Army Chaplain Leaves Out "So Help Me God" In Reenlistment Ceremony With Atheist Soldier

Technically, yes... in reality, it depends on the situation. In my recent re-enlistment, which occurred in the past six months and AFTER that huge "Freedom of Religion" training the whole Air Force had to go through, I did not "repeat" my oath, I spoke it myself, after 18 years, I think I have it memorized. The cue to my commander should have been the word "affirm"... if you "swear", you finish "so help me God," if you "affirm," you don't. It's written right on the form and everything.

When I finished, he prompted "so help me God." I smiled politely. He prompted again... since I have to live with this commander for another two years, I went along with it... it irritated me, but oh well. While we all have had the training, it has not "sunk in" yet with many.

Honestly, I'm intrigued that this soldier chose to involve a chaplain in the re-enlistment... I feel very strongly that lately we as a military have put our Chaplains in a terrible position. They are "people of faith," which I have great respect for, sponsored by a religious entity and hired by the military, but the new, messy policy we have requires them to do things that may be against their avowed faith. In the end, I really believe we need to eliminate the office of Chaplain from our military, at the very least state-side. It is an area where church and state are muddled in a very messy way.

I can respect that people of faith might need ministering-to, but that is very very available off-base in most state-side locations. Overseas there might still be a need, but do those ministers really need to be in uniform?

Example-- in our recent "Freedom of Religion" training, the online training was given by uniformed chaplains. How can you ask a believer to say "It's perfectly fine to not believe" ??? You're asking them (ORDERING them) to speak against their belief. Even as a non-believer, I was bothered to see that happen.

But back to the topic. It's harder to "affirm" without "God" than it might seem. It's sort of like price-matching at Walmart... yes, they say they'll do it, but good luck actually making it happen. :)

Quotes from some of America's most famous founding fathers.

Thomas Jefferson
1)"We discover in the gospels a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstition, fanaticism and fabrication ."
2)"No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever." - Virginia Act for Religious Freedom
3)"Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the Common Law." -letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, 1814
4)"Gouverneur Morris had often told me that General Washington believed no more of that system (Christianity) than did he himself." -Thomas Jefferson, in his private journal, Feb. 1800

Benjamin Franklin
1)"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches." -in Poor Richard's Almanac
2)"In the affairs of the world, men are saved not by faith, but by the lack of it."
3)"I looked around for God's judgments, but saw no signs of them."

James Madison
1)"Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise."-letter to Wm. Bradford, April 1, 1774
2)"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries." -1803 letter objecting use of gov. land for churches

John Adams
1)"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."
2)"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and whole cartloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity."

Thomas Paine
1)"Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst."
2)"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."
3)"The story of Jesus Christ appearing after he was dead is the story of an apparition, such as timid imaginations can always create in vision, and credulity believe. Stories of this kind had been told of the assassination of Julius Caesar."
4)"The study of theology, as it stands in the Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authority; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion."

You need to take a crash coarse in the history of this country believer889. You have been misled by those around you. God and faith has never been what this country was founded on. There are numerous books that could give you an accurate portrait of our history in the library.