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Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats
By NEELA BANERJEE
Published: April 26, 2008
FORT RILEY, Kan. — When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last
July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was
excited, he said, to see an officer attending.
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Ed Zurga for The New York Times
Specialist Jeremy Hall, 23, outside Fort Riley, Kan., where he has
been stationed since being sent home early from Iraq because of
threats from fellow soldiers.
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Kevin Moloney for The New York Times
Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation,
talking to cadets at the Air Force Academy.
But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began
to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism,
Specialist Hall wrote in a sworn statement. "People like you are not
holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding
fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!" Major Welborn said,
according to the statement.
Major Welborn told the soldiers he might bar them from re-enlistment
and bring charges against them, according to the statement.
Last month, Specialist Hall and the Military Religious Freedom
Foundation, an advocacy group, filed suit in federal court in Kansas,
alleging that Specialist Hall's right to be free from state
endorsement of religion under the First Amendment had been violated
and that he had faced retaliation for his views. In November, he was
sent home early from Iraq because of threats from fellow soldiers.
Eileen Lainez, a spokeswoman for the Defense Department, declined to
comment on the case, saying, "The department does not discuss pending
litigation."
Specialist Hall's lawsuit is the latest incident to raise questions
about the military's religion guidelines. In 2005, the Air Force
issued new regulations in response to complaints from cadets at the
Air Force Academy that evangelical Christian officers used their
positions to proselytize. In general, the armed forces have
regulations, Ms. Lainez said, that respect "the rights of others to
their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs."
To Specialist Hall and other critics of the military, the guidelines
have done little to change a culture they say tilts heavily toward
evangelical Christianity. Controversies have continued to flare,
largely over tactics used by evangelicals to promote their faith.
Perhaps the most high-profile incident involved seven officers,
including four generals, who appeared, in uniform and in violation of
military regulations, in a 2006 fund-raising video for the Christian
Embassy, an evangelical Bible study group.
"They don't trust you because they think you are unreliable and might
break, since you don't have God to rely on," Specialist Hall said of
those who proselytize in the military. "The message is, `It's a
Christian nation, and you need to recognize that.' "
Soft-spoken and younger looking than his 23 years, Specialist Hall
began a chapter of the Military Association of Atheists and
Freethinkers at Camp Speicher, near Tikrit, to support others like him.
At the July meeting, Major Welborn told the soldiers they had
disgraced those who had died for the Constitution, Specialist Hall
said. When he finished, Major Welborn said, according to the
statement: "I love you guys; I just want the best for you. One day you
will see the truth and know what I mean."
Major Welborn declined to comment beyond saying, "I'd love to tell my
side of the story because it's such a false story."
But Timothy Feary, the other soldier at the meeting, said in an e-mail
message: "Jeremy is telling the truth. I was there and witnessed
everything."
It is unclear how widespread religious discrimination or proselytizing
is in the armed forces, constitutional law experts and leaders of
veterans' groups said. No one has independently studied the issue, and
service members are reluctant to come forward because of possible
backlash, those experts said.
There are 1.36 million active duty service members, according to the
Pentagon, and since 2005, it has received 50 formal complaints of
religious discrimination, Ms. Lainez said.
In an e-mail statement, Bill Carr, the Defense Department's deputy
under secretary for military personnel policy, said he "saw near
universal compliance with the department's policy."
But Mikey Weinstein, a retired Air Force judge advocate general and
founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said the
official statistics masked the great number of those who do not report
violations for fear of retribution. Since the Air Force Academy
scandal began in 2004, Mr. Weinstein said, he has been contacted by
more than 5,500 service members and, occasionally, military families
about incidents of religious discrimination. He said 96 percent of the
complainants were Christians, and the majority of those were Protestants.
Complaints include prayers "in Jesus' name" at mandatory functions,
which violates military regulations, and officers proselytizing
subordinates to be "born again." After getting the complainants' unit
and command information, Mr. Weinstein said, he calls his contacts in
the military to try to correct the situation.
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Kevin Moloney for The New York Times
At center, the chapel at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. In
2005, new rules went into effect after cadets complained that
evangelical Christian officers proselytized on campus.
"Religion is inextricably intertwined with their jobs," Mr. Weinstein
said. "You're promoted by who you pray with."
Specialist Hall came to atheism after years as a Christian. He was
raised Baptist by his grandmother in Richlands, N.C., a town of fewer
than 1,000 people. She read the Bible to him every night, and he said
he joined the Army "to make something of myself."
"I thought going to Iraq was right because we had God on our side," he
said in an interview near Fort Riley.
In the summer of 2005, after his first deployment to Iraq, Specialist
Hall became friends with soldiers with atheist leanings. Their
questions about faith prompted him to read the Bible more closely,
which bred doubts that deepened over time.
"There are so many religions in the world," he said. "Everyone thinks
he's right. Who is right? Even people who are Christians think other
Christians are wrong."
Specialist Hall said he did not advertise his atheism. But his views
became apparent during his second deployment in 2006. At a
Thanksgiving meal, someone at his table asked everyone to pray.
Specialist Hall did not join in, explaining to a sergeant that he did
not believe in God. The sergeant got angry, he said, and told him to
go to another table.
After his run-in with Major Welborn, Specialist Hall did not file a
complaint with the Army's Equal Opportunity Office because, he said,
he was mistrustful of his superior officers. Instead, he told leaders
of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, who put him
in touch with Mr. Weinstein. In November 2007, Specialist Hall was
sent home early from Iraq after being repeatedly threatened by other
soldiers. "I caution you that although your `legal' issues are yours
and yours alone, I have heard many people disagree with you, and this
may be a cause for some of the perceived threats," wrote Sgt. Maj.
Kevin Nolan in Specialist Hall's counseling for his departure.
Though with a different unit now at Fort Riley, Specialist Hall said
the backlash had continued. He has a no-contact order with a sergeant
who, without provocation, threatened to "bust him in the mouth."
Another sergeant allegedly told Specialist Hall that as an atheist, he
was not entitled to religious freedom because he had no religion.
Responding to questions about Specialist Hall's experience at Fort
Riley, the staff judge advocate, Col. Arnold Scott, said in an e-mail
message, "In accordance with Army policy, Fort Riley is committed to
ensuring the rights of all its soldiers are protected, including those
of Specialist Hall."
Civilian courts in the past have been reluctant to take on military
cases, and the Justice Department has yet to respond to Specialist
Hall's lawsuit.
"Even if it doesn't go through, I stood up," Specialist Hall said. "I
don't think it is futile."
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