On 6/18/2011 6:59 AM, Pete Theisen wrote: > But the rules specify that the chaplain be from a "faith group", or at > least the article says this. How do non-believers form a "faith group"? > > If you accuse an atheist of "faith" on this list he gets angry. There > was that "not collecting stamps" analogy some time ago, if you recall it.
Hi, Pete The problem is that the "rules" were written by people who, probably with all good intentions, assumed that everyone had a religion, and thus worded their rules accordingly. The women's lib problem with words like "chairman" and "one man, one vote" is the same thing. There have been problems at several military posts with high-level officers using their authority to promote their particular flavor of religion, specifically at the Air Force Academy several years ago where cadets were pressured to join an evangelist sect (I forget which one). I doubt if many civilian atheists want or need a "chaplain", but the minority of non-believers in the military feel they need some defense from the pressure by officers to conform. And all of us need a world in which "none" is an acceptable answer to "which religion?" Dan _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
