Jason Torpy, the perpetually (and vicariously) offended atheist and former US Army Captain, complained last week that a US Army Air Assault graduation ceremony included a prayer:

MAAF has obtained a video showing enforced Christian prayer at Air Assault training at Ft Campbell. Trainees are directed to bow their head to graduation prayer and to give a response that sounds like “Amen”.

The 36-second prayer is in the video above.

Torpy complained that a vaguely-identified “leader” told ‘someone’ they would have to bow their heads and then either say “amen” or “hey man.”  Given the ambiguity and lack of structure in that description, it appears to have been a low-level supervisor explaining ‘how the formation is going to go,’ not an Army policy or direction on religion in a formation.  This point is made more likely by the fact Torpy does not assert anyone was punished for protesting or for failing to either bow their head or say something — while its perfectly clear from the video that only a small number responded with ‘something that sounded like “amen.”‘

It is also worth noting that Torpy says

several local MAAF members of [sic] spoken up to complain about this practice.

Note he doesn’t say any trainees (or any other participants in the formation, for that matter) took issue with it. Further, Torpy said those local MAAF members laughed it off and ignored it: it appears as though Torpy was really the only one who was offended, graciously on behalf of everyone else.

The complaint made a slight ripple, with TheBlaze picking up the story and asking the Army about it. The Army appeared unconcerned [emphasis added]:

A spokesperson for the U.S. Army responded to an atheist activist’s complaint over a prayer that was uttered during a graduation ceremony on Tuesday at the United States Army Air Assault School on the grounds of Fort Campbell in Kentucky, saying that invocations are prevalent across the Army, but that trainees are not required to participate.

“Graduates are not required to bow their heads in prayer or say ‘amen,’” Army spokeswoman Tatjana Christian told TheBlaze…

“The rights of those who do not wish to participate are always respected,” she said.

In other words, there was no substance to Torpy’s complaint.

Never one to let the facts get in the way of his agenda, Torpy linked to the TheBlaze article and still managed to claim victory [emphasis added]:

An Army spokesperson has reported the mandatory prayer participation policy has been overturned and there is no requirement to bow heads or be heard to say Amen…

Read the Army statement again. At what point did anyone say a policy had changed, much less been “overturned”? There was no policy to overturn, and the complaint had no merit. Torpy is claiming credit for “overturning” something that didn’t exist.

Torpy’s overwrought angst was also revealed in how he characterized the prayer — which was benignly worded and made no reference to any specific religion, save a recitation from Isaiah and the word “Amen” at the end.  His first quote in TheBlaze [emphasis added]:

It’s very obviously a Christian prayer…

In his own write-up of the event [emphasis added]:

MAAF has obtained a video showing enforced Christian prayer…

The video below shows a prayer that is explicitly Christian with a quote from Isaiah…

This is Christian-specific, mandatory, and requires participation…

With graduation prayer, Christians are given special privilege and those who are not Christian are expected to appear as if they are participating in the prayer…

This is second-class citizenship for non-Christians…

To be clear, Jason Torpy thinks quoting Isaiah — which is in both Jewish and Christian religious texts — and saying “amen” makes non-Christians “second-class citizens.” It would seem Torpy has a thing about Christians.

And that’s where Torpy shot himself in the foot. It’s very likely that Torpy would have many allies if he’d simply objected to the (alleged) Army requirement that soldiers make the appearance, even if insincere, of physical or audible supplication to a prayer. No one wants Soldiers to be forced to participate in a prayer, regardless of their religious beliefs.

(Still, if you think bowing your head is bad, how about the US Marine unit that was required to kneel for a blessing?)

The first problem is that no such Army requirement existed, so Torpy categorically blamed the institution of the Army without cause.

The second problem is that Torpy made this about Christians, when Christianity is ultimately irrelevant to his complaint. Even Torpy acknowledges this now, and likely realizes the damage he did to himself by venting his angst about Christianity.

Assuming the worst of this incident, it sounds as if some low-level instructor communicated an unenforced practice about the flow of the graduation ceremony. If anyone was actually offended by having to go through this — as even MAAF “members” were not — they could easily have communicated this to the course’s leadership through a variety of means, many of which are anonymous, including the local MAAF, which Torpy claims has a strong presence.

The third problem, though, is that even MAAF members weren’t offended enough to actually do or say anything about it. It was just Jason Torpy. Most people didn’t say “rah-men,” nor did they care if their chin was lowered while the chaplain did his thing.

But, Jason, you’re right. No member of the military should be required to physically or audibly make it seem they are participating in a prayer. But that doesn’t seem to have been the case here, and this certainly had nothing to do with your personal pet peeve with Christianity.

Sensitivity to the protection of religious liberty isn’t necessarily a bad thing, except maybe when you see a Christian conspiracy around every corner.

Also at the Christian Examiner.

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