i can't help but wonder what you were actually discussing.
and what your opinion was, and what his opinion was.

fill us in?

i dunno. i've read this story a couple of times, and... i dunno. i'm just not getting any strong indicators of persecution on Hall's part. i see three complaints mentioned: 1) he gets called names, 2) his XO (or maybe his S-3?) tried to bring him up on charges for organizing an atheist meeting, and 3) he's having trouble making E-5.

this really looks more like a personality conflict to me than any sort of widespread problem. it's entirely possible that i'm wrong, and that Hall is the target of a military-wide conspiracy against anyone brazen enough to declare god is dead... but that's not what it feels like, to me. it strikes me as being highly likely that he's having trouble making E-5 because he not all that well-liked, as supported by complaint 1. and what happened to the charges that his XO tried to bring against him? apparently they went away--did his XO suddenly realize that the power of the vast anti-atheist conspiracy was no match for one lone man who was willing to speak out and be heard? or did the XO decide that he just didn't have the time or stomach to deal with a bedroll lawyer like Hall?

i'm not saying that Hall is necessarily the bad guy, here. i'm just pointing out that it's entirely possible that this whole thing is horseshit, and that we shouldn't be all-fired up to damn the military until the facts are known. i, personally, never experienced anything remotely similar to what Hall is going through. maybe i'm the anomaly, or maybe he is--or maybe he's just another dickhead. try to keep all three possibilities in mind.

And it will, too. Onward. . . And well, you know the rest.

The biggest threat to American victory is the American Heathen, aka The Great Secular Humanist Mofo. We just can't stand for that kind of threat to our nations pristine righteousness. It's freedom of religion, and not freedom from religion that's at the heart of the nation, and so forth and so on.

"Remember who's marking your assignments..." ? Tempting, but it only reinforces the fool's belief that everyone works in a partisan way.

Exactly.

It's likely that the greatest threat to American success is the belief in American victory.

Yup, I had the same sort of thing happen to me.

I was teaching in a native village in Alaska where the local church was, more or less, the only real source of authority. Now, I'm not an atheist at all; I've had friends who were and who've tried to explain it to me, I just don't 'get it'. I should also explain that I am not a Satanist at all; pretty much, the same thing applies.
Being a wanderer by nature, I've tried to identify myself with several different title and, lately, have just given up and just describe myself as a "lapsed Catholic" which works well enough.
ANYWAY

Since I did not go to the local church, and actively attempted to NOT discuss religion while teaching, save for criticizing those students who insulted other religions, I was quickly branded with the term "atheist" by my students and others in the village, and I was harassed about it on more than one occasion.
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised; in a public school where people hang religious symbols up all over the place, the guy who DOESN'T go to church would be seen as the dreaded 'outsider'.
I was eventually pulled aside by my principle (a great woman who I have the upmost respect for) who explained the problem to me. Apparently, everyone was starting to believe the major rumor in the village was that I was either an Atheist or a Satanist or, somehow, BOTH. It explained the growing distance between my students and myself, and was just one more reason why I was generally being treated like shit by everyone.
I was never quiet sure how to take this; part of me wanted to laugh it off, another part was horribly offended. I eventually settled on, both.
So, to make a long story short, I became very hostile to the church, and any attempt by others to force their beliefs on me. Also, with no one to really talk to about it, I comforted myself by reading a lot of Joseph Campbell during those two years.

So, yah, I can feel for this poor guy. Its not easy to be 'that guy' with beliefs that differ from others, especially if you're in a very isolated and insular environment (and I imagine that being in a combat unit in the middle of a foreign country certainly counts). Hopefully the law suite goes well for him.

This reminds me of an incident when I was in basic training some time ago. A few of the drill instructors discovered that one of my squad-mates was Wiccan. They verbally harrassed him and rode his ass pretty hard about witchcraft and all sorts of ignorant bullshit for several days. He later told me it wasn't the first time he experienced harrassment throughout the enlistment process, and expected more of it in the future.

I should note that it was only a couple of D.I's who participtaed, and I myself was never harrassed for having "No Religious Preference" on my dogtags. So I think it just comes down to the fact that some people are intolerant assholes looking for a target, and every now and then you are just going to find yourself surrounded by them, military or not.

So there's religious zealots on both sides of the war, is that really a surprise?

This demonstrates a common hypocracy. Often military, police, firefighters will use the, "I'm just not sure I can count on that (insert name of minority here)". Then it turns out the straight white christians are the ones who threaten and/or abandon their comrade.

I have heard from certain military men I know that the bond you build is something that cannot be understood by someone who hasn't served, so this poor guy is over there being harassed by people that should have his back and look out for him. I sure as hell wouldn't be thinking I could count on them.

This story makes me sad.

If he's a senior 4 like this article says, and not some college 4 punk ass, he's been in a minute and knows how things work. This guy didn't use ANY of his support structure or chain of command to straighten things out, instead he went straight to some outside source that's going to turn this whole thing into a shit storm. If this is how homeboy handles things in terms of his career I guarantee it's not his religious beliefs the dudes in his unit have a problem with.

D'oh! And I'm about to enter a Creative Writing MFA program....

Don't fret. That's what spell-checkers and editing sessions are for.

Except when they miss it, too.