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I came across an article today on CNN about an Atheist U.S soldier filing a lawsuit on discrimination for his beliefs. I'm not going to summarize the whole article here, but I do want to add to it from what I see day to day in the Army and also give my support to him.

I remember when I was in my first few days of Reception in Basic Combat Training (BCT). We were all lined up waiting to receive our initial gear such as BDUs (uniforms), PTs (physical training uniforms), and so on. We eventually got to a station that required us to call out our religious preference for our dog tags and I was debating on what I should say. I kept going back and forth from Atheist to none and when it finally came my turn to call out, I shouted the latter.

I'm not sure why I chose to say none. I assume it was because I had heard how many people were religious before me, most having a Christian type preference, and I did not want to be the bait in a religious shark frenzy for 9 weeks.

So it's been a while since I wrote anything on here and there is really no reason for not doing so. I've had near holy visions lately of things to write and after I wrote it out in my head it simply disappeared. Maybe I should start writing it down on paper.

I planned on writing about war. Not a specific war because its becoming clearer to me that there are no separate wars. Just a continuing war that has lasted for more then a thousand years. But as I said, I planned on writing about that but now I really don't want too. Maybe later this week.

What I want to write about is my urge to have a simpler life. One that does not include the typical 9-5 type jobs or any job really.

This freaks many people out when I share this with them and they look at me as if I am crazy. Maybe I am crazy. Maybe we all are just a bit crazy and maybe this is because of these pointless lives we are living. It seems we are but robots going through the same routines day in and day out. We claim to be advanced in the animal kingdom and yet we cannot even get along with one another and we are destroying the Earth that is our very life force. We fret over bills that pile up and work jobs we hate just because it allows us to live with just a little debt. It's true madness.

How many times has it been said or reported on the importance of an all-volunteer force compared to a drafted one? To many to count, thats for sure.

It is true, in a sense, that people volunteer to "serve" their country for so many years and are allowed to be discharged (sometimes...have you ever heard of stop-loss?) after their term is complete.

But let's say that you find out that the military is no longer compatible with your belief structure, whether it's religious, moral, or ethical. Can you simply withdraw from your contract? Nope. Is it possible to be discharged for your beliefs? Yep. You just have to fill out some paperwork, answer some questions, submit the paperwork, go through 3 appointments, wait for a maximum of 6 months (unless they fuck you over and pin some type of UCMJ action on you), and finally receive an answer from a board that has never met you and judges whether you are sincere in your beliefs or not. If I remember correctly, a year or so back not even 50% of conscientious objectors that applied to be recognized as COs were approved.

This leads me to ask as to why they simply do not allow people to quit if they no longer wish to "volunteer," regardless if it is for conscientious objection or just because they simply want out. To me its clear that if they have to use fear tactics, "corrective training", or punishment to coerce people to stay and obey their "authority" that the whole volunteering aspect is gone and they are mere prisoners/slaves.

I'm not trying to get into a legal battle here because the deck is stacked against the individual soldier. From a soldiers outlook it is much safer to simply take an Article 15, regardless if he believes he did no wrong or is innocent, instead of taking it to a court martial where they are most likely to be found guilty and a harsher punishment could possibly be imposed. So there is no way I can argue this "legally."

All I'm trying to say and/or suggest is that if we say this is a volunteer army, then make it so. Stop making soldiers dance through flaming hoops in trying to prove their CO beliefs or forcing them on a path of misconduct to be discharged just so they can once again enjoy the freedom they are told constantly they are protecting. If the majority of the service members quit freely, if given the option, then it clearly shows there is something fucked up with the army.

Can't make up my mind...going back to the serendipity blog for a while it seems, so I should be writing on here soon. Check back.