Is The Army A ‘Christianist’ Organization?
July 8th, 2008There’s an interesting lawsuit being launched by a serving member of the Armed Forces against the Pentagon. The solider, Army Specialsit Jeremy Hall, is an atheist, and an Iraq veteran, who claims he has been discriminated against for his ‘religious’ beliefs.
Atheist soldier sues Army for ‘unconstitutional’ discrimination
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.
In March, Hall filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, among others. In the suit, Hall claims his rights to religious freedom under the First Amendment were violated and suggests that the United States military has become a Christian organization.
Hall is not seek financial damages, so it is hard to argue that he has some monetary motive in his suit. He has been sent home from Iraq and stationed on a base in Kansas (not exactly the nexus of anti-religious expression).
But did he suffer discrimination in a legal sense:
Two years ago on Thanksgiving Day, after refusing to pray at his table, Hall said he was told to go sit somewhere else. He also said he missed out on promotions because he is an atheist.
“I was told because I can’t put my personal beliefs aside and pray with troops I wouldn’t make a good leader,” Hall said.
This is where the case turns to me. The idea that it is the atheist who must put aside his beliefs, for the good of the troop, whereas the opposite is neither expected nor sought, seems to me to be an example of establishing a religious preference, which is against the law.
The Pentagon refused to discuss specifics of Hall’s case — citing the litigation. But Deputy Undersecretary Bill Carr said complaints of evangelizing are “relatively rare.” He also said the Pentagon is not pushing one faith among troops.
“If an atheist chose to follow their convictions, absolutely that’s acceptable,” said Carr. “And that’s a point of religious accommodation in department policy, one may hold whatever faith, or may hold no faith.”
Does Carr’s understanding of the Pentagon’s policy jive with the alleged actions of the command structure in charge of Spc. Hall? Is placing a bodyguard around Hall enough of a deterence of discrimination, or is the very existence of the necessity for a bodyguard evidence of the discrimination Hall claims?





