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2010-02-09

2010-01-19

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Monday, December 22, 2008 10:51 AM

We’re all atheists

By THE SALINA JOURNAL

When you hear about the teachings of Islam, do you embrace them? Do you believe that suicide bombers will suddenly be greeted in heaven by 72 virgins and all the celestial delights imaginable for eternity?

No? Then you’re an atheist to that religion.

It sounds absurd to you. It has no pull on you, no effect, other than it might make you scoff at how ridiculous those beliefs sound to your ears, which have, throughout your lifetime, most likely become accustomed to the Judeo-Christian beliefs here at home.

You’re an atheist.

Now you understand how that feels. When the beliefs of another group seem utterly implausible, we give them no credence and make no apology for it. Why would we? Those “other” beliefs are not based in reality. They couldn’t possibly have any historic value, because they’re simply untrue, right?

Spc. Dustin Chalker, a Fort Riley soldier who is suing the Department of Defense and Secretary Robert Gates over alleged violations of religious rights, is an atheist to the Christian faith. He feels the same way about Christianity that you probably feel toward the Islamic faith.

But the military has violated Chalker’s rights by allegedly forcing him to attend mandatory military formations where Christian prayers are given.

How would you feel if you were forced to listen to Islamic prayers? A little uncomfortable? A bit angry? Indignant?

Not only were Chalker’s rights violated (allegedly), but it seems the U.S. military has taken to proselytizing the enemy, which is illegal.

Videos discovered by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation show soldiers talking about their faith and the desire to spread Christianity to Muslims. The video shows missionaries, who were embedded with military units, handing out Bibles in the local language.

The head of the religious freedom foundation, Mikey Weinstein, said such activities put the U.S. military in danger of attacks and gives credence to the belief in the Muslim community that the U.S. is on a crusade to spread Christianity. The lawsuit cites a “spiritual handbook” for soldiers endorsed by Gen. David Petraeus.

While the spreading of Christianity sounds like a fine idea to many who want to “help” or “save” the rest of the world, as we can see by observing our own atheism toward the Islamic faith, Muslims would understandably see this as a great affront.

This does us no good. What’s needed, instead of pitting one set of scriptures or beliefs against another, is finding common ground. Our hope lies in being pro-life, not in the anti-abortion sense of the term, but in the caring-for-all-people sense. Because our world is becoming smaller, it’s imperative that we rely on our collective desire for survival on this planet, which needs no scripture to justify itself.

— The Salina Journal