Though an outcry over a Christian concert event at Fort Bragg inspired a demand for a non-religious equivalent, it turns out the US military has been quietly slipping non-religious events onto military bases for some time.

Mollie Gross, a comedienne and former military wife, recently visited Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC, to bring a little humor home.

“A lot of different comedians and musicians go overseas to support our troops,” she added. “I wanted to entertain the women here in the states who are serving by supporting their husbands. They serve with pride. I’m proud of my fellow wives, and I hope the men who attend walk out with a sense of pride in their wives and say ‘I’m proud of my wife and what she goes through.'”

Gross finished the night signing copies of her book ‘Confessions of a Military Wife’ and continued to push her fellow military wives to keep going and to live by her motto – “semper feisty.”

Gross reportedly spoke on deployments, in-laws, and the common events of military wives left behind — like things starting to break right after their husband deploys — but not religion.

Likewise, while some have complained non-religious groups cannot meet on military facilities, a local group at Camp Lejeune non only meets on the base, they’re sponsored through the local MWR:

Chess players aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune have many opportunities to play the game through the Single Marine Program’s annual chess season…

Not only are the Marines actively supported in this non-religious program, there’s even a service-wide group designed just for them:

“One of the things we’re trying to do with the base championship is find Marines that might be interested in the All-Marine Chess Team so that we can get them prepared to submit a resume and get them on the team,” said Sara Walsh, an activities programmer with the Single Marine Program aboard the base.

These are just two recent examples, but it turns out non-religious events occur with regularity, and are in fact far more frequent than equivalent sectarian events.  Members of the military were even given the day off for the Super Bowl.  General officers even went so far as to post official videos expressing their personal preferences about the game.  Notably, no one has come forward saying they prefer the PGA, or favored the other team, and therefore feel like “second-class citizens” or believe they are victims of institutional “coercion” over the Super Bowl.

It seems insinuations about religious favoritism may be overblown…not that it was ever really in doubt.