Atheism and the Army
April 26, 2008
I am trying to write my second-to-last “final” paper this weekend, but am finding myself both bored by it and completely apathetic about the whole school situation, which is perhaps a bad sign for the next few years of even more schooling. Yet, I am forcing myself to go to the library and at least sit in front of my computer and books with the hope that staring at it for long enough will either inspire me to write or convince me that if I would just finish I could leave. The downfall of this plan is the internet, which is good for study breaks, but bad for study apathy. All of this to say I was reading the news online this morning, while trying to avoid my paper, and came across this article in the New York Times about the persecution of atheists in the army and the culture of evangelical Christianity that is so prevalent in the armed forces. On the one hand, this didn’t particularly surprise me – I read it and found it to fit my stereotypes of both the army and evangelical Christians as a little bit crazy/absurd (you pick the word); so, if both are a little nuts, from my way of thinking, why wouldn’t they be conjoined?
And then I thought about it some more and I thought, wait a minute, does this mean that evangelical Christians are in the army because of their faith? Are they connected? Is this another manifestation of Manifest Destiny? Is there a prevalent belief among those serving that God is leading them into battle or calling them to protect our fair land with arms? And if so, is this so very different from those in Islam who are fighting for that very reason but are called terrorists?
I will admit to being a little brain-dead from staring at my computer and books for so long, and I am quite hungry at the moment, which has always been known to impair my judgment, so perhaps I am missing something obvious, in which case you can feel free to go ahead and point it out in the comments. Or perhaps you were already aware of this in which case you can shame me for not keeping up with the news (normally I procrastinate with TV, hence this library sit-in). Either way – there you have it.
Posted in 
Sarah Blogs | pomomusings | progressive theology & design said:
April 26th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
[...] shocked. I actually don’t know quite what to say. But, Sarah is blogging again. Could she be ending her 6-month blogging sabbatical? Only time will tell. But I’m sure if [...]
Karen said:
April 26th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
There’s always positive encouragement here! Actually I have to say I was shocked as well–but pleased.
Cherice said:
April 27th, 2008 at 7:53 am
So I totally hear you on the playing on the Internet instead of writing papers thing…Yep, I get up early in the morning so I can do “homework” during finals, but really it translates to reading people’s blogs. =)
Anyway, I agree on the Manifest Destiny thing with the army…actually, if I wasn’t sitting here writing you a comment I’d be writing a paper about it. It’s called “American Christendom: On Christianity in a Position of Power.” So the title sounds good, but that’s about all it has going for it right now. The whole thing is fairly depressing (the state of the paper and its subject matter!), but I think it’s really important. I’m trying to figure out where the line is between Christianity and America, and how to encourage being a true follower of Christ without letting our political allegiances get in the way. If the Kingdom of God is here but not yet fully realized, how do we live in it while recognizing the fact that there’s still evil and suffering going on? How do we love our enemy when they’re killing our neighbor?
So yeah, I think you’re right about the unfortunate connection between evangelical Christians and the army.
Happy studying!
Meghan said:
April 27th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I just watched a story on this on CBS Sunday Morning. It will probably be up on their website later today.
I’ve been aware of this for a while, because my brother, an atheist, has been in the Army or the National Guard for 24 years now. He’s talked about how fundamentalist chaplains have at times been obsessed with the idea of trying to convert him.
He doesn’t mind too much, because he thinks arguments are the most entertaining thing in the world. His biggest complaint is that the more fundamental the chaplain the more they assume that the only reason he’s an atheist is that he hasn’t really thought about the options.
Given his degree in philosophy, that’s not really a safe assumption.
Karen F. said:
April 27th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Hooray! For Sarah blogging again! A long lost friend back on my study break and procrastinating radar. I’ve missed you.
I agree that Christians taking up arms because they feel God is calling them to do so is exactly what Islamic extremists, who our nation deems terrorists, are doing. One thing that stuck out to me as I did an ethics project on war movies last semester, was the underriding assumption in every single war effort, every movie, whether stated explicitly or not, the given that God is on our side…the U.S. that is. It’s a scary continuation of the pilgrim-age belief that the U.S. is God’s chosen people to save the world. I need to stop commenting before I throw up all over my computer.
David said:
April 27th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Also, some of it is that people who are conservative tend to identify with evangelicalism and also tend to identify with the military. But, you would also be surprised, I think, at the diversity in some of the military branches and the thoughtfulness/frustrations of some of the members.
I speak as an Air Force spouse (a closet almost-pacifist, too/i reserve the right to have my realist moments trump idealism) married to woman sold on universal health care and free clinics. And while I know there are some crazy chaplains (written about here, http://unorthodoxology.blogspot.com/2008/04/out-in-crowd.html#comments) and the services I’ve been to on-bases tend to be “Our Truth is Marching On” songs, I also know of some positive chaplains who do great work with domestic violence, etc., and interreligious work (i’m thinking of a Jewish chaplain).
Agreed, there is a problem when people start going nuts thinking that it is God’s mission for us to fight Islam, but know that there is more to the picture of the military (particularly with the number of immigrants), religion and purpose.
Rachel said:
April 28th, 2008 at 11:43 am
It’s so awesome that now I can read your blog, too, instead of doing my work. Procrastinators, unite!