In a revealing outcry, many “non-religious” persons have criticized the vote by the US House to prevent non-religious personnel from becoming chaplains.

In that vein, atheist Jason Torpy has tried to promote the premise that the Defense Appropriations amendment proposed by US Rep John Fleming (R-La) didn’t actually do anything, demonstrating the “ignorance” of the Congressman.

“The [amendment] only requires adherence to the applicable instruction, which in no way restricts chaplains to only those who believe in some higher power,” he said. “Their amendment does nothing…It just shows their ignorance about atheists, humanists, and military regulations.”

Actually, Torpy’s statement demonstrates his ignorance.  The clear language of the amendment indicates it wasn’t written to restrict chaplains to “those who believe in a higher power.”  Torpy simply erected a straw man.  What it was intended to do was prevent non-religious personnel from entering the religious field of the chaplaincy — and that it clearly does.  The amendment simply requires the DoD to continue Read more