SAVE THE PLANET, GET RID OF A CHRISTIAN TODAY
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/26/atheist.soldier.ap/index.html
JUNCTION CITY, Kansas (AP) -- Like hundreds of young men joining the Army
in
recent years, Jeremy Hall professes a desire to serve his country while it
fights terrorism.
Spc. Jeremy Hall says the pressure to believe in God is so strong, "I was
ashamed to say that I was an atheist."
But the short and soft-spoken specialist is at the center of a legal
controversy. He has filed a lawsuit alleging that he's 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 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. It wasn't until he joined the Army that he began
questioning
religion, eventually deciding that he couldn't follow any faith.
But he feared how that would look to other soldiers.
"I was ashamed to say that I was an atheist," Hall said.
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,' " Hall said. "I've never
believed
I was going to a happy place. You get one life. When I die, I'm worm
food."
The issue came to a head when, according to Hall, a superior officer, Maj.
Freddy J. Welborn, threatened to bring charges against him for trying to
hold a meeting of atheists in Iraq. Welborn has denied Hall's allegations.
Hall said he had had enough but feared that he wouldn't get support from
Welborn's superiors. He turned to Mikey Weinstein and the Military
Religious
Freedom Foundation.
Weinstein is the foundation's president and a U.S. Air Force Academy
graduate. He had sued the Air Force for acts he said illegally imposed
Christianity on students at the academy, though that case was dismissed.
He
calls Hall a hero.
"The average American doesn't have enough intestinal fortitude to tell
someone to shut up if they are talking in a movie theater," Weinstein
said.
"You know how hard it is to take on your chain of command? This isn't the
shift manager at KFC."
Hall was in Qatar when the lawsuit was filed September 18 in federal court
in Kansas City, Kansas. Other soldiers learned of it, and he feared for
his
own safety. Once, Hall said, a group of soldiers followed him, harassing
him, but no one did anything to make it stop.
The Army told him it couldn't protect him and sent him back to Fort Riley.
He resumed duties with a military police battalion. He believes that his
promotion to sergeant has been blocked because of his lawsuit, but he is a
team leader responsible for two junior enlisted soldiers.
No one with Fort Riley, the Army or that Defense Department would comment
about Hall or the lawsuit. Each issued statements saying that
discrimination
will not be tolerated regardless of race, religion or gender.
"The department respects [and supports by its policy] the rights of others
to their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs,"
said Eileen Lainez, a spokeswoman for the Department of Defense.
All three organizations said existing systems help soldiers "address and
resolve any perceived unfair treatment."
Lt. Col. David Shurtleff, a Fort Riley chaplain, declined to discuss
Hall's
case but said chaplains accommodate all faiths as best they can. In most
cases, religious issues can be worked out without jeopardizing military
operations.
"When you're in Afghanistan and an IED blows up a Humvee, they aren't
asking
about a wounded soldier's faith," Shurtleff said.
Hall said he enjoys being a team leader but has been told that having
faith
would make him a better leader.
"I will take care of my soldiers. Nowhere does it say I have to pray with
my
soldiers, but I do have to make sure my soldiers' religious needs are
met,"
he said.
"Religion brings comfort to a lot of people," he said. "Personally, I
don't
want it or need it. But I'm not going to get down on anybody else for it."
Hall leaves the Army in April 2009. He would like to find work with the
National Park Service or Environmental Protection Agency, anything
outdoors.
"I hope this doesn't define me," Hall said of his lawsuit. "It's just
about
time somebody said something.
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