'Atheists in foxholes' demand respect, recognition and honor

Ron Brynaert
Published: Sunday August 20, 2006

"'There are no atheists in foxholes,' the old saw goes," begins the Beliefwatch column in the latest issue of Newsweek. "The line, attributed to a WWII chaplain, has since been uttered countless times by grunts, chaplains and news anchors."

"But an increasingly vocal group of activists and soldiers—atheist soldiers—disagrees," the column continues.

"It's a denial of our contributions," Master Sgt. Kathleen Johnson tells Newsweek. "A lot of people manage to serve without having to call on a higher power."

Master Sgt. Johnson founded the group, Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) as "a community support network that connects military members from around the world with each other and with local organizations."

"In addition to our community services, we take action to educate and train both the military and civilian community about athiesm in the military and the issues that face us," reads the "About" page at MAAF's Website. "Where necessary, MAAF identifies, examines, and responds to insensitive practices that illegally promote religion over non-religion within the military or unethically discriminate against minority religions or differing beliefs."

MAAF keeps a running list of "Atheists in Foxholes, in Cockpits, on Ships, and Hitting the Beach," who are willing to "come out" on the Internet.

On July 19, some remarks from a speech given by Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's 31st annual Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Awards drew the attention of MAAF and other atheist organizations.

"Agnostics, atheists and bigots suddenly lose all that when their life is on the line," Lt. Gen. Blum said. "Something that they lived their whole life believing gets thrown out the door, and they grasp the comrade next to them, and they don't care what color their skin is, and they don't care where they pray."

"They just care,'Can you save them?'" Blum continued. "'Can I trust you? Are you going to cover my back? Are you going to get me out of this?'"

After MAAF complained to National Guard Bureau Affairs, Air National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Michael Milord wrote back in a letter that Blum's remarks were "intended to clearly illustrate the positive spirit of camaraderie, human understanding and inclusion of our fine men and women in the National Guard" and there "was, and is, no intent to offend anyone."

Lt. Col. Milord said that the words MAAF found "objectionable...were taken out of context in a news article," although he didn't mention that it had been published by the American Forces Information Service.

"These fine soldiers and airmen who put their lives on the line to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, know that our people of all philosophies and convictions work together and count on each other, no matter what other issues may sometimes divide people," Milord added.

Another organization, American Atheists, has demanded an apology not only from the National Guard, but also the NAACP.

"Religious belief, or the lack of it, shouldn’t be a litmus for patriotism, on or off the battlefield," Dave Silverman, Communications Director for American Atheists said in a press release.

"Officials with the National Guard need to issue an apology for these ill-considered remarks made by Gen. Blum," Silverman continued.

A year ago, MAAF was instrumental in pushing the Air Force's decision to compose a script for flag-folding ceremonies.

"There is no shortage of scripts available that can be read aloud during a flag folding, but many of those scripts are religious in nature and also ascribe meaning to the individual folds put into the flag," reported Staff Sgt. C. Todd Lopez for Air Force Print News.

"Individuals who hear those scripts end up attributing the contents of the script to the U.S. Air Force," Lopez wrote.

Lt. Col. Samuel Hudspath told Air Force Print News that that was the "primary motive" for composing an official script which would "just speak to the importance of the flag in U.S. Air Force history."

An article at Christianity Today wondered why there was little reaction from the religious right about the change.

"Perhaps surprisingly, the Air Force changes have not become a latest battleground in America's culture wars even though Congress has recently shown interest in protecting the American flag and the religious rights of military personnel," Jason Bailey wrote for Christianity Today.

"Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, suggests that conservative religious groups have been silent on the change because they understand that the military cannot take an official position on religion if it is supposed to accommodate all faiths," wrote Bailey.

Historically, many atheists have had a difficult time serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

"An atheist was perceived as tantamount to being a communist," wrote Philip K. Paulson about his mid-sixties Army tour of duty in Vietnam, from the essay "I Was an Atheist in a Foxhole" for The Humanist magazine in 1989.

"I knew that proclaiming to be an atheist while on duty in South Vietnam could likely prejudiced promotions and possibly cause harmful reprisals," Paulson wrote.

Last year, Athiests in Foxholes organized a Veteran's Day rally in Washington D.C. and a march down the National Mall.

The rally wasn't a "referendum on war in general or about a specific military action," but a call for recognition of "those many Atheists, Freethinkers and other nonbelievers who 'stepped up' when they were needed in times of war or other crisis, and often put their lives at risk" and a plea to be "appreciated and honored like all other members of the U.S. military."