Oath Oaf: Religious Right Columnist Calls for Religious Tests in Military
Bryan Fischer, the director of issues analysis for the American Family Association (AFA) is like a demented, right-wing geyser: You can count on him to pop off regularly.
Fischer’s latest eruption is quite a doozy. In a Sept. 10 column provocatively titled, “No atheist should be permitted to serve in the U.S. military,” Fischer argues that, well, no atheist should be permitted to serve in the U.S. military.
“There is no place in the United States military for those who do not believe in the Creator who is the source of every single one of our fundamental human and civil rights,” Fischer writes. “Serving in the military is a privilege, not a constitutional right. And it should be reserved for those who have America’s values engraved on their hearts.”
He adds, “A man who doesn’t believe in the Creator the Founders trusted certainly can live in America without being troubled for being a fool. But he most certainly should not wear the uniform.”
The AFA’s chief of cackle took up this rant after the American Humanist Association (AHA) publicized the case of an anonymous airman in Nevada who was denied the ability to reenlist because he refused to take an oath ending in “So help me God.”
As the Air Force Times reported, “The airman was told his only options were to sign the religious oath section of the contract without adjustment and recite an oath concluding with ‘so help me God,’ or leave the Air Force, the AHA said.”
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