Mandatory Army Survey Says Atheists Unfit to be Soldiers

[catzmeow]

Mandatory Army survey says atheists are unfit to be soldiers | Rock Beyond Belief

Smoking Gun proves Mandatory Army Spiritual Test is Religious | Rock Beyond Belief

U.S. Army soldiers, and their spouses, are being forced to take a test that grades them on their spirituality. The results from this test are maintained and used by the Army for human resources decisions.

Tell me...do you think that it is necessary for someone to be spiritual in order to be a good soldier? Do you think it is constitutional for U.S. soldiers to be required to submit to mandatory testing, asking personal questions about their faith (or lack thereof) that will be tied to their fitreps and promotions?

 

[Lokiate]

U.S. Army soldiers, and their spouses, are being forced to take a test that grades them on their spirituality. The results from this test are maintained and used by the Army for human resources decisions.

The SFT isn't saying Atheists are 'bad Soldiers', it's used as a tool for commanders to measure the overall well-being of their Soldiers, so that any problems can be assessed. Everything like this that the Army does is about combat readiness.

In this case, if a Soldier did at once have religious beliefs, but now has a total lack of faith, it could be an indicator of depression, or other mental health issues. With things like PTSD, combat fatigue, and TBI, it's very important to look at things like this. A Soldier might not say they're depressed, because it shows weakness, or they might not even recognize symptoms they have, if they are suffering a brain injury, or have psychological issues. That's where good leadership comes in, they talk to the Soldier, and find out if their lack of faith is through an ideological/theological shift, or if it's something a lot more than that, and they get that Soldier the help he needs.

Tell me...do you think that it is necessary for someone to be spiritual in order to be a good soldier?

No.

Do you think it is constitutional for U.S. soldiers to be required to submit to mandatory testing, asking personal questions about their faith (or lack thereof) that will be tied to their fitreps and promotions?

Upon joining the military, a Soldier gives up some rights, even those guaranteed by the Constitution, however, it would be a violation of the Military EO policy to punish Soldiers, or use information gathered to withhold promotions and awards based on any religious preference.

 

[Sherry]

Damn, some people really are focused on making religion a boogeyman.

 

[Mad Scientist]

The actual survey results say nothing of the sort:

Spiritual Fitness

Spiritual fitness is an area of possible difficulty for you. You may lack a sense of meaning and purpose in your life. At times, it is hard for you to make sense of what is happening to you and others around you. You may not feel connected to something larger than yourself. You may question your beliefs, principles, and values. Nevertheless, who you are and what you do matter. There are things to do to provide more meaning and purpose in your life. Improving your spiritual fitness should be an important goal. Change is possible, and the relevant self-development training modules will be helpful. If you need further help, please do not hesitate to seek out help from the people you care about and trust – strong people always do. Be patient in your development as it will take time to improve in this area. Still, persistence is key and you will improve here if you make this area a priority.

Someone please point out where it say he's "unfit".
Then he was asked:

“Do we have permission to use your data anonymously in an aggregated manner? These results may (meaning 'will') be used by the U.S. Government and/or (meaning 'both') the public.”

Dummy answered 'yes', I always say no to questions like that.

Test taker is a overreacting, religion hating moron.

 

[uscitizen]

Mandatory Army survey says atheists are unfit to be soldiers | Rock Beyond Belief

Smoking Gun proves Mandatory Army Spiritual Test is Religious | Rock Beyond Belief

U.S. Army soldiers, and their spouses, are being forced to take a test that grades them on their spirituality. The results from this test are maintained and used by the Army for human resources decisions.

Tell me...do you think that it is necessary for someone to be spiritual in order to be a good soldier? Do you think it is constitutional for U.S. soldiers to be required to submit to mandatory testing, asking personal questions about their faith (or lack thereof) that will be tied to their fitreps and promotions?

Damn! if they had only done this in the 60's I would not have been drafted and wound up in Nam.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Do you think that it is necessary for someone to be spiritual in order to be a good soldier?

Of course not. But the military has always seen ‘independent thinking’ as a double-edged sword. On the one hand you want solders to make sound judgments and think independently in the heat of battle, but independent thinkers have a tendency to ‘buck the system.'

Do you think it is constitutional for U.S. soldiers to be required to submit to mandatory testing, asking personal questions about their faith (or lack thereof) that will be tied to their fitreps and promotions?

Unless the government can demonstrate a compelling reason to justify such promoting criteria on a religious basis, this type of program would be potentially un-Constitutional.