Refusing.the.guy.was.one.of.the.stupidest.actions.I've.ever.heard!

Who the hell dictated that it be PUT BACK IN the oath?

Actually, I've wondered about how this branch of our military had gone down it's bible-thumping path to start with. I used to be a proud veteran of the USAF. Now I only claim to be a Veteran. It appears I'd feel woefully out of place if I was still serving in the AF in recent decades.

they have the Blue ANGELS
their academy has been a rabid Bible (t)humping Christian nut house for years

The title doesn't belong there.

keeping that title on our money and in our Pledge of Allegiance should be unconstitutional because, in my opinion, it's in violation of the "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" part of the First Amendment.

...so help me FSM?

Next time this comes up, put the onus on them:
"What do you have against the WW2 version?"

Mandatory piety was written in to both during the 1950's, when it was an easy, grandstanding, middle-finger against the forced-atheism Soviets.

Soviets are gone, but the middle finger is still raised.

it has appeared on coinage as far back as the 1800s and continuously on all coins since 1938. (In the case of the penny and dime, the motto has appeared continuously since 1909 and 1916 respectively).

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to go away.

Still, the people I've encountered who get the most outraged that anyone even thinks it should be removed (or even "demoted&quot are the ones who lazily think these things come straight from the Founding Fathers. So on the occasions they insist on foaming off on this in my presence, I'm inclined to give them a wedgie.

Thus the simple question: "What do you have against the WW2 version?"

Just getting a jump to be ahead of Faux News

Possible Banners:
- Is the Military Discriminating Against Christians/People of Faith?
- Did the Military Buckle Under Pressure from Radical Atheists?
- What's Wrong with 'So Help Me God'?
- Compromise on 'So Help Me God'! What's next in the war on Christians?
- etcetera

Oh.. and some tie in to this being part of the war on Christmas

and why Ebola is coming and why you can't find the other sock after you do laundry.

S/he is quite fearsome:

The bible thumping bullshit needs to be removed from all levels of Government.

A person testifying in court is not required to 'raise your right hand, place your left hand on the bible and repeat after me...' "blah, blah, blah...so help me god." All you have to do is promise to tell the truth.

Way back in the Stone Age (aka the 1970s) when I took the oath, I could affirm and leave off the religious crap. Which I did. And so did the majority of folks there with me.

There's no mention of trench coats in AFI 36-2903

Oh sorry, were you being sarcastic?

That monster was dropped years ago. Good riddance, it was about as warm as a tax auditor's heart.

Hence the old saying: "If you have to explain it,...."

The Air Farce.

The worst thing that ever happened to the Air Force, other than the demented religious fanatics who took it over, was getting cut loose from the Army.

I'm sure the Army has always regretted that.

They called us 'dumb-ass tankers' for a reason...

The Army was probably glad to be shut of the Zoomers -- tended to be an arrogant bunch, says de ole AF sarge.

that this type of religious fundamentalism is more of a problem in the Air Force then the other branches of service. I noticed that the military religious freedom group spends the majority of the time on the Air Force instead of the Army and the Navy. Am I correct? And if I am correct why is that the case.

When hubby and I were wearing the Blue (60's to 80's), Them What Be in Charge were usually very careful about staying out of faces about religion or lack thereof. One of the very few things they didn't hassle the worker bees about. I am shocked that they've started this crap; guaranteed to stir up trouble -- as it happened. As to why, possible some fundies got into power positions.

I'm wondering what happened to the airman who was refused reenlistment.

of rightwing religious lunatics.

Nothing says Armageddon like an ICBM with 9 individually targeted 5 megaton warheads. If you are one of the horny for the end of the world types.........

I was all set to join and serve my country like my family has for 6 generations but now I REFUSE to.

those words if you chose to. If that's all it takes for you to back out, maybe you're not military material, or you could just be blowing smoke.

yet I'm sure you think the military is about "defending freedom."

You want to enlist and say "So..." at the conclusion of the oath, no one is going to make a BFD about it.

But you knew that, didn't you.

I'm sure you were.

What the military does not need are soldiers who are zealots.

In fact, I would rather say "Amen" than "so help me God" just because to me, Amen merely means "So be it".

Arrrr...

can I just say science and a college education is required of most pilots? I'm sure there are many religious pilots, but some will be too smart for that.

"Why the hell am I in a foxhole and why did the asshole deity put me here and why is it letting/causing all these people to die in a war?"

Met pilots who were devout; never met any who believed a guardian angel was keeping them air worthy.

I served 28.5 years in the military, and was involved in untold numbers of updates and re-writes to regulations, instruction, norices and policy manuals. I guarantee you that what happened was some idiot omitted the option to leave out "So Help Me god" from the regulation, and the "effing" 100-200 page instruction got signed out.

Now, in my case, if I were reenlisting a Sailor, and they opted to "Swear, or Affirm", or opted to omit stating "So Help Me God", I would have simply left it out, and gone about my business.

I would bet you a million dollars, that some asshat Officer or NCO tried to insist that the Oath had to be said that way, with those specific words, and made a big stink about it. I will also bet you that after it reached someone with a little seniority and reason, said Officer or NCO participated in a slightly uncomfortable "one-way-conversation".

Bottom line is that it didn't have to get to this level, and I guarantee you it got to this level because of some Wingnut Officer or NCO who saw an opportunity to promote their agenda.

One of the most important lessons I learned from one of my great leaders was that there is a correct way to do something, and a right way to do something, and they aren't always the same.