Leo Shane III wrote an article in Stars and Stripes, a military newspaper, about a coalition of atheists and agnostics. This group wants to change military procedures to stop religious discrimination against the areligious:
The coalition…wants President-elect Obama to develop a new directive for all chaplains and commanders that eliminates public prayers from any mandatory-attendance events for troops and ensures the Defense Department will not endorse any single religion, or even the idea of religion over nonreligion.
…About one-fifth of current servicemembers identify themselves as having no religious preference, according to Defense Department statistics.
Only a small percentage of troops identify themselves as atheists or agnostics, but [retired solider and president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers Jason] Torpy said that’s because they fear retribution. Without new rules, he said, there isn’t any guarantee they can avoid that kind of treatment.
“We’re as dedicated to the military as our Christian counterparts,” he said. “We just want to serve our country, too.”
Read the full article here.