Atheist Soldier Sues Military for Discrimination

Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein at 5:01 AM on September 19, 2007.

This post, written by Lindsay Beyerstein, originally appeared Majikthise

Kudos to Spec. Jeremy Hall of the 97th Military Police Battalion for standing up for his rights as an infidel:

FORT RILEY, Kan. - A soldier whose superior prevented him from holding a meeting for atheists and other non-Christians is suing the Defense Department, claiming it violated his right to religious freedom.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., alleges a pattern of practices that discriminate against non-Christians in the military. It was filed Monday to coincide with the 220th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. [AP]

Hall's lawsuit alleges that he got permission to distribute fliers on his base in Iraq advertising a meeting for atheists and other non-Christians, that an officer prevented him from holding the meeting and threatened to file charges against him.

It's ironic... Some believers love to claim, disparagingly, that atheism is just another kind of religion. Yet, I wonder how many of them are also prepared to treat atheism and free thought as equivalent to religions in the full legal sense.

Tagged as: religion, atheism, us military

Lindsay Beyerstein a New York writer blogging at Majikthise.