Sound The Trumpet : Nonbelievers Push for Role As U.S. Military Chaplains

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“Nonbelievers Push for Role As U.S. Military Chaplains”
by Rianovosti
June 13th, 2013

References to God and country have long been a part of the US military, dating back to the days of the founding fathers. There’s even a popular old saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. But maybe there are.

Atheists – or “humanists,” as they are sometimes called – say in fact there are plenty of nonbelievers in the military and argue they deserve the same system of support as those with theist religious affiliation. They are pushing for an idea that sounds like an oxymoron, something that seems impossible by definition: the right to have atheist chaplains serving in the US military.

“I have three humanist chaplains who are applying for chaplain positions in the military, and I shouldn’t have to tell them that because of their beliefs they can’t serve in the way they want to,” said Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF), a nonprofit organization that says it is working to build a community of nonbelievers in the US military.

Torpy and others point to the tangible signs of support – like a place to congregate, regular meetings, and the distribution of informational materials – which they say should be afforded to nonbelievers just like they are to Catholics, Baptists and services members from a wide variety of religious backgrounds.

“People agree with Mormon, Jewish and Muslim chaplains, and there are more humanists in the military than Muslims, so nobody can say this doesn’t affect enough people,” Torpy told RIA Novosti, adding that there are so many nonbelievers in the military that with no way to assimilate, “it’s like being all alone in a crowd.”

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