FatherTorque666

Trying to find other members of the US Armed Forces who are Athiests also. Particularirly (sp) looking for Active Duty members, but Veterans, Retired, Guard and Reserve (and others of a foreign- non-US service) are more than welcome to reply. Feel somewhat out of place because of my beliefs, as the US military seems to be even more of a Jesus Freak than mainstream America.

Just Another Infidel

FatherTorque666,

Wow, sorry to hear that. I'm retired U.S. Navy and my experience was quite the opposite of yours. Everywhere I went, the "jesus freaks" were pretty much marginalized and usually demeaned.

What service are you in? My limited time spent training with the U.S. Army left me with the impression that religion was more mainstream there than in the Navy, but that was a training environment.

JAI

Oh yeah, if you misspell atheist as athiest, even the infidels will give you shit.

AndThen

FatherTorque666, I'm former Army and I know I've seen a lot of other non-theist service members here on the boards.

Your experience may be something that happens because of MOS or maybe just unit composition. My experience was one where even in a 9-man squad it was not uncommon to have atheists, agnostics, christians, catholics, wiccan (wicca?) and muslims all in the same squad. Religious preference took a back seat to whether or not you could count on the guy to cover you, so it's not like we had a lot of theological discussions.

You might want to drop by the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers at http://www.maaf.info/ to see what active-duty contacts you can make. It looks like their webite is going through a refit, but they say the mailing list is still active.

Good luck and thanks for your service.

nj_heathens

I served a tour in the Air Force in the 1980's. Stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, NV. It was a burden, but someone had to do it.

When the call went out for veteran and currently serving military atheists to come up on stage at the Godless Americans March on Washington last November, the entire stage and area in front of the stage was packed, and others were unable to get to the stage. There were two older gentlemen ahead of me. As the various wars/conflicts were being named, one of them turned to the other and said "they didn't name your war, Fred - the French & Indian War!"

Mrs. Heathen

Shake

I served nearly 9 godless years in the USAF, and found a general apathy towards religion in general. Although, there were always a few loud Xians who everyone knew about.

Jacey

I'm a Marine atheist and I know exactly what you mean. Met tons of Baby Jesus lovers. There's a few other mil members as well, diana (Air Force) and daria (Navy) are the only ones who come to mind right now though.

FatherTorque666

"Your experience may be something that happens because of MOS or maybe just unit composition. My experience was one where even in a 9-man squad it was not uncommon to have atheists, agnostics, christians, catholics, wiccan (wicca?) and muslims all in the same squad. Religious preference took a back seat to whether or not you could count on the guy to cover you, so it's not like we had a lot of theological discussions."


I think alot of it has to do with the unit composition and the job. I'm in small unit, about 30 or so people, with about half of them DoD Civilians, and the average age tends to be a bit older than previous units I've been in (which were also alot larger). And there have been "lunchtable" discussions that were largely religious in nature, and focused alot on the Christian aspect.

Also, having spend over 3 years on base Honor Guards, I've seen alot of military ceromonies (retirements, change of command, awards banquets, etc.) where there was almost always an invocation at the beginning, which to me reinforces a cultural beleif in Christianity.

Something else, too, I've seen recently at my base, is there has been alot of religious retreats sponsored by the chaplains' office, and they have been heavily advertised (4 since about Nov). And I am the one who publishes the travel orders for all those that go, and again, that is a very visible support for a particular beleif system.

FatherTorque666

Oh yeah, to let you know, I am in the Air Force.

Rich Brown

I am an atheist, and I've been on active duty in the Air Force for over 18 years now.

Very few really negative experiences so far, except once when a CMSgt (and a rabid fundy) told me I should "keep my mouth shut or I would be branded an extremist" when I objected to his use of position to send the young airmen to a Christan concert. I didn't "shut up". He's gone, and I'm still here.

I find that the Air Force, at least, is pretty good about enforcing its anti-discrimination policies, if you are willing to stand up for yourself.

Rich

jayh

Have you contacted these folks?

http://www.maaf.info/