Atheist soldier sues Army for 'unconstitutional' discrimination

[moobu2]

By Randi Kaye
AC360° Correspondent





KANSAS CITY, Kansas (CNN) -- Army Spc. Jeremy Hall was raised Baptist.


Army Spc. Jeremy Hall, who was raised Baptist but is now an atheist, says the military violated his religious freedom.

1 of 2 Like many Christians, he said grace before dinner and read the Bible before bed. Four years ago when he was deployed to Iraq, he packed his Bible so he would feel closer to God.

He served two tours of duty in Iraq and has a near perfect record. But somewhere between the tours, something changed. Hall, now 23, said he no longer believes in God, fate, luck or anything supernatural.

Hall said he met some atheists who suggested he read the Bible again. After doing so, he said he had so many unanswered questions that he decided to become an atheist.

His sudden lack of faith, he said, cost him his military career and put his life at risk. Hall said his life was threatened by other troops and the military assigned a full-time bodyguard to protect him out of fear for his safety.

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[TechBear_Seattle]

1. It will be interesting to see where this goes

I have been hearing too many stories of overt, enforced Talibangelicalism in the US armed forces to think this is just some dissatisfied grunt striking out.

Problem is, the Talibangelicals don't see anything wrong in making their brand of snake oil the only brand in town, so they cannot see anything worth complaining about.

[frog92969]

2. Wow! Is that all it takes?

Tell them to READ the bible?

It's genius is in it's simplicity.

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. Sometimes, that's all it takes.

I'm the only person in my family (I know because I've asked them) who has read the bible cover to cover.

I'm also the only atheist in my family.

Curious, isn't it?

[Warpy]

4. My mother was in her 60s when she read it cover to cover

and she was furious! "What a steaming pile of unadulterated crap! That's what they used to make me afraid all my life! How can anybody take that garbage seriously? Word of god? God needs better script writers!"

On and on it went.

Yeah, read the bible. It works.

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. LOL

"God needs better scriptwriters."

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[trotsky]

6. Yup, worked for me.

Whole thing, cover-to-cover. My faith was on shaky ground already, but finally giving that book a thorough read finally did it in. The bible is atheism's best conversion literature.

[varkam]

8. I think Isaac Asimov said that...

properly read, the bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.

[jody]

7. IMO the Golden Rule is a core doctrine of all great religions and central to Humanism.

Humanist Manifesto III, “Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness.”

[pegleg]

9. The Bible can also restore lives, but this man was thoroughly wronged. nt