Dear (name withheld),
There are plenty of atheists in foxholes – proportionately more than there are in the general population. And we don’t appreciate symbols that promote one religion over other, or over none, being used by the civil government that we all pay for and share. Would you like it if you were assigned to a military unit that made you wear a patch that said something contrary to your conscience and your beliefs? The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is opposed to this symbol because the civil government belongs to us all (not just fundamentalist Christians) and should not be forcing anyone to wear any religious symbol or participate in any religious event. What if that patch had a pentagram and said “For Satan and Humanity”? There are Satanists in the Army, so why not? Or a blank patch that said “Hey look, it’s God!”. That’d be pretty funny to me. Why shouldn’t I be able to force believers to wear a patch that contradicts their mythology? Or a big hammer and a message to “Bow before Thor!” Your religion isn’t special and doesn’t deserve any special status at any level of a civil government.
“And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.” – James Madison, Author of the godless US Constitution.
Sergeant Dustin Chalker
