Atheist Soldier Refuses to Bow Head During Prayer

US Army SFC Dennis Dutton recently came to the MRFF for…help?…after this happened during his graduation from Abrahms Tank Maintainer school at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 2012:

In case you missed it:  He’s the one on the stage who didn’t bow his head.

Said Dutton:

Apparently, it is a point of pride that he has “never bowed” for prayer.  Fair enough.  And, apparently, nothing happened.  No one cared or even noticed, for that matter.  (Nor did anyone say anything about the kid who looks like he’s checking out his watch in the same picture.)

All this from a US military Michael Weinstein claims is overtly and coercively fundamentalist Christian, persecuting those who step out of line.  (Atheist Jason Torpy did make a point of saying the person praying was “pushing his beliefs on others,” though he declined to say how he was doing so.)

So why did Dutton make a show of this non-event?

Perhaps it was for the same reason US Army dentist, Capt Miles Cone, did last year.  There may be a feeling by some that they should be experiencing persecution; after all, Michael Weinstein is repeatedly telling them they’re being persecuted.  If they don’t feel persecuted, they may actually feel disappointed.

The original photo is on the E 3-81 Facebook page under 12-009A graduation.

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