LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This article about the Pat Tillman debacle illustrates the problems with Christian supremacy in the military. It also illustrates how atheists and other outsiders are treated by the Christianized command:

As an institution, does the American military exist solely to defend America or does it perhaps also have an obligation to promote Christianity? More than a few Christians in America seem to want to use the American military to promote Christianity, both to people in the military and abroad. Even worse, President George W. Bush may share these views on some level.

America's secular government is not compatible with a religious military that has a religious mission. If the military is used in any way to promote, foster, or encourage religious beliefs, then it will be acting to undermine not just secular, civil government, but also a religiously pluralistic society in America. The American military must remain neutral with respect to all religions, treating people of all religions and no religion equally. How can atheists or religious minorities trust the military to protect them or to protect secular government, for example, if the military is also promoting Christianity?

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It should be noted that the Tillman family hasn't said whether they are atheists or not. They may be, or they may not be. They aren't Christians and whatever their beliefs are, they seem to tend towards secularism and humanism rather than supernatural religion. Pat Tillman's brother Rich certainly seems to be an atheist because at his brother's funeral, Rich said: "Pat isn't with God. He's f -- ing dead. He wasn't religious. So thank you for your thoughts, but he's f -- ing dead."

Ultimately, though, it doesn't really matter if Pat Tillman was an atheist or not, or if anyone else in his family is an atheist or not. The fact that they are not Christians and are perceived as atheists by Christians in the military was sufficient for them to be treated as inferior to Christians. [emphasis mine] The religious, anti-atheist bigotry is there regardless of whether it was directly at genuine atheists. For Christian Supremacists, it doesn't matter whether someone is really an atheist or not; all that matters is that one isn't a real Christian.

More about the poor treatment of atheists and non-Christians in the military can be found here.