Do USA military troops put down their religion in writing when they fill out the paperwork to join the military services? According to the November 7, Sacramento Bee newspaper article, Massacre reignites fears of collective payback, "Of the roughly 548,000 soldiers in the U.S. Army, there are 2,500 Muslims, 1,500 of them on active duty. By comparison, 105,000 claim Roman Catholicism as their religion, and 99,000 say they’re Baptists. More than 1,800 soldiers say they’re Jewish, surpassed by the nearly 2,500 who identified themselves as atheists. More than 101,000 list no religious affiliation."
Is it true than when a person joins the military services it’s because that individual wants to someday be a hero/heroine? What do soldiers want when it comes to putting down their religion in writing in some official record? What if they want to try out all the religions and compare them before choosing?
That’s just the statistics for the Army, not the other military branches such as Coast Guard, National Guard, Navy, Air Force, or Marines. Are the troops reluctant to put down in writing their private religious beliefs? Shouldn’t religion be the person’s business and not the military? The reason the services ask is to find out what kind of services the soldier wants when he’s buried, should he be killed or injured while on active duty. Some people request visits by religious clergy when they are hospitalized or sent home with serious wounds, or want counseling related to their religious preferences.
Anyone can put down on paper any religion or no religion. In the past during World War 1 and II, some soldiers felt intimidated because of their declared faith, either from their commanding officers or from other troops. For example, view the interview with a WW2 veteran who commented on his commanding officer asking him what his religion was, which he thought was out of bounds to even ask during a states-side office visit or interview. Watch the interview with the WW2 veteran, social worker, and book author. Internet Archive: Free Download: Video/Audio-Interview-WW2-Veteran.
A soldier’s religion is the soldier’s business, not the business of the soldier’s faith, religion, or lack of a religion. But the big question is, what should a commanding officer do when a soldier writes down he is not affiliated with any religion, and then is told by the media or others that he attends a house of worship frequently and is a very devout member of whatever particular faith he attends? How can the soldier’s privacy be respected? And if the soldier says one thing on paper and does another, is that a sign of fear of collective payback if he chooses a religion that is not popular with his colleagues in the service?
That’s a question to ponder. It’s okay to be saying you don’t have a religions preference, that you believe organized religion hasn’t been kind to women historically, or that you insist on freedom from religion for yourself. What soldiers don’t like is when their buddies in the service try to convert them to whatever branch of whatever religion on the idea that that person’s gospel commands them to go out and convert as many people as they can — to any religion or freedom from religion. That’s when the guy’s arm touches his neighbor’s nose. The soldier in the next office already has his own religion. If he wants another one, he has the common sense to find another faith or none.
When your faith extends to trying to influence the soldier next to you who has his own faith or preference for no faith, that’s out of order. In other words, if your book of faith in your religion requires that you go out on a mission to change the faith or lack of faith of those around you, that’s where your power ends — where your neighbor’s beliefs begin.
The question remains, what do you say to a soldier who writes down no religions preferences, and then is seen attending a house of worship frequently and being very observant in any given faith or organized religion? Perhaps the answer to the question is to ask him whether he feels it okay to be open with the people he is in contact with daily to let the public know his religious beliefs, or whether it’s his right to keep it secret.
If the soldier’s religion is not popular with his buddies and team-mates, should he risk being teased about it? Most people respond with generalized views about any organized religion based on what that person’s religious book, rules, or teachings tell them to do to practice their religion. On the other hand, no one wants his or her religion hijacked by criminals or generalized.
The conclusion is, you have the right to choose any religion you want, to change it frequently, to sample all the religions, or to prefer no religion. As long as you treat others with respect and care for other people in an ethnical way, you can use common sense with or without religion.
You can trust in the life force, believe in love for all, or say you’ll stick with logic. But what you don’t want is to be another statistic signifying a study in contradiction. You also have the freedom from religion and the separation of religion and state on your side. So choose what makes you feel valued and what you value. It’s all about common sense. Unfortunately, sensability is not that common, or is it? The best scenario is separating the soldier from the idea of a religion, and separating the religion from the particular actions of any soldier.
In the end, we’ll find out we all came from and go to the same place. It’s genetic. We’re all related to a common ancestor. So live and let live. It’s not always the loners that go tangent, bizarre, or criminal, and it’s not always the extremely social, outgoing people that reveal their habits.
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