By John Milburn - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 19, 2007 9:59:44 EDT
FORT RILEY, Kan. — An Army soldier who unsuccessfully tried to hold a meeting for atheists and other non-Christians is suing Defense Secretary Robert Gates and an Army major, saying his right to religious freedom was violated.The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court alleges a pattern of practices that discriminate against non-Christians in the military.
According to the filing, Spc. Jeremy Hall received permission to distribute flyers around his base in Iraq for a meeting of atheists and non-Christians. When he tried to convene the meeting, Hall said, Maj. Paul Welborne stepped in, threatening to file military charges against Hall and block his re-enlistment.
Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which is helping with the lawsuit, said it is the first of many to come.
“We’re going to expose the pernicious practice and pattern of these massive violations of the Constitution,” Weinstein said. “That we had to go to this extent is just a heinous disgrace that defies any possible explanation.”
Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a spokesman for the Defense Department, said he was not aware of the lawsuit but that the military places a “high value” on the right of military personnel to practice their faith.
“It is DoD policy that requests for accommodation of religious practices should be approved by commanders when accommodation will not have an adverse impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, standards or discipline,” Withington said.
The lawsuit claims Hall was forced to “submit to a religious test as a qualification to his post as a soldier.” Hall and the foundation are asking the court to block Welborne from establishing “compulsory religious practices” and order Gates to prevent Welborne from interfering with Hall’s free speech rights.
Since its founding in 2005, the foundation has received nearly 6,000 calls from men and women in the military raising concerns about violations of religious freedom, Weinstein said. Most of the calls, he said, were Christians concerned about coercion from superior officers trying to push their beliefs.
Just in case you were wondering, freedom isn’t free and it certainly believes in Gawd. His price? Curtailing atheist rights, of course. Because, that’s nothing like what they do in say, the Taleban.
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Miltary and American cultural corruption
Yes… all if this and more from the relatives and personnel of the new American Armies… services.
And really these same people like to carry out vendettas against US citizens who speak or capture their behavior as they attempt to do things like avenge the suicide of a young cacausion American internet cracker/hacker who had assisted them in the early days of the Bush revolution and who was so upset that his favorite pirate site Bubbazennti.org was crashed in a panic of fear and confusion that then Jesus has determined that someone should pay for his suicide over software and access. Yes/ the true defenders of the chidren are always looking to expand mafia like influence over any range of issues and to use military or governmental resources illegally to
achieve those aims of harassment and entrapment.
As for the suicide of the young cracker mentioned
then I can only think that it is simply unfortuntate that adults would attempt to cover for such an individual who made his own decision
as granted to him by God.
America is truly in chaos of culture race and religion with no solid reasoning in sight for the time being.
Somehow it is clear that the only clear voice of reason is not from any religion of any country.
r.k.j. 2007 all rights reserved