1. Army to EO Reps: 'Discrimination Against Atheists OK'

Comment #36320 by WTOC on April 30, 2007 at 11:07 pm

I retired from the Army in 2004. I knew LTG Blum before he became the Chief of the National Guard Bureau (NGB), where I had worked since 1997. Like most senior military officers, he became increasingly politically correct while rising in rank. I too found the comments he made last year quite offensive, although I do not believe it was intentionally delivered as so. The directors and Chief of the NGB) all have speech writers. LTG Blum was speaking to a group of African American military members, thus using religion as a common thread to communicate effectively. Like it or not, this was the case.

I would like to share some my experiences as an atheist officer at the National Guard Bureau. Firstly, I was rather outspoken about it during my final three years, to the point that I displayed a Darwin fish emblem and a Thomas Jefferson quote in my cubical. Indeed I was the exception and not the rule. Most, choose to keep their non-belief hidden then face biased scrutiny.

Both my bosses, a lieutenant colonel and colonel, respected my views. In fact, when we had our annual holiday party, there were no prayers offered before the meal. I believe that I had something to do with this.

One of my previous bosses is now a colonel. I used to debate with him when the issue of a god arose and he would always deault to his ID view and my inability to disprove an exsistence. Strangely, he also held the belief that the violence in the Middle East has nothing to do with religion.

My most memorable experience was with a ranking colleaugue who passionately spoke about his belief in the christian god. When I shifted the conversation to the fact that his viewpoint was devisive and caused non-believers to feel separate, he responded by stating, "This is a democracy. Christians are the majority. If they don't like it, they can leave (the US)." So much for a West Point education...

William

2. Street Evangelist Saves 300 Souls From Enjoying Park

Comment #33819 by WTOC on April 22, 2007 at 2:22 am

Hey, folks! The Onion is satirical humor. Entertaining indeed; but not serious journalism.