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{"id":440,"date":"2014-09-10T04:16:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-10T04:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/one-army-under-god.html"},"modified":"2014-09-10T04:16:00","modified_gmt":"2014-09-10T04:16:00","slug":"one-army-under-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/one-army-under-god.html","title":{"rendered":"One Army Under God?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

One of the latest battles joined by the MRFF, and several other lobby groups, concerned the practice of leaving Bibles supplied by the Gideons, a charity which encourages the study of scripture, inside rooms in lodgings run by the navy. About a month ago, it emerged that Gideon Bibles had been removed from at least 3,000 rooms in navy lodges in response to secularist complaints. That in turn triggered massive protests from Christian and conservative lobby groups, and the Bibles were duly returned<\/a> to the rooms. Mr Weinstein was disappointed: he insists that there is a real difference between making religious material available upon request at a registration desk, and placing such material\u2014whether it be Christian, Muslim or even atheist\u2014inside rooms. In his view, the latter practice indicates that the powers that be have taken the side of a particular religion, which the First Amendment forbids.<\/p>\n

Whether Bibles are kept at registration desks or inside rooms may not seem all that big a deal. But the human stakes are higher in another religious-military row that erupted last month, when an atheist airman at a base in Nevada was denied the opportunity to re-enlist<\/a> because he declined to say the words \u201cso help me God\u201d. In an older air force regulation, it was laid down that those four words could be omitted on grounds of conscience; but this waiver was removed from a new rule issued last year\u2014you either invoke the Deity or you cannot take up your responsibilities to the nation.<\/p>\n

Read the rest here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"