Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Sunday, September 07, 2014

U.S. Airman Denied Reenlistment For Omitting 'So Help Me God,' Humanist Group Claims

A member of the Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada, was allegedly barred from reenlisting in the Air Force after omitting the phrase "so help me God" from his contract, according to an American Humanist Association letter sent Tuesday to U.S. Air Force officials.

The airman was "told by his superiors that he must swear to God or leave the Air Force," according to the American Humanist Association, which was first alerted of the August 25 incident by secular watchdog group Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers.

Accusing the Air Force of violating the service member’s constitutional protections under the Establishment Clause, the humanist group threatened to sue commanding officers if the Air Force fails to permit members to reenlist with secular affirmations.

"It is well settled that the government cannot compel a person to take an oath that invokes a supreme being," the letter reads, citing Article VI of the Constitution, which states that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office."

Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, said in a press release on Thursday that the Air Force service member showed "integrity, commitment to the nation, and respect for religion in standing firm for a secular oath that reflects his true values and intentions."

U.S. Air Force Public Affairs Officer Chris Hoyler told The Huffington Post in a statement that "reciting 'So help me God' in the reenlistment and commissioning oaths is a statutory requirement." He said an October 2013 amendment to Air Force Instruction "no longer authorized [airmen] to omit the words 'So help me God.'” Hoyler did not respond to a request to confirm whether the service member was denied reenlistment, and if so, whether it was due to the omission of the "So help me God" clause.

Last August, the Air Force Academy's Colorado Springs campus moved to allow its 4,000 cadets to opt out of the "so help me God" clause in the honor code during their annual oaths, following a similar complaint filed by the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers and American Humanist Association.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com/
Author: Shadee Ashtari

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