The lengths to which the US military will go to protect the free exercise of its troops have been noted here many times before.  From delivering fresh palm fronds at Easter to helping servicemembers build a Sukkah, the military generally does an admirable job of trying to provide religious resources to those it separates from those resources in the call to war.

Recently, the base chapel in Kandahar, Afghanistan, received its first Torah scroll, created in memory of fallen servicemembers.  Chaplain (LtCol) Avi Weiss explains the significance of the scroll:

Capt Rubin at Jews in Green recognized this for the support of religious freedom that it is.

Military atheist Justin Griffith, on the other hand, thought it served as nothing more than a recruiting tool for “Islamic fundamentalists.”

I hope they just remove the video, before some Islamic fundamentalists get a hold of it…yikes! Please take this [expletive] down!…This short video could cause actually cause some battles, or damage international relations.

The video demonstrates religious diversity and the protection of religious liberty within the US military.  That’s something to be celebrated, not hidden, and it is an effective tool in the fight against religious intolerance.

Given the fact atheists want to advertise their presence in the US military, you’d think that would be something an atheist would understand.