Airman denied reenlistment for not pledging “So help me god”
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Hey. I first off, want to say Thank You for all the work you do! You may remember helping me (Timothy Rose) last year at Little Rock AFB for the “spiritual pillar” on Wingman Day that only pertained to one belief system. Your hard work and persistence was appreciated, as the base had no choice but to provide FAIR and EQUAL presentations for all, by presenting religiously NEUTRAL information. Second, I am sure you have already heard, and in case you haven’t, I want you to be aware of the system that is at fault. Prior to October 2013, we were allowed to OMIT “so help me god”, and was completely legal in doing so. But in October, a change to AFI 36-2606 now states: Reference to Paragraph 5.6. Active Duty Oath of Enlistment MUST READ: “All Airmen enlisting or reenlisting must take the following oath: I, (State your full name), 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.” 30 October 2013. It is now mandatory for it to be said, causing many of other gods or no gods to be falsifying their oath. What good is an oath if it is not 100% believed and true to the person? We fight for our constitutional rights, using an unconstitutional oath! I am not personally affected by this, but next year I will be reenlisting and I hope to see this flawed system fixed before then! Thanks
(name withheld)
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I have spoken to several Military and Civilian lawyers and they say that Congress nor the AF can force anyone to swear or affirm to a deity, that is also against the law (NO RELIGIOUS TEST). The AFI is an instruction, not a regulation and subject to deviation when warranted. In this case, the lawyers have said they believe it was either an administrative oversight or the person that ordered the AFI modified did so without approval from the CSAF (who would never order such a change, right Chief?) or higher authority. Commanders would be out of their minds to enforce this horrific error; and if they don’t believe they could be punished for enforcing it, they got another thing coming.
Given the overtly dominionist religious climate lately with MRFF’s Mikey Weinstein on guard, I bet the ink on the immediate change coming forth-with to the AFI won’t be dry before Mickey attacks with the full extent of the law.
HSBM, if this doesn’t get fixed quick there’s gonna be even bigger problems for the Air Force. Just when they may be finally making headway with the rape and suicide problems (don’t be fooled, these will never be totally resolved), here comes the dominionists again. Have no fear, the new EPR system will fix everything!