There is an interesting case of religious freedom that has arisen at Creech Air Force base in Nevada where an unnamed airman has been told that he will not be allowed to re-enlist because he does not want to take an oath including the words “so help me God.” He is an atheist and, for obvious reasons, finds the words objectionable. Curiously, despite that fact that he clearly does not believe in God, the Air Force wants him to swear to God as a condition for his serving his country. It is not only a violation of this constitutional rights under the First Amendment but an offense to the many atheists who have served and continue to serve our country.
The American Humanist Association has complained to the Air Force Inspector General that the rule not only violates First Amendment but also Article VI, which bars using a religious test as qualification to any office or public trust of the United States.
The Air Force insists that they have no leeway because the oath is contained in a statute. Notably, however, the Air Force used to allow airmen to omit the words but changed the policy during the Obama Administration. The old version of Air Force Instruction 36-2606 included an exception: “Note: Airmen may omit the words ‘so help me God,’ if desired for personal reasons.” The change in 2013 requires that even atheist be forced to swear to God as a condition for service.
In this case, the airman simply crossed out the phrase “so help me God.” He was told that who have to both sign a statement swearing to God and then recite those words.
The statute, 10 U.S.C. 502, states:
§502. Enlistment oath: who may administer
(a) Enlistment Oath.—Each person enlisting in an armed force shall take the following oath:
“I, ____________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
Notably, if this goes to court, the airman would not be required to swear to God on a bible as an atheist. Instead, he is allowed to attest that his testimony will be true under an alternative to the religious oath:
If any person of whom an oath is required shall claim religious scruples against taking the same, the word “swear” and the words “so help you God” may be omitted from the foregoing forms, and the word “affirm” and the words “and this you do under the penalties of perjury” shall be substituted therefor, respectively, and such person shall be considered, for all purposes, as having been duly sworn.
The refusal to accommodate the religious beliefs of this service member is deeply disturbing and contravenes core American values. He should challenge the rule under the Declaratory Judgment Act in federal court. He will then doubly serve his country in standing against not just enemies from without but those within our country who refuse to respect the religious or non-religious views of all citizens.
Source: Air Force Times as first seen on ABA Journal
maxcat, There is a group of guys I know who make predictions every March. I have the Nat’s v Tigers in the World Series but have your Nat’s losing in 7 games. Hope I’m wrong because I like the Nat’s. When we lived in KC back in the 70’s/80’s our beloved Royals routinely made the postseason. I would bristle when someone sitting next to me in a postseason game didn’t know SQUAT about the Royals or even baseball.
Nick-
Nats v Tigers, huh? I was thinking it would be Nats v Angels, but who knows? Right now, I just hope we MAKE it to the World Series. Interesting thing is I heard that Vegas odds makers are giving the odds to the Nats to win it all, but I have no idea of what they use for their computations. It’s been a fun ride, though. I know what you mean about sitting next to someone who doesn’t even know a shortstop from a fireplug.
“Do you not question a 45 day deadline for 300,000 people as being the least bit onerous? ”
I haven’t been following the Wis voter ID thing that closely, but it was my understanding that the law had been passed some time ago and has been delayed, hung up, in lawsuits and is now free to go forward. The deadline might not have been so urgent had the law gone into effect once it was passed.
I may be wrong, but I thought that the short time frame, which is a bit difficult, was not the fault of the law but of the people opposing the law and who hoped to kill it or at least to delay it past the voting deadline.
Olly,
If the state governments reform the application process and early voting as I have suggested I will then fully support those efforts. Such reforms would evidence that they are sincere efforts to improve voter participation – not suppress potential Democratic voting.
Why should you want to provide some support of your arguments, in this case the problem of voter fraud? It is a common method of argument when commenting and presenting your position and most accept that some sort of documentation will be expected and willingly present it. Others, who are not taken seriously, provide only anecdotes and fabrications. They seem to regard themselves as SPECIAL.
Your choice, Olly.
Docmadison,
“That being said; the absentee ballots sent out without ID instructions will be problematic for this election cycle.”
That was my comment yesterday. Any reasonable person would conclude if they cannot resolve the absentee issue then they will not have a legal leg to stand on for anyone else. I believe until they have all the mechanisms in place to make this process work for the entire population then they must move the requirement until they do. But logic and reason don’t necessarily factor into the decision-making process in government.
Has anyone provided any citations recounting convictions for voter fraud?
Sorry. I reject any anecdote from Paul. He is totally unreliable. He plays games and fabricates stories to support his position. There is nothing on the AZ DMV site that says they provide a ‘home service’.
I do congratulate him on the link he provided on the voting problems in Montezuma, CO. It sounds like a breakdown on all fronts. When they start relying on shoveled driveways to determine residency, you know somebody is not doing their job.
The ‘selfie solution’ is ridiculous..
Olly, now the accusation is disingenuous? Do you not question a 45 day deadline for 300,000 people as being the least bit onerous? You started off with the fraud argument. I have asked several times to please supply links that support that view. Convictions are necessary. Fox News would have convicted the New Black Panthers standing’. in front of a polling station with one baton and two black berets of Kenyan assault. You have not countered my examples. Now you shift your argument to ‘both sides have made charges that may or may not be true. I have made charges. If you follow the news, you know they are true. Where is your support?
Have you no empathy for the 95 year old woman who was not allowed to vote at a poll she used for many years? Do you not understand the difficulties of the aged, the poor, the infirm? Except for the extremists, iIt IS hard getting people to vote. Our voting participation is shameful. The government needs to SOLVE those difficulties but they have just made it more difficult. WI deserves kudos for their promise to help secure lost documents at no charge so a ‘free’ ID truly is free. All states need to do the same. They need to make sure there is ample early voting and that should include Sundays. Many cannot take time off of work during the week. States need to solve the problem of too few DMV offices with too few open hours. States need to insure that people who don’t drive, can’t drive, or haven’t any transportation can get to a DMV.
Readers here have to understand some simple things. Not everyone has a car. Not everyone has a smart phone. Not everyone has a photo ID. Not everyone has a bank account. Not everyone flies. Not everyone has their birth certificate safely filed in a desk drawer. Many are shut-ins and struggle to get to the corner grocery. Many struggle to afford the essentials. But they are citizens and are entitled to vote.
Nick –
I’m in total agreement on the post-season baseball tickets. Go Nats!
docmadison – one of the things that Arizona was going to offer was home service, I gave you the site that shows you what they do now. As I stated, Arizona made it even simpler. You can use the Alinsky method to try to isolate me, but I do not go away. 🙂
Docmadison,
Why would I need to provide you data on voter fraud or voter suppression? Either you believe every effort should be made to eliminate both or you don’t. If you cannot agree to do both then you are not serious about a fair election process. I don’t care if you loathe the R’s or the D’s; neither has clean hands on this issue. This is a non-partisan problem being made partisan. I nearly disowned my sister for her hyper-partisanship; so I could care less about any coming from you.
((*_*))
((*_*)) Not me. I loved putting that last period on the paper and thinking “The End. Yay!!”
leejcaroll – maybe we can team up. I’ll write, you finish. 🙂
Terrific Paul. You know what Dorothy Parker (think it was) said: I hate writing but love having written.((*_*))
leejcaroll – I love the writing, but hate the completion. It is like giving away my baby.
I think we can do both Olly. I suggest that the requirement to obtain a state idea in such a short period of time is ‘fishy’. I’m not against voters getting a valid
ID in principle. Why did they not require this to commence for the 2016 election, giving people more than enough time to satisfy the requirement. That would’ve been far less suspicious.
I think there should be a basic civics test prior to voting. I also think a test should be given prior to anyone being allowed to purchase postseason baseball tickets.
not sure if my reply to Annie went to spam (although no links, or “bad” words)
Why does it have to be either or? For heaven’s sake, we can put men on the moon and land probes on comets; we should be able to find a way to accomplish both; increase voter participation AND do it with the most secure methods available. To argue against that strikes me as a bit disingenuous and perhaps more interested in finding another fracture point in which to generate support.
Annie I had a friend on SSD who would be disparaging towards others who needed help such as assistance, she could not understand how that made no sense (but then her brother had an organ transplant and she adamantly refused to be a donor on her driver’s license. Even some prople who need and get the help are of the I’ve got mine and foo on you” mindset. Sad state of affairs.
Leejcaroll, I retrieved your comment at 2:41.
LeeJ, “There by the grace of God go I”. It’s SO easy to disparage those on SSD or SSI. I have noticed over the years that even those who themselves are on SSD have made disparaging comments about others on SSD, a cousin of mine comes to mind. He often calls others who receive assistance lazy, pigs at the trough, fakers, moochers, etc. He, in the same breath almost had a nervous breakdown when he was waiting for approval for his own SSD, he complained how much documentation was needed, how long it took, how heartless those ba$tards were, yet when he was finally approved he had no empathy for others going through the same tangle of bureaucracy to obtain SSD. And yes those who get SSD must have enough work history hours to qualify.
Olly,
It was not snark. I was recounting stories of the right suppressing the vote. My time was very limited yesterday. You asked your question at 9 something. I was out. When I returned I answered. Your ‘offended’ reply was unwarranted.
I have also been busy this morning and have not had time to review the notes and wonder if you have been able provide us with links to voter fraud convictions in WI. I also wonder if you offer any commentary on my accounts of Republicans efforts at voter suppression.
Annie,
Let’s say everyone gets the right to vote and we know that’s not going to happen….. But how about the great state of Ohio under Gov Taft where they played hide the ballot boxes…. Or in Kentucky where 6 GOPers were convicted of rigging the electronic voting machines…. Even if you voted democratic every other one was designated for the GOP candidate…. There is more than one way to steal an election….
Yes, lbj did the same thing…. So what…
Paul, mine doesn’t I get paid to write a column 2- 3 times a month for up to 100$/mth. (and book royalties amount to close to upkis after the book being out for 11 years)
DBQ said: After all they have been able to get by without ANY ID for any other purpose in life for quite a few years, like opening a bank account, cashing a check, checking into a motel, renting a car, buying liquor, getting welfare benefits, much less driving a car, ……
I don’t know how it is now. When I moved to NYC in the late 70’s thru 91(becoming disabled in ’75 6 mths after arriving) could not have afforded even if I had wanted to a hotel or car rental. The poor usually can’t. I did not have ID and opened a bank account, cashed a check and got welfare benefits (as I waited the 18 mths I needed to be disabled before qualifying for SSD, BTW those of us on SSD had (have) to work a specific amount of time and put in a specific amount of dollars into SS in order to receive SSD). If you look your age I assume you don’t get carded at a liquor store and in NYC you don’t need to drive and once I moved to the suburbs my disability precluded my driving for many years so no drivers license.
You cpme to this from your personal experience and extrapolate out from that which is not necessarily the way things work.
Paul, Since they were talking phones and the “free” ones (they are not free because your life has to suck enough that you cannot afford a phone: you have to be disabled, on food stamps/other proof that you are poor and in need of the help)
People who live in chronic pain (or have other disorders for that matter) often say I wish people who don’t understand/believe/accept our pain/disorder(s) would be able to have them for a week to really understand what we live with and go through.
I would say the same about those who seem to pooh-pooh those in need. It is way to easy to dismiss them when you think you are immune to the same fate, but all it takes is the loss of a job, an illness, an accident or some other calamity and you are on the receiving end of the disdain and in need of assistance..
leejcaroll – the average novelist makes 11k a year. Sad, isn’t it. 🙂 And my wife wonders why I don’t finish the three books I have been working on.
((*_*)) (Maybe if I marketed the book I would get closer to that but would be a big stretch, if lucky 50 – 100/yr in royalties. although that it is still selling after all these years is a miracle in itself ((*_*))
Ah what the heck finish the books, give you a feeling of completion.
leejcaroll- one is about a month’s work from being finished, but no place to sell it. The other two, I continue the research daily, but should get back so some of the writing.
Olly, using a sledgehammer to squash a fly is usually not a good idea. If the voter fraud issue is one in which a large amount of people are engaging in it, then it may be worth using the sledgehammer. But more harm is done by the disenfranchisement of many thousands of people in order to make sure that ONE person doesn’t commit voter fraud. Which one is more reasonable?
Paul
You SHOW us a link to your DMV that certifies that such a service exists. I find nothing. Until you can show it I believe you are making stuff up. I’d call you a liar, but that would be impolite.
docmadison – as is their want in Arizona, they have made it even simpler. Following is lists of acceptable ID for voting.
http://www.azsos.gov/election/prop_200/poll_identification.htm