A Soldier, An Atheist

Meet Specialist Jeremy Hall, an Army soldier who happens to be an atheist. He was sent home early from Iraq because he was threatened and mistreated after fellow soldiers, including an officer, found out he was an atheist.

Jeremy wasn't an atheist his whole life. He was a Christian who, through open dialog with "atheist leaning" soldiers in Iraq, began to question his faith and later broke free and became an atheist.

So let me get this straight....he voluntarily risked his life in the military, he carried the same gun and wore the same uniform as the other soldiers, but he couldn't get fair treatment because he was an atheist? In other words, he was judged by fellow Christians? Wow, sounds pretty hypocritical to me! It's all just so sad and pathetic. I can certainly empathize with Jeremy, considering I've dealt with the same crap.

See, I'm content to go through life just the way I am. I'm happy, and to me that's all that matters. But I'm not just happy with myself, I'm happy with my life and how I live it. I'm happy to know that I'm not vain or materialistic, but rather, I have enough to get by for now. And if I do have something I no longer need, I'm not quick to just toss it away, instead making a conscious decision to give it back to someone else. Amazing I can give so much of myself as well as find peace in my life and do it just because I want to. I don't do it for a church, or a god, or some old world belief system, or in the hopes it will get me to "heaven." I do it because I want to....and it feels great.

Here are a few quotes to ponder:

Thomas Aquinas: "Clearly the person who accepts the Church as an infallible guide will believe whatever the Church teaches."

Isaac Asimov: "If I am right, then religious fundamentalists will not go to Heaven, because there is no Heaven. If they are right, then they will not go to Heaven, because they are hypocrites."

Robert Green Ingersoll: "Give the church a place in the Constitution, let her touch once more the sword of power, and the priceless fruit of all ages will turn to ashes on the lips of men."

Arther C. Clarke: "The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion."