Soldier: Army blocked promotion over religion

[wautd]

This might get interesting

TOPEKA, Kansas (AP) -- A soldier claimed Wednesday that his promotion was blocked because he had claimed in a lawsuit that the Army was violating his right to be an atheist.

Attorneys for Spc. Jeremy Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation refiled the federal lawsuit Wednesday in Kansas City, Kansas, and added a complaint alleging that the blocked promotion was in response to the legal action.

The suit was filed in September but dropped last month so the new allegations could be included. Among the defendants are Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Hall alleges he was denied his constitutional right to hold a meeting to discuss atheism while he was deployed in Iraq with his military police unit. He says in the new complaint that his promotion was blocked after the commander of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley sent an e-mail post-wide saying Hall had sued.

Fort Riley spokeswoman Alison Kohler said the post "can't comment on ongoing legal matters" and offered no further statement.

According to the lawsuit, Hall was counseled by his platoon sergeant after being informed that his promotion was blocked. He says the sergeant explained that Hall would be "unable to put aside his personal convictions and pray with his troops" and would have trouble bonding with them if promoted to a leadership position.

Hall responded that religion is not a requirement of leadership, even though the sergeant wondered how he had rights if atheism wasn't a religion. Hall said atheism is protected under the Army's chaplain's manual.

"It shouldn't matter if one is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist," said Pedro Irigonegaray, an attorney whose firm filed the lawsuit. "In the military, all are equal and to be considered equal."

Maj. Freddy J. Welborn was named in the lawsuit as the officer who prevented Hall from holding a meeting of atheists and non-Christians. It alleges that Welborn threatened to file military charges against Hall and to block his re-enlistment. Welborn has denied the allegations.

The lawsuit alleges that Gates permits a military culture in which officers are encouraged to pressure soldiers to adopt and espouse fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and in which activities by Christian organizations are sanctioned.

Hall's attorneys say Fort Riley has permitted a culture promoting Christianity and anti-Islamic sentiment, including posters quoting conservative columnist Ann Coulter and sale of a book, "A Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam," at the post exchange.

The Pentagon has said that the military values and respects religious freedoms, but that accommodating religious practices should not interfere with unit cohesion, readiness, standards or discipline.

Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of the religious freedom foundation, said the lawsuit would show the "almost incomprehensible national security risks to America" posed by the military's pattern of violating the religious freedom of those in uniform.

"It is beyond despicable, indeed wholly unlawful, that the United States Army is actively attempting to destroy the professional career of one of its decorated young fighting soldiers, with two completed combat tours in Iraq, simply because he had the rare courage to stand up for his constitutional rights," Weinstein said in a statement.

Weinstein previously sued the Air Force for acts he said illegally imposed Christianity on its students at the academy. A federal judge threw out that lawsuit in 2006.

[Medic]

The lawsuit alleges that Gates permits a military culture in which officers are encouraged to pressure soldiers to adopt and espouse fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and in which activities by Christian organizations are sanctioned.

That, the fundamental critique his lawyer posits, I can't seriously agree with. It's just not that widespread. The unit I was to deploy with before breaking my collarbone had a Christian fundamentalist and this made him a spectacle, not the norm, and it did not interfere with the function of the unit. If asked if he thought a non-baptized Christian would go to hell, even if he was a good person he said that "yeah, that's what scripture says" essentially, and this did not leave a GOOD impression. But neither did people really rankle him over it cause he was a good person and Soldier.

That being said, military culture fundamentally empowers any potential Christian-supremacist in a leadership position to be a raging, bigoted asshole and I don't doubt that that's what happened in his case. (and big surprise -- it's a fucking Major! ) That's just because of how authority works and that it isn't what you know or what you are half the time, it's WHO you know.

I mean, if you're say, a Master Sergeant [E8] and get a DUI but you're buddy-buddy with a Colonel... you'll simply be reassigned to a different brigade and get 1st Sergeant! (a lateral promotion, still [E8]) Of course, I haven't seen this happen. *GIANTFUCKINGROLLINGEYES*

[Wicked Pilot]

The enlisted promotion process can be pretty complicated and I'm not super fimiliar with every aspect of the system, but for the officer corp, up until about the Colonel or General ranks, it would be rather difficult to pull this kind of horseshit. With all the different supervisors writing performance reports, the nature of promotion boards, and the fact that it's not the individual that gets promoted but their paperwork, discrimination of this type would be ungodly difficult.

Anyway, Weinstein doesn't take any shit, if he and his organization gets involved things will get done.

[CmdrWilkens]

The enlisted promotion process can be pretty complicated and I'm not super fimiliar with every aspect of the system...With all the different supervisors writing performance reports, the nature of promotion boards, and the fact that it's not the individual that gets promoted but their paperwork, discrimination of this type would be ungodly difficult.

Its actually less so than you would think. The problem is that the local command always retains a small amount of control over promotions within the unit for ranks under the top 3 or 4 senior enlisted grades. By way of example take a guy in my unit. He was promoted to Corporal by the system but our 1st Sgt thought he was a fat jackass (he was overweight but was also on a no-PT chit and one of the best operators we had) so he refused to actually pin rank on the guy or hand over his warrant. When a review board found out that the guy hadn't been promoted formally yet (he was being paid as a Cpl) they ordered the 1st Sgt and the unit to promote him or provide justificaiton for holding off the promotion. This followed on some 6 months of back and forth over the weight issue before finally the 1st Sgt aceeded and promoted the guy...then turned around and convened a disciplinary hearing and had the guy busted back to LCpl 15 minutes after he received his promotion warrant.

So long story less long it IS possible for superior's to screw a guy over and that is just enlisted guys doing it not even with the weight of an officer to cockblock a promotion.

[Kitsune]

One difference I believe in the Army and the Navy is that you are locally promoted in the Army and is sounds that you can be busted by a lower authority.

In the Navy you have to have good evals but you are promoted (there are special promotions from the captain) based on Navywide tests. As well, the Captain of the ship is the only one who can actually take your rank. In general that means at least a commander.

Also, as long as you are in port you have the right to request court marshal. In general, you do not want a trial by your piers which are enlisted but by officers. In my early days, I was written up by a third class for stepping on his bunk (My bunk was above his.) I requested court marshal and it was dropped soon after, I believe because of this.