I am a United States Army Captain. On a spring day at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York several years ago, I took a solemn oath to support and defend the United States Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic as an officer in the United States Army. I took a legally altered oath which omitted the words "So Help Me G-d." When I submitted my first signed copy, with those words neatly crossed out and initialed, I was informed that it was not valid. When threatened with the prospect of not graduating and being refused a Commission, I stood by my refusal to sign the Oath as it read. I could not in good conscience do so because I was deeply disturbed by fusion of religion and military service. I could not reconcile the suspicion that the Oath itself was establishing religion in a way which contradicted the spirit of the Constitution with the intensity of my commitment to defend same. I believed, and still believe, that my personal metaphysical experience of the universe must be separate from my role as a military professional. In the passing years, I have come to the unsettling conclusion that the sentiment in the Oath which so disturbed me is a practical reality in my United States Army.

Based on my alteration of The Oath, you may be tempted to label me "non-religious." I find this odd, because religion has broadly influenced my life and values. I was born into a mixed Jewish and Catholic family. The family I belong to now is mixed Buddhist and Agnostic. I attended Catholic high school where I excelled in my religious studies. I was one of a literal fistful of non-Christian students voluntarily attending a religious institution, and I never once felt pressure to conform. In our mandatory religious classes we studied Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, and Quaker, Mormon, Jewish, Protestant, Wiccan, and other religions and we were taught that mere "tolerance" was abhorrent and basic "acceptance" was the absolute minimum standard. I learned during my second semester as a Plebe (freshman) at West Point that even lowly tolerance is a privilege not to be bestowed on all Soldiers in the United States Army.

During my second year at the West Point, my Squad Leader for summer training expressed disapproval on numerous occasions with my being Jewish, and, during one mission, he grabbed my MRE (a military meal) as we sat down for lunch and handed me another. He ordered me to eat the pork chop and I reminded him that I refrain from pork for religious reasons. He told me that I could eat the pork or eat nothing. One of his peers, a female Jewish cadet, urged me to obey him and not to make him angry; I declined. The next day, my cadet Platoon Leader presented me with a written counseling statement detailing my signs of "anorexia" and a "troubling" refusal to eat which was detrimental to my health and indicative of "incapacity for leadership." I was filled with righteous indignation. I went through the Cadet and Commissioned Chain of Command and my rebuttal culminated with a conversation with the Active Duty Major in command of the summer training. When I explained the events in detail, he told me that my Cadet Chain of Command was right to be concerned, and spoke words I will never forget: "the Army is not in the business of catering to people like you." Those words have haunted me throughout my career as an Officer. They were the turning point for me--when I finally understood the message several of my leaders had been expressing to me all along: the Army has no place for people like me: dissidents who stray from the unofficially mandated military religion; conservative fundamentalist Christianity.

Throughout my service, I have been inundated by reminders of the tenacity of this "Army Religion". On a regular basis, I am confronted with being forced/coerced to partake in involuntary prayer. At change of command ceremonies, promotions, retirements, banquets, mandatory Officer/NCO call, the list goes on. What do I do when this happens? I see no reason why I should have to bow my head to participate in this involuntary prayer. But if I stand at attention, I am still showing that I am subject to religion in my professional duties. I have discovered that any other movements or fidgeting are viewed as disrespectful to those who wish to pray. Army leaders send the message out that prayer is voluntary, and that Soldiers do not have to participate. As a Platoon Leader serving in Iraq, my Squad Leaders and I were ordered to attend a mission briefing with the Battalion Command Team's security squad. The briefing concluded with a Soldier being ordered to lead the group in prayer. I was disturbed because I knew that there were Soldiers on this team who did not share the specific, sectarian Christian religious beliefs being expressed. I was standing at the edge of the formation, and chose to quietly walk away. I was later counseled by my Commander and informed that the Battalion Command Team had heard of the incident and recommended I be relieved from my duties as Platoon Leader. My Commander explained that, by not bowing my head in blatantly Christian prayer with the others, I was sending a message that I "want my Soldiers to die." These words penetrated my core. What leader can imagine a worse accusation? Who wouldn't doubt herself or himself when confronted with this message? The threat of being relieved was completely overshadowed and, again, I was an outsider, incapable of leadership because I refused this unconstitutional perversion of Christianity synonymous with the Command.Could I not, would I not be an effective combat ready officer/leader/warrior without first very publicly and repeatedly demonstrating my singular loyalty to Jesus Christ? Could I not lead brave military women and men into combat for my country without being an avowed fundamentalist Christian? I stopped practicing my own religion; I disassociated myself from Soldiers who were similarly persecuted; I lost hope.

Who can you talk to about something like this? Certainly not my Chain of Command- my immediate supervisor/rater and senior supervisor/rater had threatened to relieve me. Obviously my counseling statement wouldn't address mandatory prayer, but what did it matter what it said if both my rater and senior rater agreed I was "unfit" and there were no other Officers who I worked with or around? I later contacted the Equal Opportunity Office to make an official anonymous report about the noxious, compulsive Christian, command climate. Shockingly, the NCO I filed the report with wasted no time in contacting my Battalion Commander directly, in complete violation of the privacy regulations and guarantees of protective anonymity attendant to such hyper-sensitive filings. I later became a member of an Installation Inspector General Team and observed firsthand the impotent, incapacity of the IG to affect any meaningful change. The difference between lower enlisted Soldiers and myself is this: they suspect that they have nowhere to turn in order to escape this unbearable religious persecution--in contrast, as an officer, I do not suspect. I know.

Looking back over all my time in the Army and at the United States Military Academy at West Point, I know that there were so many good memories, so many wonderful opportunities, and so many outstanding leaders of character I met along the way. Yet, the time is painfully tainted for me by a long shadow of bitter religious persecution by zealously righteous Christians essentially universally extant throughout the United States Army command structure.What has most surprised me about this struggle is how utterly powerless I am as a Captain- a Command level Officer- to stand up for my rights and for the Constitution and Country I love. I am a great Soldier, a great leader, and a great person, and I am a victim. It is not comfortable to admit one is a victim; I believe that admitting it takes a certain type of personal strength. The first day I met my current military superior/rater, he was playing Christian gospel music in his office while he called me in to talk. Perhaps it was an innocent oversight on his part, or perhaps it is another hint of the sinister nature of the current "Army Religion". There is no safe way to find out. My experiences have shown that the inundation of invitations for fundamentalist Christian prayer and fellowship, "spiritual growth" and "moral development" that target fellow Soldiers tends to thinly mask an undeniable and comprehensive underlying propensity for aggression, hatred, and ambition to subjugate the United States Army to an official religion; fundamentalist Christianity. The result for the American military is a total destruction of esprit de corps, teamwork, morale, good order and discipline. The result for the fundamentalist Islamic enemies we fight is an immeasurable bonanza of emboldenment for their recruitment, propoganda and insurgency efforts to maim and kill our soldiers down range in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was there. I saw it. I lived it. I am still living it.

When Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation describe this catastrophe of fundamentalist Christian usurpation of the command and control of our armed forces as a "national security threat of the gravest magnitude", they are precisely correct. It is injuring and killing our brave military members, specifically. It is desecrating the magnificent Constitution we swore an oath to, generally. And it is destroying our military's solidarity of purpose and ability to accomplish The Mission, completely.

http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/08...ence_in_our.php

as if you give 2 shits about the military, much less the constitution.

Stupid story. You are not governed by the Constitution and Federal law when you join the military but the UCMJ. He has no say in this matter.

:rolleyes:

but it gives him the oppotunity to be just as intolerant as the people hes trying to mock......

You dont give up your Constitutional rights just because you join the military. There's nothing in the UCMJ that would compel anyone to go against his/her religion. Men and women in the military are required to follow LAWFUL orders not any order. It isnt lawful for me to order someone of lesser rank to be a Christian, Jew, or Muslim anymore than I can order them to shoot someone in cold blood.


That being said I dont see how saying "so help me God" establishes a religion. If it said so help me Christ or so help me God of X religion that would be one thing but it doesnt. As an aside there is no requirement to say that portion of the oath anymore. It's up to the individual.

Having gone back and read this entire article, this guy is a baby. So some guy was playing gospel music in his office. So someone invited him to their church or fellowship. Who fucking cares? No shit the majority of Soldiers are Christian, the majority of US citizens are too. I bet if you go to Israel the majority of soldiers there are wait for it...... Jewish. AHHHH.

I've been to hundreds of ceremonies, and some have had a prayer some not, all of them that did were non specific religiously speaking. I've met, catholic, jewish, baptist, muslim, lutheran, and numerous other chaplains. This guy is writing fiction, plain and simple.

Forcing people to swear to a being they don't believe in is just as much of an infringement as making a Christian swear to Shiva.

Shiva is the god of death. Shiva is pretty bad-assed.

Yes you do.

You give up the right to free speech and demonstration for one thing.

Search and seizure doesn't apply.

Adultery is actually prosecuted in the military.

The military are governed by a whole different set of rules and regulations in the UCMJ.

Like it or not. People need to understand that the military is a Christian institution.

You either sign the papers or bye bye. You have no right to change anything.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States..._Oath_of_Office



Not the section which says saying "So help me God" is optional.

No no you dont you moron. Are you in the military or have you ever served in the military above the rank of E-5? A lot civilians and junior troops believe that kind of shit but it is patently untrue. Just because you are bound by the UCMJ doesnt mean your Constitutional rights aren't protected.

You can participate in demonstrations you just cant do it in uniform or represent your service while doing so.

Seach and seizure does apply. Jeez are you really this uninformed? You need a warrant signed by the Commanding Officer who better have good reason or any evidence will get thrown out in a courts martial.

Yes the military is governed by a slightly more strict set of rules with regards to respect and obedience to orders and that sort of thing but the UCMJ isnt really that different from most Federal and State law.

The military services are anything but "Christian institutions". There''s far more sinful shit going on in the military than anywhere else I've ever seen.

Yeah, no, I get that. I was responding to your question as a hypothetical.

















Oh, and... FIXED. ;)

:blink: Yikes.

I'm agnostic myself but that's just the way it is. Especially in the infantry.

I served past E-5, got out after 8 years as an E-6, and have been around the military since 1990.

1. You are not bound to say "so help me god" yes, but you can not cross it out on your oath. He doesn't have a leg to stand on.

2. You can NOT participate in demonstrations against your govt. Sure you can go join the gay parade out of uniform but if you're seen at an anti-war demonstration and such you'll probably lose a stripe and pay.

3. Search and siezure does NOT apply. Especially in barracks or on a ship. Even in base housing. I was part of a team who helped detain a guy in a domestic abuse case, searched the house for weapons, all with out any warrent or civilian say. This was in base housing and no warrent was signed by the CO. We just had his say. Paperwork was filled out later.

4. The UCMJ is quite a bit different from Federal law enforcement. When was the last time you saw someone lose pay or go to the brig for adultury or fraternization in the civilian world. How about losing pay due to getting a severe sunburn. Or even a stripe or losing there job due to getting a tattoo that can not be covered.

5. Yes, the US military works as a Christian institution. Sure there are exceptions and I'm not saying everying is perfect (I'm agnostic) but in infantry especially you'll see a lot of Christian values and mantra.

Please don't throw around the word moron when you don't know what you're talking about. :logik:

So then, the military is not for all Americans, there's no equality, and all non-Christians should tell recruiters to go f*ck themselves, and refuse to pay taxes to support this bigoted and discriminatory organization? Especially considering the entire history of the fusion of religion and militarism...

Basically, if what you say is true, than the only sensible thing to do would be to de-fund and disband our entire military, unless it were possible to purge it of dangerous religious fanatics. A military that views itself as an institution of religion absolutely cannot be tolerated in a free society. Standing armies of any kind are a dire threat to a free society, never mind one that has been poisoned with religious fanaticism.

(Although, based on anything anyone I've ever know who has been in the military has said, I don't think that IS true, I think that's one of the dumbest things you've ever said here.)

I hear what you're saying and I guess saying it is a religious institution is going a bit far. I just noticed a distinct Religious overtone, especially among infantry, while in the military. Especially in boot camp and such. So yeah, I guess I mis-worded what I meant. It's not like they force it down your throat or try to indoctrinate you.

yeah they'd be better off if they were a bunch of spaced out, america hating meth heads bitching about how tough things are via a keyboard and a dial up connection

LOL Bootcamp? religious services in Bootcamp were used by recruits to get away from the Drill Instructors. It was a place where you could go for an hour and not fear someone screaming and yelling at you or putting you in the pit.

The fact that a majority of the people in your unit were Christians doesnt make the institution a religious one.

What are you talking about? Were YOU in the military? Had nothing to do with escaping, you go to church. That's how it was. You didn't have a choice except for Catholic or Protestent.

As for my unit. lol Been around many a unit, brigade, squadron, etc. and it was all the same.

Did you serve because it sounds like you don't have a clue.

Religion was huge expecially those who saw combat. Fact...

15 years and counting in the USMC. Currently a GySgt. My wife who literally laughed out loud when I told her about this thread, has 11 years and is a Warrant Officer. Another Gunny I work with with 16 years in thinks you're an idiot, and the Major with almost 20 has never seen anything close to what you are talking about.

So totaled up I've got 60 some odd years of experience in the military vs your 5 who think you are completely full of shit.