{"id":12864,"date":"2011-09-01T01:45:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-01T06:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=12864"},"modified":"2012-03-16T07:49:28","modified_gmt":"2012-03-16T10:49:28","slug":"military-atheists-seek-benefits-of-theists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/01\/military-atheists-seek-benefits-of-theists\/","title":{"rendered":"Military Atheists Seek Benefits of Theists"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Stars and Stripes <\/em>recently had two articles on atheism in the military, one on atheism at the service academies and one in the military in general.\u00a0 Both were written by reporter Chris Carroll.<\/p>\n

The first, “Atheists groups find doors open to them at service academies<\/a>,” notes that all three primary service academies have groups for “nonbelievers.”\u00a0 The one at the Naval Academy is sponsored by Jewish Chaplain (LtCmdr) Seth Phillips:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe group is no different than any other student group with connections to the outside world,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cThe Baptists are supported by the Baptist Student Union, and some other Christian groups get support from the Navigators. In no way is this group unique, different or specially privileged.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, Chaplain Phillips’ comment makes the most sense with regard to student religious<\/em> groups.\u00a0 Because there is a Constitutional protection of the human liberty of religious freedom, religious groups may have “unique” or “different” treatment than, say, the ski club — for which there is neither Constitutional protection nor a recognized human liberty.<\/p>\n

The second article discusses the presence of atheists in the military in general, saying “Military atheists seeking the rights and benefits offered to religious groups<\/a>” and noting atheist groups have “sprung up” on “bases around the world.”<\/p>\n

Nearly 20 other unofficial atheist fellowship groups have sprung up in recent months on U.S. military installations in the United States and around the world…<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all part of a coordinated effort to bring atheists out of the shadows push for the Department of Defense to give groups that explicitly reject religion the status and First Amendment protections that religious groups have.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Therein lies an interesting issue.\u00a0 The “First Amendment protection” at issue is the one that prohibits Congress from making any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.\u00a0 But is atheism a religion to be “exercised?” Does the Constitution guarantee the free exercise of atheism?\u00a0 Is atheism even a distinct ideology?<\/p>\n

There are logical arguments on both sides of that question.\u00a0 Some say that “non-belief” is a legitimate theological framework deserving of the same protection as belief.\u00a0 From that perspective, atheists are just as worthy of “protection” as theists.\u00a0 Others say that atheists are simply those who do not have religious beliefs, therefore they have no more right to “religious protections” than the chess club or the Toastmasters. Thus, to give atheists the same “rights” as theists is to treat them differently and give them special <\/em>rights.\u00a0 (Is “X” entitled to the same protections as “the absence of X” or “anti-X”?)<\/p>\n

Another point of contention is the motivation behind the movements.\u00a0 When Christian, Jewish, Islamic, etc, groups gather, their stated intent is not solely to counter another faith’s group or to discuss or mock an atheist group.\u00a0 Each faith group has an independent theology allowing them to fellowship together based on their common principles.<\/p>\n

By contrast, atheists have previously indicated, and others have asserted<\/a>, that their whole purpose is to “answer” religion (often, Christianity specifically).\u00a0 Not unlike a child who cannot understand why he doesn’t get a gift on his brother’s birthday, some atheists can’t seem to understand or acknowledge the right of others to have and celebrate their beliefs.\u00a0 Some atheists have made a point of saying they need the freedom to “denigrate” religion<\/a> when they meet together.\u00a0 When military atheists gathered at MacDill AFB<\/a> they had a\u00a0“Left Behind” picnic.\u00a0 Think they would take issue with a Christian “Psalm 14:1” picnic?\u00a0 Despite the claims of some that\u00a0atheists “celebrate reason,” it seems many simply cannot\u00a0exist without responding to —\u00a0most often, mocking —\u00a0religion.<\/p>\n

One of the primary subjects of the Stars and Stripes <\/em>article posted a comment on the article supporting this very idea.\u00a0 In trying to distinguish between atheism and humanism, US Army Captain Ryan Jean said<\/a><\/p>\n

Atheism is a reason-based reply to the claims of the religious<\/em><\/span>…and asserts nothing more than that the burden of proof is on the religious and that we have evaluated it and found it lacking… [emphasis added]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Captain Jean\u00a0eloquently stated that atheism is not an independent ideology; it is a response <\/em>to religion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That doesn’t entitle it to the “benefits” of a religion.\u00a0 The head of the Air Force Chaplaincy spoke fairly clearly on his perspective on the issue:<\/p>\n

Air Force Chief of Chaplains Maj. Gen. Cecil Richardson suggested it\u2019s a contradiction to treat atheism as religion…<\/p>\n

If atheists don\u2019t want to interact with chaplains, there are ways to avoid them, Richardson said…<\/p>\n

“it should be remembered that there are lots of non-faith-based helping agencies in the military,” he said, including family counseling and mental health services. “They are also available to atheists.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chaplain Richardson was also likely alluding to the recent calls for an “atheist Chaplain.”<\/a>\u00a0 Responses to his line of thinking have included the (correct) assertion that only Chaplains have “absolute confidentiality:”<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBut what about the fact when you go to a chaplain for counseling, it\u2019s protected by a higher level of confidentiality than just about anywhere else?\u201d responded Air Force Technical Sgt. Doyle Stricker.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The reason for that confidentiality is, again,\u00a0the free exercise of religion.\u00a0 It is a recognition of the\u00a0relationship between “priest and penitent:” The “penitent” cannot be free to exercise his religious confession, for example, if the “priest” can be compelled to reveal the details of the confession. Atheists already have <\/em>access to that “religious benefit” if they need it.\u00a0 Seeking such access as Chaplains<\/em> would be obtaining a “benefit” predicated solely upon a religious act.<\/p>\n

As an aside, the media still can’t get their story straight<\/a> over “Rock Beyond Belief”:<\/p>\n

The atheism-themed \u201cRock Beyond Belief\u201d concert, was canceled after base officials said it couldn\u2019t be held in the same spacious facilities Rock the Fort had used. They relented after continuing accusations of bias, and the concert is scheduled for March 2012.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The accurate <\/em>characterization is that “Rock Beyond Belief” — not the Army — “relented,” finally raising their own money and dropping their demand that the government (or military Christian congregations) pay for their atheist event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Stars and Stripes recently had two articles on atheism in the military, one on atheism at the service academies and one in the military in general.\u00a0 Both were written by reporter Chris Carroll. The first, “Atheists groups find doors open to them at service academies,” notes that all three primary service academies have groups for “nonbelievers.”\u00a0 The one at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[134,133,88,20,506,5284,2145,82,2148,44,39,2,10,171,2147,2146,473],"class_list":["post-12864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-and-religion","tag-air-force","tag-annapolis","tag-army","tag-atheism","tag-cecil-richardson","tag-chaplain","tag-chris-carroll","tag-constitution","tag-doyle-stricker","tag-islam","tag-jewish","tag-military","tag-religion","tag-religious-freedom","tag-ryan-jean","tag-seth-phillips","tag-usna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}