c. 2008 Religion News Service

Atheists ask Obama for probe on religion in the military

WASHINGTON (RNS) A national atheist lobbying group is calling on President-elect Barack Obama to overhaul military policies in an effort to reduce what it sees as religious discrimination in the armed forces.

In a letter sent Monday (Nov. 10), the Secular Coalition for America asked Obama to scrutinize new appointees to ensure fairness to atheist soldiers, to survey the military on current religious conditions, and to establish a commission on “religious accommodation” within the Defense Department.

“We wrote these recommendations before we knew the outcome of the election,” said Lori Lipman Brown, director of the coalition. “The truth is we had no better expectations of one candidate over the other when it came to this particular issue.”

The group also asked for chaplain-training curriculum that addresses free exercise of religion. One-fifth of military personnel identify themselves as atheists or having no religion, the Secular Coalition said.

“For the past three years we have seen the problems of harassment, coercive proselytizing, efforts to convert and discrimination against those holding certain beliefs go unresolved,” Brown said.

The military operates under Department of Defense Directive 1300.17, which allows members to observe their respective religions. In addition, Directive 1350.2 states that “persons shall be evaluated on individual merit, fitness, and capability, regardless of … religion“.

But many in the Secular Coalition have their doubts about department policy and concerns about the incoming president.

“Our president-elect has been alternatively labeled as an atheist and a Muslim,” said Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. “The truth is he’s a Christian and in many ways he’s worn religion on his sleeve.”

“As we hope for change, we want to make sure that he understands our position as well,” Torpy said.

At a Washington news conference, former Army 1st Lt. Wayne Adkins said he submitted his resignation of commission as an officer in 2006 after feeling he was discriminated against because of his nonbelief. Adkins said he was expected to pick a religion for identification on his dog tags and felt pressured to “be religious.”

“We need an overhaul, and it needs to come from the top down,” Adkins said.

_ Brittney Bain

Third Episcopal diocese votes to secede

(RNS) Episcopalians in south-central Illinois made their diocese the third one in the U.S. to secede from the Episcopal Church and align itself with a conservative Argentina-based Anglican province.

At the same time, the breakaway Diocese of Pittsburgh elected Bishop Robert Duncan, who was booted from the U.S. church this summer for leading his diocese out of the Episcopal Church, as its new leader.

The Episcopal Diocese of Quincy voted Friday (Nov. 7) to sever all ties with the U.S. church and, like Pittsburgh and the Fresno, Calif.-based Diocese of San Joaquin, align itself with the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

The Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, which like Quincy does not ordain women clergy, is also expected to withdraw and seek oversight from the Southern Cone.

“The Episcopal Diocese of Quincy remains, albeit with fewer members, and we are working to assist in the reorganization of diocesan affairs,” said Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

“We assure all, both Episcopalians and former Episcopalians, … of our prayers for clarity and charity in their spiritual journeys. May all be reminded that the gospel work of healing this world will take the best efforts of every person of faith.”

The Quincy diocese had long been one of the most conservative in the U.S. church, and the vote to secede was not unexpected. Like other traditionalists, the Quincy diocese opposed the 2003 election of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire, and accuses the national church of a leftward theological drift.

Lay and clergy delegates in Quincy overwhelmingly approved the secession resolutions, which accused the national church of failure to “uphold the teaching and authority of Holy Scripture” and refusing to “conform to the agreed teaching and discipline of the Anglican faith.”

Archbishop Gregory Venables of the Southern Cone has appointed the Rev. Ed den Blaauwen to serve as vicar general in Quincy, according to Episcopal News Service. The former bishop of Quincy, Keith Ackerman, abruptly resigned on Nov. 1, citing ill health.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, Duncan was re-elected to lead his former diocese, which had voted Oct. 4 to realign with the Southern Cone. Duncan is also head of the Anglican Communion Network, a loose-knit umbrella group for conservative Episcopalians.

“It’s good to be back,” Duncan said, according to Episcopal News Service. “The most important thing now is to move beyond our conflict with the leadership of the Episcopal Church and turn all of our energies toward living as Christians and effectively sharing the good news of God’s love and mercy for all people in the places God has put us.”

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Atheists to launch bus ads on D.C. buses

WASHINGTON (RNS) A new holiday ad from the American Humanist Association (AHA) declaring “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake” will be featured on buses in Washington, D.C., beginning Nov. 18.

“We are declaring loudly and clearly an important part of the humanist ethical message,” said Fred Edwords, director of communications for AHA. “All of us can have moral values as a natural result of who we are as a species and who we have become as a civilization.”

The $40,000 ad campaign is not necessarily targeting religious people or challenging their beliefs, officials said, but rather is an attempt to reach existing atheists and agnostics to let them know they are not alone, Edwords said.

“We are trying to speak in a language that our people would understand,” he added.

The signs direct people to a Web site that helps atheists connect to others like them in the Washington area and around the country. “We just want to reach those open to this message but unaware of how widespread their views really are,” Edwords said.

Other organizations have been running similar campaigns in other cities. Jan Meshon, president and founder of FreeThoughtAction, has helped launch billboard ads in New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Kansas City, Mo., with several on the way in Denver and Colorado Springs.

In London, an atheist group tried _ and failed _ to raise nearly $50,000 for a two-week ad campaign for the city’s iconic red buses that said, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and get on with your life.”

While many people might be offended by the ads, Meshon admits, people who do not believe in a god will be “overjoyed to see their point of view represented so well in the nation’s capital.”

_ Ashley Gipson

Quote of the Day: Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy

(RNS) “Everybody needs a day of rest and a day to worship if they choose. That’s the best business decision I ever made. We do more business in six days than our competition does in seven days.”

_ Truett Cathy, founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, who was named the winner of the 2008 William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership on Friday (Nov. 7). Cathy’s more than 1,400 restaurants are closed on Sundays. He was quoted by Baptist Press.

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