I am tired of being in a meeting or brief which includes a prayer. I do not lower my head and I stand there frustrated as they beg the support and protection of God and end in Jeebus' name. This is all too often a feature of any command I report to, and I am getting sick of it.
Anyone else out there in the same boat?
How do you handle it?
Tags:
Brent, I don't know which branch you served in, but I served in the US Navy from 1954 thru 1974 and my dog tags always read Atheist. I had my first run in with an old navy chief that told me that I couldn't be an Atheist and I asked him if he believed in his Oath. And from there it went to the part of defending it against ALL enemies foreign and domestic. And to the part about freedom from or of religion. It took all of 5 minutes and they ran my tags through the machine and handed them to me and told me that I would never be issued another pair. Needless to say, I went on liberty and to the Seafarer (across from the USO on Broadway) in San Diego and had 3 new sets made just to insure that the originals would not disappear. I still have a set and one of my originals. The original had my blood type wrong. Found that out on being admitted to the Naval Hospital after a bad ding on my first tin can... The corpsman saw that I was an AB Negative and he became afraid to hook me up until they did a type for sure turned out to be A Positive... They gave me a new set of tags with Atheist on them without any question or static....
I was an Electronics Tech and one of the ones on the fast track for advancement. No one questioned my religion only my abilities and those were exemplary... Only had a problem one time with an E-5 who thought that his religion trumped my non belief, I won and he ended up in the brig for assult, battery, and harassment. Lost his crow and ended up being discharged as a troublemaker. That was back when the Navy was looking out for those who could do their jobs and shit canning those who were lazy or not cutting it. We never had prayers before or after anything. Church call was held on the fantail or the messdecks and those who felt they needed it could attend or not... I never did nor did I ever visit or need a chaplain..
I have no problem with anyone that wants to believe in what ever, as long as they do not try to push those superstitions on me. Religion should personal and private and shouldn't be a part of the military bearing.
Just this old Chief's 2 cents
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