Atheists Want Guard to Stop Bible Handouts. What is your opinion?

SGT (Join to see) I agree. However, in this case the chaplains are not forcing you to read the Bible or believe. They just offer literature for those who want it. Everyone has the right to decide for themselves. You took it a bit too far in my opinion. If you want to make this country an atheist country they wait until I am dead to do so. The founding fathers created this country due to religious persecution. So are the atheist here not persecuting? What happened to freedom of religion guaranteed in the first amendment? Just because something offends someone does not mean you should change it can go both ways. It says just because.....well I am offended that they are trying to take away my religion in the military. If both sides are offended by the other then what happens? Republicans offended by Democrats and vice versa......I agree that some things should change, but not just because it offends someone. We changed so much because it might offend someone. Oh well get a thicker skin...we will always offend someone by doing something. We can never make everyone happy and we will not be happy if we try to bend over backwards trying to do so. I am offended by the spineless people in the world, but I stand ready to defend my country and the freedoms is stands for. So to all those spineless people I am offended, but I will deal with it as it is your right to be spineless just as much as it is my right to stand up and say that I am a Christian and I believe that Jesus came down to die for our sins so that we may live in heaven with him.

This issue, is not that they are available. It is that they are published in government contracted facilities, and issued, as I have experienced as mandatory items in the gear inventory. I , personally do not object to someone buying or receiving their own publicly published tome. Any institution of the American government needs to maintain the fair definition of the Constitution. No one religion can be considered superior than another. As an atheist I understand them to be all the same: unnecessary.
The idea that atheist are offende by this theocentrism is true,but to insist that the atheist should tolerate the behavior and remarks by the intolerant religious does not make sense. To consider atheist extremist is bizarre as well because our philosophy encompasses everyone else's. We do not have gods like some people seem to need.

I understand, Sir. And for argument's sake, we can view it another way. You made a poignant statement when you replied with the following:

"I am offended that they are trying to take away my religion in the military".

This is basically the same argument that folks who want Creationism taught in school use. And if you break it down, it makes little sense.
The implication is that the only important observance for your lord occurs during business hours, and on the government's dime. Are these particular hours "peak time" for religious salvation? What would we think of a Muslim rolling out the prayer mat during a formation? Not much.
So, it begs the question, is this really about religion at all? Or is this about majority power? How much of this issue is about Christianity, and how much is about the human tendency for the love of outrage? (See Ferguson) I have to ask myself this question often.

SGT (Join to see) I fully support anyone to attend whatever religious services that they want to in order to meet their religious needs or to not attend if they do not desire. I had a buddy of mine who roomed with me until his family moved up during ECCC that was Muslim. He did prayers throughout the day and as long as the instruction allowed he attended his religious service on Fridays. I got to learn a lot more about his religion through him to add to the knowledge I had by asking the local DVD salesman in Afghanistan. I am not opposed to other practicing. I am opposed to those who I feel are going after my right to practice my religion. It is only know that I see, thanks to SGT Jon Henri Matteau, about publishing utilizing government facilities. They also publish other religious materials as well to meet all religious needs. It is not the governments position to require you to pick a religion, hence why there is no religious material for atheist as they do not believe in a god. If they did they would have much literature to choice from. I can see both sides of offering to all Soldiers to meet their religious needs, but I can also see from your perspective that you are utilizing government money and facilities to publish religious material. Though they publish various religions' religious materials it does seem to appear that they are supporting religion as a whole.

As far as your statement SGT (Join to see) I do not think it is the same argument as Creationism in schools, but in reality they do have a valid point that if evolution is taught should not the other viewpoints be taught as viewpoints, not as religion or fact, but as options to better educate our children to the varies theories? There are few that question that Jesus lived or that Moses lived. There are places that teach about that time in history and that some believe Jesus is the Son of God, others that he was a prophet and others that he was just a man famous in that era. You can teach it without teaching it as religion.

About the religion vs. majority power I would agree that it is often the minority that end up having more power. If one person objects to a joke that they find offensive they can put in an EO complaint and it will be dealt with (or should be). If one person feels that something was sexual in nature and harassment it is a SHARP incident (and many times it should be). If one group cannot vote their is a movement to give them the right to vote (and they should). Things have changed to where many minorities have freedoms and tax breaks that "majorities" already had and sometimes even more breaks and freedoms than the majorities. Sometimes it counts against you to be in the "majority" as a white male almost everyone else in the world could qualify for the same scholarships that I was able to qualify to apply for. They were not based on religion or skin color or gender. They were based on grade, major, other academic factors, or for ROTC scholarship if you were applying. However, I was not eligible for the child of a two lesbian parents who was Jewish and left-handed. I was surprised to see that as I never met anyone who had qualified for that one, but the point is there is so many more scholarships out there for disadvantaged families than the families who are just getting by. While I cannot speak for everyone (nor would I try) I can speak for myself when I say it is more about religion and just letting each practice their own religion and stop attacking those who practice or do not practice and let us exercise the First Amendment than anything to do with the majority power. Once again there may be people who disagree with me, but that is what it is for me.

Lets say someone offers me the Koran, or a sequel to Star Wars. It is up to me to engage it. I will choose accept, decline, or politely put it one a table somewhere because I am not interested. Ultimately, it is a very personal decision what I choose to do with the offer.

It is kind of sad having to parse words with regards to one's own values and beliefs. SSG (Join to see)

I don't think that asking uniformed service members to avoid proselytized is an unreasonable request. It's not hypocritical so long as we atheists show the same respect in return by not disrupting your spiritual beliefs. For the most part, I refuse to dispute another persons spiritual beliefs until they become insulting or intrusive toward my individual theological perspective. Then and only then I might, but only to prove that they are totally incapable of making it seem that my being Godless means that I am also soulless or brainless to those who may have the privilege to bear witness to the debacle.

SPC D W Again, you're branching out on your discussion - "against the guard having chaplains". My comment was specifically that the guard should not be issuing Bibles - period. I made no comment regarding the chaplain corps.

SERIOUSLY SPC D W ? JFC! Here, let me fill out your Chaplain's visit chit so you can go visit them to find out what they do besides hand out Bibles.

SPC D W You might have a better understanding of what chaplains actually do - meh - it's of no importance. However, I can assure you that anyone visiting the chaplain can ask for a bible and receive one. However, having a special table set up in a receiving area, deployment area - no. Time and place.

Relatively simple. Religion shouldn't be taught in school. Nor, for that matter, should philosophy as religion, to include a teacher's opinion of Humanism.
It doesn't require some ancient book, or some church, or philosophical ideology to teach children that it hurts to get bitten, so don't bite. Or it sucks to have something stolen, so don't steal. Kids learn this all by themselves. If a parent wants their kids to learn about a particular religion, let the parent take care of it. Contrary to prevailing opinion of lazy parents everywhere, who believe that it's the school's responsibility to teach their child everything, it's the parents who ultimately need to do their damn jobs.

Personally, all of y'all who are pushy about your beliefs are treading on mine.
But you don't hear me crying about it.
So get over yourselves and find a new gripe or just do something constructive and help out your fellow American.

The National Guard should not be in the business of handing out religious materials period. Their mission is to protect and defend the citizens and properties of their respective states. Leave the distributions of religious materials to religious institutions.