U.S. Soldiers Punished For Not Attending Christian Concert

[Sky Dancer]

Some can, some can't, some should, some shouldn't.
But those that do have to follow the rules. And in a training environment you belong to which ever Sergeant is present at the time. And you are right, it could save your life or those around you.

I see the point of learning to follow orders in the military. I don't want to work in a 'chain of command' environment.

LOL.. good luck trying to find some kumbaya love employer... chain of command is everywhere in business, whether you like it or not

I'm working in a school and I have a private practice. Neither are heavily chain of command like.

Works for me.

 

[DiamondDave]

I see the point of learning to follow orders in the military. I don't want to work in a 'chain of command' environment.

LOL.. good luck trying to find some kumbaya love employer... chain of command is everywhere in business, whether you like it or not

I'm working in a school and I have a private practice. Neither are heavily chain of command like.

Works for me.

You're working in a school and there is no chain of command?? That is fucking laughable... and if you run a private practice that does not use a chain of command for delegation, responsibility, division and ordering of labor, it is bound to fail.. sorry, just how business works...

Another person blinded by some Utopian fantasy or communal pipe dream

 

[Sky Dancer]

LOL.. good luck trying to find some kumbaya love employer... chain of command is everywhere in business, whether you like it or not

I'm working in a school and I have a private practice. Neither are heavily chain of command like.

Works for me.

You're working in a school and there is no chain of command?? That is fucking laughable... and if you run a private practice that does not use a chain of command for delegation, responsibility, division and ordering of labor, it is bound to fail.. sorry, just how business works...

Another person blinded by some Utopian fantasy or communal pipe dream

We have a principal, and a program coordinator, but they don't treat us like soldiers expected to obey every command.

We get to think for ourselves and work independently and participate fully as adults in the children's lives. We get to offer our creative ideas.

I am a sole proprietor. Chain of command is me, myself and I.

 

[bodecea]

The Pentagon is investigating. We'll see what happens. Could be this commander is imposing his religion on others.

Pvt. Anthony Smith is the type of guy who stands up for what he believes in. That's why he decided to hold his commanding officers accountable for punishing him and fellow soldiers after they refused to attend an evangelical Christian rock concert at the Fort Eustis military post in Virginia.

After a day of training at Fort Eustis, Smith and other trainees were normally released to have personal time, but on May 13, Smith and dozens of others were "required" to march in formation to a concert headlined by an evangelical Christian rock band. Smith spent six months training at Fort Eustis before moving to Arizona to serve on active duty with the National Guard.

The group Smith marched with included at least two Muslim soldiers who fell out of rank and stopped marching on their own, according to a first-hand account published by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).
Smith turned to the MRFF, an organization that represents 19, 200 military personnel and veterans, according to founder Michael "Mikey" Weinstein.
Weinstein called Smith a hero for "breaking the silence barrier" and "speaking truth to power."
He said that Smith and the others who were pressured into attending the concert - and then punished if they chose otherwise - were "spiritually raped by their commanding officers." Weinstein, an Air Force Academy graduate, said that service members are supposed to defend the Constitution, which clearly establishes the separation of church and state.

Weinstein questioned what would have happened if Smith's commanding officer was a Muslim or atheist and demanded that his subordinates attend an Islamic or secular music event.
"He would have had his head cut off," Weinstein said.
Weinstein said that a majority of MRFF clients are Christians who are told that they are "not the right kind of Christian" while serving in the military


t r u t h o u t | Troops Punished After Refusing to Attend Evangelical Concert

And now you're linking winger sites as backing you up?? And *gasp* the MRFF has an officer and it happens to be the motherfucking reporter who is interjecting all his opinions into the piece (Yes, Chris Rodda is the original writer of the bullshit that puts agenda on top of the case information)

Give it up

Bottom line. The Pentagon is investigating. I'm glad. Let them get to the truth.

I agree...good to see they are investigating.

 

[DiamondDave]

And now you're linking winger sites as backing you up?? And *gasp* the MRFF has an officer and it happens to be the motherfucking reporter who is interjecting all his opinions into the piece (Yes, Chris Rodda is the original writer of the bullshit that puts agenda on top of the case information)

Give it up

Bottom line. The Pentagon is investigating. I'm glad. Let them get to the truth.

I agree...good to see they are investigating.

That's like saying it is good to have the Supreme Court look into every discrimination complaint... it's overkill and unnecessary for a piddly ass case like this... as stated by every vet in this thread, this is a typical whiner complaint by a soldier in training that does not like that they are restricted...

 

[bodecea]

Bottom line. The Pentagon is investigating. I'm glad. Let them get to the truth.

I agree...good to see they are investigating.

That's like saying it is good to have the Supreme Court look into every discrimination complaint... it's overkill and unnecessary for a piddly ass case like this... as stated by every vet in this thread, this is a typical whiner complaint by a soldier in training that does not like that they are restricted...

So...you don't want this investigated.

 

[DiamondDave]

I agree...good to see they are investigating.

That's like saying it is good to have the Supreme Court look into every discrimination complaint... it's overkill and unnecessary for a piddly ass case like this... as stated by every vet in this thread, this is a typical whiner complaint by a soldier in training that does not like that they are restricted...

So...you don't want this investigated.

By the Pentagon, no? That is like trying to crack a walnut with a cluster bomb

By JAG or thru command investigation, sure... as it should be easily dismissed as yet another private whining that they don't get THEIR way in the military

 

[bodecea]

That's like saying it is good to have the Supreme Court look into every discrimination complaint... it's overkill and unnecessary for a piddly ass case like this... as stated by every vet in this thread, this is a typical whiner complaint by a soldier in training that does not like that they are restricted...

So...you don't want this investigated.

By the Pentagon, no? That is like trying to crack a walnut with a cluster bomb

By JAG or thru command investigation, sure... as it should be easily dismissed as yet another private whining that they don't get THEIR way in the military

Ok, so you don't want this investigated.

(Maybe they should do a congressional investigation....you'd like that better?...I remember having to field those....)

 

[DiamondDave]

So...you don't want this investigated.

By the Pentagon, no? That is like trying to crack a walnut with a cluster bomb

By JAG or thru command investigation, sure... as it should be easily dismissed as yet another private whining that they don't get THEIR way in the military

Ok, so you don't want this investigated.

(Maybe they should do a congressional investigation....you'd like that better?...I remember having to field those....)

You got jizz in your ears or something?

Go ahead and let JAG or whatever else investigate the soldier's claim.. that is the normal procedure for piddly shit like this anyway...

Congressional investigation, Pentagon investigation... for a "you did not let me do what I wanted to do" claim during military training status because this person did not go to a concert that most of the rest of his company went to??... fucking ridiculous

 

[bodecea]

By the Pentagon, no? That is like trying to crack a walnut with a cluster bomb

By JAG or thru command investigation, sure... as it should be easily dismissed as yet another private whining that they don't get THEIR way in the military

Ok, so you don't want this investigated.

(Maybe they should do a congressional investigation....you'd like that better?...I remember having to field those....)

You got jizz in your ears or something?

Go ahead and let JAG or whatever else investigate the soldier's claim.. that is the normal procedure for piddly shit like this anyway...

Congressional investigation, Pentagon investigation... for a "you did not let me do what I wanted to do" claim during military training status because this person did not go to a concert that most of the rest of his company went to??... fucking ridiculous

OK, so you don't want this investigated. (and I thought it was more than one person) You want HIM investigated.

 

[DiamondDave]

Ok, so you don't want this investigated.

(Maybe they should do a congressional investigation....you'd like that better?...I remember having to field those....)

You got jizz in your ears or something?

Go ahead and let JAG or whatever else investigate the soldier's claim.. that is the normal procedure for piddly shit like this anyway...

Congressional investigation, Pentagon investigation... for a "you did not let me do what I wanted to do" claim during military training status because this person did not go to a concert that most of the rest of his company went to??... fucking ridiculous

OK, so you don't want this investigated. (and I thought it was more than one person) You want HIM investigated.

No.. I want the incident investigated.... asking for a command or JAG investigation does not mean wanting the soldier submitting the case investigated... the whole alleged incident...

Yeah.. let's put every little private in training's complaint up in front of the Pentagon or Congress..

 

[DiamondDave]

And BTW.. no.. it is not a case filed by the alleged '80 soldiers'... this is a case filed by a sole person... but the original writer (who as stated is an officer within the extremist activist group backing this 'private') made sure to write it as to interject agenda and confuse... it is the author's claim that 80 soldiers were 'punished', when this is not any established fact at all... and as shown by people who have actually been in military training environments, barracks restriction during duty time when others in your company or platoon may be doing something else is COMMON PRACTICE... they don't just get free time because the want it...

Jeez, you people are dense... or maybe just too blinded by your hyper-partisanship

 

[SFC Ollie]

And BTW.. no.. it is not a case filed by the alleged '80 soldiers'... this is a case filed by a sole person... but the original writer (who as stated is an officer within the extremist activist group backing this 'private') made sure to write it as to interject agenda and confuse... it is the author's claim that 80 soldiers were 'punished', when this is not any established fact at all... and as shown by people who have actually been in military training environments, barracks restriction during duty time when others in your company or platoon may be doing something else is COMMON PRACTICE... they don't just get free time because the want it...

Jeez, you people are dense... or maybe just too blinded by your hyper-partisanship

Give it up Dave, either they are too dumb to understand or they are pretending to not understand. Any veteran who claims this was punishment, and we have at least two on here, is lying to themselves or they are lying about their service. You and I know the real deal. Those who aren't veterans are slapping us in the face, basically calling us liars. But that's OK, I know I've been called worse.

 

[Valerie]

I can't find anywhere that says this incident is being investigated by the pentagon.




You may note these soldiers had been at Ft Eustis for 7 months already, following several months of basic training, in Advanced Individual Training, where lock down and maintenance duty are ROUTINE in the US Army.

Prior to this optional event, no other complaint had been filed by these soldiers in regards to religious oppression or indoctrination.


Yes, the incident is being investigated by the Army as a result of the complaint filed by the 9 individual soldiers who reported the incident because they felt punished that night.

That the Army has a mechanism for them to file a complaint and investigate the circumstances is further testament to the lack of of any oppression.

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[Gadawg73]

That's like saying it is good to have the Supreme Court look into every discrimination complaint... it's overkill and unnecessary for a piddly ass case like this... as stated by every vet in this thread, this is a typical whiner complaint by a soldier in training that does not like that they are restricted...

So...you don't want this investigated.

By the Pentagon, no? That is like trying to crack a walnut with a cluster bomb

By JAG or thru command investigation, sure... as it should be easily dismissed as yet another private whining that they don't get THEIR way in the military

How do you know it will be easily dismissed? None of us,you included, has investigated any of this.
But I believe you would "easily dismiss" it. You wouldn't even look into it.
Your mind is already made up.
CLOSED

 

[Valerie]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdAMAbb3oUA]YouTube - Barlow Girl - Never Alone (Acoustic)[/ame]

 

[bodecea]

You got jizz in your ears or something?

Go ahead and let JAG or whatever else investigate the soldier's claim.. that is the normal procedure for piddly shit like this anyway...

Congressional investigation, Pentagon investigation... for a "you did not let me do what I wanted to do" claim during military training status because this person did not go to a concert that most of the rest of his company went to??... fucking ridiculous

OK, so you don't want this investigated. (and I thought it was more than one person) You want HIM investigated.

No.. I want the incident investigated.... asking for a command or JAG investigation does not mean wanting the soldier submitting the case investigated... the whole alleged incident...

Yeah.. let's put every little private in training's complaint up in front of the Pentagon or Congress..

You want it investigated, but not SERIOUSLY investigated. Okey dokey.

 

[DiamondDave]

So...you don't want this investigated.

By the Pentagon, no? That is like trying to crack a walnut with a cluster bomb

By JAG or thru command investigation, sure... as it should be easily dismissed as yet another private whining that they don't get THEIR way in the military

How do you know it will be easily dismissed? None of us,you included, has investigated any of this.
But I believe you would "easily dismiss" it. You wouldn't even look into it.
Your mind is already made up.
CLOSED

Hmmm.. some of us who actually served have seen the complainers in training status over and over and over and over again... we know the drill... unlike you, many of the complaining liberal military bashers, and the blog reporters who have zero idea of how things operate

 

[DiamondDave]

OK, so you don't want this investigated. (and I thought it was more than one person) You want HIM investigated.

No.. I want the incident investigated.... asking for a command or JAG investigation does not mean wanting the soldier submitting the case investigated... the whole alleged incident...

Yeah.. let's put every little private in training's complaint up in front of the Pentagon or Congress..

You want it investigated, but not SERIOUSLY investigated. Okey dokey.

Christ... what the fuck do you want??... a billion dollar budget, 37 lawyers, interrogations of every soldier on the base, forensic teams, and a crack team of hypnotherapists??

Look into the matter... ask the needed questions, interview those involved, look at any written orders or paperwork... but you don't need a motherfucking pentagon or congressional investigation.... this is a minor matter of one in the line of many complaining military trainees...