WHAT? You cant serve, you don't believe in Jesus.

Sing it with me.

My big sky daddy

He's got class

He's got a face like a bulldog's ass.

SOUND OFF

In all seriousness, thanks for your service. I couldn't do what you do. And thanks to all our service members, left, right, believer or not. I may blaspheme at this website, but we really do appreciate everyone's service, no matter who they are. You all are the reason we can rant and bitch at each other.

I went through the Air Force boot camp. The physical stuff was easy for me, but I failed out because of the emotional immaturity I had at the time. I joined way too young and for all the wrong reasons. And after my teen years of taking everything personally from everyone, from my parents, to teachers to the kids on my block, being yelled at from 5 am to 10pm was too much for me.

If I knew then what I know now I probably would have made it. I was way too sensitive and was my own worst enemy in taking things personally.

I give kudos to anyone who can handle it and wish I had been more well prepared and wish I had done it for myself rather than doing it because others thought it would be good for me.

I was too emotional and took everything way too personally at the time I joined. Looking back at it now I am glad I failed out because if I had stayed in all that emotional build up could have developed into some serious mental problems.

I do not think everyone is suited for service just like a midget who is 4 feet tall will not kick a 60 yard field goal in the Super Bowl. They might be great at other things, like science, or business, or art. Not being able to do one thing doesn't make you bad, it just means you are not suited for that thing.

I am a physical wimp and would be horrible in a foxhole. But if you need me to pick apart a theists argument I am tough as nails. I have absolutely no fear when it comes to debate.

In any case, I am glad there is a military to protect me and am thankful to all the members, believers or not, combat or not. It is not that anyone should want to enjoy the prospect of killing someone in war, no one should want that. But I feel lucky enough to be protected so that I can type these words here without fear of being arrested by my government.

It would be nice if the world and it's nations didn't have weapons or military, but since that wont happen, at least I can live on the part of the planet that allows me to bitch without fear.

And to the believers in the military I thank you too, but that does not mean an atheists owes you an oath to your deity, or political party simply because you are in the military. Whomever is on the battlefield is fighting for the same thing regardless of politics or religion. Your goal is to complete the mission and make it home alive.

Thank you all for serving.

yeah, I'm active duty Navy, getting out in 10 months.  The only real story I have is from when I signed up.  The recruiter asked me for my religion, and I said "atheist" and said.  "Sooooo, 'no preference', right?" and I said "No, I have a preference, my preference is 'none'" and he looked at me like I just took a shit on his desk.  When I got my dogtags, it said "norelpref"... but then again, they'd also gotten my blood type wrong.

They also have this thing underway called the "evening prayer"  during which I was usually working on the flight deck, and I rarely ever heard it. In some cases, though, I was not actively engaged, and I always tried to make sure I was doing something disgusting or ungodly like taking a shit or beating off.. it's the little things that keep you sane on a 9 month deployment.

Also, I was approached by a chaplain during a mass casualty drill while embarked on the Kittyhawk.  I was a casualty, had a gaping chest wound strapped on, and as he approached, as a joke, I pointed at him and started screaming (the last thing a seriously injured guy wants to see is a chaplain)  and he had a short conversation with me in which I mostly joked with him.  Then he asked me if he'd see me in services, and my reply was "haha, you are SO barking up the wrong tree there, padre", I told him I was an atheist, and he acted as if he'd never met one, asked me if he could say "I'll pray for you" and I said, "you can say it, it just doesn't mean anything to me"  and he seemed pissed.

Mostly it's just the boredom that sucks, I actually LIKE arguing about this, and the only place I can find to have a decent argument about religion is online, and I think we all know how 'decent' those are.  The faithheads in the military just avoid the subject like they're gonna catch something from me, like it's a disease, but other than that, they just throw the occasional joke my way like "I'd make you swear on a bible, but I know how contact with holy stuff makes your skin sizzle" and I fire right back with "where's your messiah now?" everytime I win some small victory.  It's all in good fun.  I had a very close friend of mine tell me he wanted to avoid the conversation because his faith was not very strong to begin with, and he didn't want to know that there was no god.  In the interest of our friendship, I left it at that.  Although everytime some obnoxiously religious shipmate pissed off the wrong person, they'd slip me a few bucks to make him cry.  That was fun.

in a conversation about homosexuality one of the aforementioned faith-rapists mentioned the bible passage in which homosexuality was condemned as an abomination.  My friend elbowed me and gave me his shit-eating grin, telling me I had permission to destroy the douchebag, so I started listing the other abominations in the bible such as premarital sex, adultery, working on the sabbath, shellfish, undercooked beef, and tattoos.  I chose these in particular because you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in the Navy who hasn't committed more than half of them.  Some are mandatory.