Along with the Boy Scouts, the Elks Club and many other organizations!
Freedom of religion? maybe, but not free to not believe.
Thomas Jefferson must be spinning in his grave!

Thomas Jefferson, nuthin'. I always love the neocons who selectively quote Thomas Paine, but never bothered to read The Age of Reason.

If earmark money is used to build religious centers at military bases, it would seem to violate the Constitution of the US. It is so important to an organization designed to kill--that's what military organizations do--to cloak their purpose in religion to make it seem as if God wants all this to happen.

Having served in the Army for over 25 years in the ranks. Nobody cares if you are religious or not, who you are banging or not(unless one is banging a close family member, whilst one is overseas) and or how you spend your free time.

Honest to God(pun intended) no one gives a damn, all one cares about when push comes to shove is the person on the right and left is up for the mission. I have served with I believe every religious persuasion out there and I cannot remember having any discussion about who their God was or wasn't.

Rest assured, the Armed Forces are not going to turn into Crusaders for any side, but America. Much ado about nothing.

Pj, my experience was very similar to yours, which is why I had a hard time believing what a Taliban-like outfit the Air Force has become. My brother-in-law and his wife both retired from USAF recently and the stories they told were stunning, paRticularly about Colorado Springs.

Handmaid's Tale stuff. Scary.

I never thought in my now distant youth as we were all trying to avoid and or eliminate the draft that I would say that we should bring back a draft but I am getting there. The privatization of the armed forces is not a good thing, and this latest news supports that idea. Just look at the results of contracting out of all sorts of stuff to the folks at Halliburton and Kaki and their ilk.

This trend is not limited to the military. Try telling people that you are an atheist. Disclose that you don't believe in god to your fellow Americans and be prepared to live with the consequences forever.

I agree with Mark Twain that faith is believing in something you know to be untrue, but I have to keep that to myself because I need to be able to function in my society.

Why religious fiction-keepers are scared to death of atheists:

How Dare You Atheists Exist?, Greta Christina's Blog, December 28, 2010

[NSFW ALERT! ... Greta nakedly gets it on!!]

Religious believers commonly attack atheists simply for existing. Do out- of- the- closet atheists -- even polite ones -- challenge attempts at theocracy?

What, exactly, do religious believers want from atheists?

If you follow the atheism debates in op-ed pieces and whatnot, you'll see that critiques of the so-called New Atheist movement are often aimed at our tone. Among the pundits and opinion-makers, atheist writers and activists are typically called out for being offensive, intolerant, disrespectful, extremist, hostile, confrontational, and just generally a$$s. The question of whether atheists are, you know, right, typically gets sidestepped in favor of what is apparently the much more compelling question of whether atheists are jerks.
...
Case in point: In Bryan/ College Station, Texas, the Brazos Valley Vuvuzela Atheist Marching Band recently marched in the annual Christmas parade. ... They played "Jingle Bells" on vuvuzelas. And they carried a banner saying that they were atheists.

Which was enough, apparently, to send many Christians into fits. The atheist presence in the Christmas parade created a substantial controversy in the area. One resident interviewed by the local news, Tina Corgey, said, ... "If you have younger children they weren't going to understand but I have older children, a teenager, 8-year-old and they were curious and they asked questions and it was hard for them to believe and understand that there are actually people out there that don't believe in God."

So the following college newspaper 'student editorial' was written by (you reckon?), pick one:
[ ] Religious-trained, or
[ ] Atheist-leaning person.

War is a Drug, 'Community College of Baltimore County' - C.D.W., Jr., October 26, 2010

Scroll to Page 12 - 'Editorials'

“Over in Iraq and Afghanistan killing becomes a habit, a way of life, a drug to me and to other soldiers like me who need to feel like we can survive off of it,” Whittington wrote. “It is something that I do not just want, but something I really need so I can feel like myself.”

“Killing a man and looking into his eyes, I see his soul draining from his body – I am taking away his life for the harm he has caused me, my family, my country.”

“Killing is a drug to me and has been ever since the first time I have killed someone. At first, it was weird and felt wrong, but by the time of the third and fourth killing it feels so natural. It feels like I could do this for the rest of my life and it makes me happy.”

“There are several addictions in war, but this one is mine,” Whittington admits. “This is what I was trained to do and now I cannot get rid of it – it will be with me for the rest of my life and hurts me that I cannot go back to war and kill again, because I would love too.”

“When I stick my blade through his stomach or his ribs or slice his throat it’s a feeling that I cannot explain, but feels so good to me, and I become addicted to seeing and acting out this act of hate, and violence against the rag heads that hurt our country. Terrorists will have nowhere to hide because there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers like me who feel like me and want their revenge as well.”

Hope Davis, a spokesperson for CCBC, said that other students and other Iraq veterans on campus expressed concern about the content and graphic nature of the Whittington article.

Would you hire him as a co-worker where you work? ... as a Portland policeman? ... what if he is buying the quick-sale house on your street?

Religious fiction-keepers are scared to death of atheists. Religious fictions are Get-Out-Of-Thinking FREE 'cards,' the mental crutches for people who can't handle the Truth. IMO