Christianity Today recently cited December 2014 DoD statistics to state that atheists outnumber Southern Baptists in the US military:

According the latest Department of Defense statistics on religion, there were 12,360 Southern Baptists among the US military’s 1.3 million members on active duty as of December 2014. There were also 12,764 atheists—an advantage of 404 over Southern Baptists.

By contrast, Southern Baptists outnumbered atheists by about 10,000 in 2009, with 16,975 Southern Baptists and only 6,702 atheists on active duty.

In contrast with prior stories on “religious hostility” in the military, using historical data columnist Bob Smietana also said there was no evidence of a “mass exodus” of Christians from the military:  

The Pentagon’s numbers show a slight decline in the percentage of Christians in the military over the past six years, from 71.2 percent in March 2009 to 69.8 percent in December 2014, but no mass exodus.

Notably, while “Southern Baptists” have decreased, in keeping with the American social trend, the number of “non-denominational” Christians increased:

Roman Catholics (down from 285,763 to 246,968) and Nones (down from 281,710 to 267,479) both declined, while non-denominational Christians (up from 262,646 to 345,888) grew.

The article does (perhaps ignorantly) make a false correlation about denomination and the chaplaincy:

While the number of Southern Baptists declined overall, the number of Southern Baptist chaplains remained stable…

That comparison is likely factually correct, but it is also irrelevant. The military hires chaplains from volunteers. Generally, though not exclusively, the military recruits chaplains from Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, and one or two other minority faiths. (The Air Force apparently also actively recruits “LGBT friendly” chaplains.) The military does not hire chaplains based on their denomination, Southern Baptist or otherwise.

The false correlation continues in the discussion about atheists:

Despite the growth in the number of atheists, there remain no atheist or humanist chaplains.

Many, though not all, atheists claim to be non-religious. Thus, regardless of the number present in the military, it would make no sense for there to be a “non-religious” chaplain — though Jason Heap has sued the Navy to do just that.

ADVERTISEMENT