{"id":3576,"date":"2007-09-19T11:31:35","date_gmt":"2007-09-19T17:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/impeachforpeace.org\/impeach_bush_blog\/?p=3576"},"modified":"2017-05-21T03:49:15","modified_gmt":"2017-05-21T09:49:15","slug":"pentagon-sued-over-mandatory-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/impeachforpeace.org\/blog\/2007\/09\/pentagon-sued-over-mandatory-christianity\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Sued Over Mandatory Christianity"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>By Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t<\/p>\n

A military watchdog organization filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday against the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and a US Army major, on behalf of an Army soldier stationed in Iraq. The suit charges the Pentagon with widespread constitutional violations by allegedly trying to force the soldier to embrace evangelical Christianity and then retaliating against him when he refused.<\/p>\n

The complaint, filed in US District Court in Kansas City, by the nonprofit Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), on behalf of Jeremy Hall, an Army specialist currently on active duty in Speicher, Iraq, alleges that Hall’s First Amendment rights were violated beginning last Thanksgiving when, because of his atheist beliefs, he declined to participate in a Christian prayer ceremony commemorating the holiday.<\/p>\n

“Immediately after plaintiff made it known he would decline to join hands and pray, he was confronted, in the presence of other military personnel, by the senior ranking … staff sergeant who asked plaintiff why he did not want to pray, whereupon plaintiff explained because he is an atheist,” says the lawsuit, a copy of which was provided to Truthout. “The staff sergeant asked plaintiff what an atheist is and plaintiff responded it meant that he (plaintiff) did not believe in God. This response caused the staff sergeant to tell plaintiff that he would have to sit elsewhere for the Thanksgiving dinner. Nonetheless, plaintiff sat at the table in silence and finished his meal.”<\/p>\n

(Original Article)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t A military watchdog organization filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday against the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and a US Army major, on behalf of an Army soldier stationed in Iraq. 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