make sure my soldiers’ religious needs are 
met,” he said. 

“I hope this doesn’t define me,” Hall said of his lawsuit. “It’s just 
about time somebody said something.” 

-------------------------------------------------

Pro patria, 

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the 
tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

-- Adlai E. Stevenson,
Jr.

---------------------------------------------
This message was sent by First Step Internet.
           http://www.fsr.com/