A few days ago a Navy atheist took to the internet in search for ideas for a nightly prayer.

The US Navy still performs nightly prayers over the ships’ intercoms, much to the dismay of groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation. It seems one chaplain decided to give the local unit atheist the chance to chime in:

we normally have Chaps read an evening prayer each night. While it doesn’t necessarily bother me to hear the overwhelmingly Christian prayers every. Single. Night. I’d like to change things up a bit. Our chaplain is open to other beliefs, so he’ll accommodate me, as long as what I want read isn’t offensive.

Can someone offer ideas for an atheist substitute for an evening prayer? A little humor is ok (I’m the command joker), but again, nothing offensive or demeaning to the religious.

It’s an interesting situation. On one hand, it’s an interesting tactic by the chaplain to minister to one of his sailors. On the other, it’s clearly not a path the Navy would want to officially endorse, as it would potentially open up the nightly 1MC prayer as a public forum — one which could turn the religious exercise into an inspirational moment of Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.

To his credit, the atheist Sailor — stationed on one of the Navy’s Aegis destroyers — doesn’t appear to be trying to stop his fellow Sailors from their religious exercise.

Maybe there’s hope.

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