Abacus

Only if they were prepared to die by a stake burning.

Evolved

You have a wonderful Dad Alonzo, he sounds like a very great man.

The words spoken at the air show could have come from my Uncle, he says that I can leave the US anytime. He's retired Army and was a helicopter mechanic in Nam and insists that there aren't any 'Atheists in Foxholes'.

May I have permission to send him your Dad's words?

capsaicin67

This got my juices going again!
This is the type of material that would make:

-A great article in a newspaper, especially if you could get a syndicated and influential journalist [well, if there are any left with any integrity on this issue].

-A documentary, if other freethinking veterans can readily be found.

-A book of compilations of similar stories, well-crafted [in other words, a serious book, not of the "Favorite Recipes of the Altar and Rosary Society" variety].

-60Minutes, that sort of thing

-Holocaust victims have been recording their stories over the past number of years, to try and accumulate a video record of their sagas. It would be cool if there were such an effort to document freethinker in foxhole stories as no other generation has as much credibility as the vets from WW2 [greatest generation and all that], and there is a limited time in which to acquire theirs for the historical record.

I think that these are the types of stories that can credibly challenge the xian culture jamming that is so powerful and pervasive right now. We gotta start metajamming them, and intelligently, and I think that this is the type of material that gets people where they empathize and *feel*! This, and the stories of violence and abuse directed toward freethinkers [which I believe could be shared in similar formats], IMHO, are worth 50 Godless Marches. It'll be a shame if such stories don't reach beyond the ears of the choir.

gilly54

Hi, Alonzo,

Beautiful post.

I can't add much to what has been said. Your father's letter NEEDS to appear in a non-partial or even conservative publication followed by the tripe spewed by the announcer at the air show.

It also needs to be sent to as many members of Congress as possible, including the President (with a cc to his dad).

Would you want to make the names of the morons who came up with the announcement known? While we would think it would be a humiliation, they might jump on it as a "15 minute of fame and glory".

CaptainDave

capsaicin67 wrote,

I agree.

Stories like this should'nt be too hard to come by. I easily could have been one myself. I was serving in the U.S. Air Force at the time the elder Bush made his insulting remark about atheists not being citizens. I later spent 3 months in Saudi Arabia under him during the Gulf War. During that time, I lived in one of the buildings in the Khobar Tower complex in D'haran - which was later blown up by terrorists.

I wasn't in that building at the time but it's a safe bet that other atheists were.

Pick your tragedy. You'll find no shortage of non-religious victims.

ksagnostic

Thank you for posting your Dad's note. In turn, as an American citizen, I would like to thank him for his service to our country. You are obviously a good son.

As for the tripe he listened to at the air show, that garbage was going around the internet almost immediately after 9/11. It is just sad that someone thought it worthy of being repeated at a public event.

One of the last sane

Great letter from your dad, Alonzo. Shake his hand on my behalf, willya?

wordsmyth

I would also like to see a compilation of letters from other non-religious veterans...

...and then I would like to see those letters stuffed down the throat of every ignorant and intolerant (insert your preferred expletive here!) who claims they are not patriots.

Splat

I've just got to throw in my two bits here. That was an amazing post.

What a great man your dad is. Thank him for me as well.

[ August 07, 2002: Message edited by: Splat ]</p>

NialScorva

An amazing piece, Alonzo. Please add another voice to the chorus of respect and admiration for your father.