Another story on it which has two extra points...
Military probes atheist GI’s harassment claims
Quote:
Military officials in Iraq are investigating allegations that an Army specialist is being harassed for being an atheist but said Saturday that they cannot find an officer the soldier has named in a federal lawsuit.
Spc. Jeremy Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit against Maj. Paul Welborne and Defense Secretary Robert Gates in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, this past week. It alleges that Welborne threatened to pursue military charges against Hall and to block his reenlistment because he was trying to hold a meeting of atheists and non-Christians in Iraq.
The suit also alleges that Gates permits a military culture in which officers are encouraged to pressure soldiers to adopt and espouse fundamentalist Christian beliefs.
On Friday, Mikey Weinstein, the foundation's founder and president, released to The Associated Press copies of e-mails from Hall in which the soldier said he had been harassed and threatened on blogs with being killed by friendly fire for filing the lawsuit.
Lt. Col. James Hutton, a spokesman for the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq, said in a statement from Iraq on Saturday that the Army was investigating Hall's situation. But he added: "Several media reports list a person named Maj. Paul Welborne as having been involved in this situation. To date, we have not located any soldier by that name."
In responding to the lawsuit, a Pentagon spokesman said the military does value and respect religious freedoms, but that accommodating religious practices should not interfere with unit cohesion, readiness, standards or discipline.
Hall, who is serving with the 97th Military Police Battalion out of Fort Riley, Kan., has been in Iraq since 2006, on his second tour.
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If the threats are real, those should be punished...But a lawsuit wouldn't be needed...Just as if your neighbor was issuing threats...
But my question is this...
"Was he ESPOUSING anti-religious rhetoric at any time?"...Of course, he wants to come across as being the "low-key guy" that was being harrassed with no provocation, but I'm wondering if that's actually true...If it is, he has a valid point...
But I'm doubtful due to this...
Quote:
The lawsuit names Gates as a defendant and alleges he permits a culture that sanctions activities by Christian organizations, including providing personnel and equipment.
It also says the military permits proselytizing by soldiers, tolerates anti-Semitism, placing of religious symbols on military equipment and allows the use of military e-mail accounts to send religious rhetoric.
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If this lawsuit was about harrassment, he would've never included these in his lawsuit...
Which is making him out to be right up there with people who want "In God We Trust" off of currency...In other words, he's on a mission he instigated knowing he'll be harrassed for speaking out and is now using that as a shield...
And I'm pretty sure we'd all agree that would "interfere with unit cohesion, readiness, standards or discipline"...