Posted on 04/27/2008 10:36:36 AM PDT by tkocur
JUNCTION CITY, KAN. - Like hundreds of young people joining the Army in recent years, Jeremy Hall professes a desire to serve his country while it fights terrorism.
But the short and soft-spoken specialist is at the center of a legal controversy. He has filed a lawsuit alleging he has been harassed and his constitutional rights have been violated because he doesn't believe in God. The suit names Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
"I'm not in it for cash," Hall said. "I want no one else to go through what I went through."
Known as "the atheist guy," Hall has been called immoral, a devil worshipper and -- just as severe to some soldiers -- gay, none of which, he says, is true. Hall even drove fellow soldiers to church in Iraq and paused while they prayed before meals.
"I see a name and rank and United States flag on their shoulder. That's what I believe everyone else should see," he said.
Hall, 23, was raised in a Protestant family in North Carolina and dropped out of school. He then earned his GED. It wasn't until after he joined the Army that he began questioning religion, eventually deciding he couldn't follow any faith.
But he feared how that would look to other soldiers...
(Excerpt) Read more at newsobserver.com ...
it was only a matter of time.
I call BS here.
I knew a number of atheists in the Navy. Nobody paid them any mind at all.
“It eventually came out in Iraq in 2007, when he was in a firefight. Hall was a gunner on a Humvee, which took several bullets in its protective shield. Afterward, his commander asked whether he believed in God, Hall said.
“I said, ‘No, but I believe in Plexiglas.”
Is he suing his family as well? ;-)
I have no idea what the religious preferences were of any of the guys I served with.........
I see $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Unless there was verbal harassment that was condoned by superiors, I don’t see any case. Both religious and non-religious and non-religious have freedom of speech in private time to criticize each other.
I agree.
Funny story, my friend (raised in Jewish household, since became an atheist) had his unit deployed to the Middle East in 06. I asked what he was going to put on his paperwork for religion. We had quite a good time laughing about and eventually he concluded that either way he was dead if captured so it didn’t matter.
Agreed. B.S. to the degree of the Scopes Monkey Trial teacher being a so called “victim” and turning out to be simply a major player in the atheist/marxist/darwinist movement
It is posted on CNN.com as well.....which also screams leftist.
I don’t believe it for a minute. Most of the guys I served with had No Pref on their dogtags. Including me.
This is only for a brief time. After this life there won’t be any atheists.
Guys like this give atheists a bad name
Life’s Rule number 47: “When they say it’s not about the money, it is first and foremost about the money.”
Yawn.
Time to ring the BS bell and note to others that the Raleigh News & Observer is a leftist rag:-()
Yes, reflective of the NC voting bloc as a whole, fully expected to carry b. hussein obama in their primary.
“I see $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ “
And I see all the earmarks of ACLU origin and/or involvement here. Yet again, ad nauseum.
I’ll hit 25 years in the USAF next month. In 25 years, I’ve occasionally taken flack for being a Baptist, but I’ve never seen ANYONE criticized for NOT being religious.
I spent 6 months working with the US Army in Afghanistan...let’s just say the church services were not excessively crowded.
This is all about $$$ and publicity. It doesn’t have a factual basis.
I don’t know about the Army, but I’ve worked with the Air Force for the past ten years, and if the Air Force is any indication, this is a crock of nonsense. Where I work they run the gamut from fundamentalist Christian to unabashed atheism to “bugger off, it’s none of your damned business.” And nobody really cares.
Just another step in the left's campaign to convince everyone that Bush, the "neocons", the military and everyone associated with them are nothing but gun-toting, bible-thumping kooks.
Poor baby....... /s
Wasn’t there a story a while back about a guy who wanted to be an “atheist chaplain” in the service? I wonder what they do when they hold “services”.
my god, if you don’t have the “intestinal fortitude” to take verbal insults from peers that don’t like you, for whatever reason, then you have no place being in the military
i can think of dozens of types of slights that the “odd” soldier receives, beginning in basic training and usually, if he/she makes it out of basic they have developed enough “intestinal fortitude” to defend themselves, verbally and physically if it comes to that
i think this guy is just a cry-baby with an agenda
there is nothing in the military code that guarantees you will, and must be liked by anyone - you can earn respect from your peers, even when they don’t like you, by how you behave regardless of how they behave
apparently this guy just did not have the “intestinal fortitude” it takes to be in the military
put him in a fox hole.
Put him in a fox hole.
Hey congrats Mr.R! Thats one helluva long time in living in that neighborhood! Appreciate your dedication and service!
Brother, if you think that what you've gone "through" has been hell, wait until you face the REAL HELL!
I pray that the good Lord softenes your heart and you pray to receive the salvation that Jesus has to offer, lest you suffer eternal Hell.
Completely and totally agree. I was in the Air Force from 1982 to 1986 and the number of believers were far outnumbered by the number of non-believers. This guy is lying or was obviously doing a lot more than just being an atheist.
Get down on their knees and worship nothing, I guess!
Excuse me, but which of his constitutional rights have been violated?
We always said ‘testicular fortitude’ in boot camp...
“I wonder what they do when they hold “services”.”
Sit and stare at each other.
“You know, my Dad told me once, ‘Bill, if more than three people in your life are utter, total a**holes, then maybe it’s you.’”
I don't know, but I bet they would prefer to hold them in public, otherwise what would be the use? An atheist without an audience can't be having much fun.
Yep. There’s something else going on here.
A little death will solve the problem nicely.
I was mocked by fellow soldiers when I bowed my head and said Grace before eating, even in the field when eating C-rats/MRE’s. Where do I sign up.
Put him in 2 foxholes, or one foxhole twice? ;-P
“...atheist/marxist/darwinist movement”
I see the atheist/marxist connection, but marxism is fundamentally anti-darwinist. IMO, one of the great virtues of free markets is their darwinist nature: strong and capable businesses/ideas/practices survive, weak ones do not. Marxism is anti-competition, and therefore anti-darwinist.
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