Who else thinks the AF is going to get burned on this one? - Airman denied reenlistment for refusing to say "so help me God"

The Air Force tends to best cover itself in paperwork, and thus one would logically reason that it would be least likely to do something like this.

So it's kind of surprising to see this coming from the Air Force and not, say, the Marines! In Okinawa, we had a Marine who beat up his room mate because he refused to pray with him. Woops!

I always ask the reenlistee if they want to swear or affirm, and if they want to include "so help me God."

BTW, though I'm a christian, I also leave that part out when I take the oath - no less an authority than Jesus said not to swear oaths before God.

I believe many of you are focused on the wrong target.

When you see/read SO HELP ME GOD you see only GOD and your pre-programmed reaction is to get into some debate about Religion.

Instead, lets look at SO HELP ME. Maybe I didn't ask for anyone's help with my own process to become a contributor to my country. Perhaps I signed a contract, agreed to follow appropriate orders, and maybe MY WORD ALONE was good enough.

So I first think about: Since when was there a need to interject some useless tools to make others feel marginally better about MY WORD that the placing of a hand over a Bible in a Courtroom seems to soothe some of you, yet fails to prevent some folks from getting convicted of perjery? What relevance of this book is there to folks of other or no particular religion? Does it stop anyone, included so-called Christians, from doing whatever else may be in their hearts or minds? Mmmmm-Nope.

If there were ever any truth in the coined phrase "There are never any Atheists in Foxholes" then it pleases me to have been the first.

Someday I might take on a religion for myself. But the first step would be finding one whose very own leadership can keep its booger-pickin fingers off small children.

Some of us have the IQ and observational skills to figure out how we should conduct ourselves, without having to have it read to us from a book.

And if my character had to be challenged at all upon enlistment, then I shouldn't have been accepted, and maybe the military needs to raise its entrance standards, and stop squandering payroll to those who are only there for the paycheck/job-security/college money...and try to find a higher percentage of people who donned the uniform because they actually believed in a cause...as I did.

Semper Fi.


NOTE: TSgt James del RIO Sr Did u see me make a single reference to my rights here? I suggest to you that as you say We are making a promise....that the words I PROMISE be sufficient.

They probably are. And to be honest, I don't feel bad for them. I am a Christian, and I have my own beliefs. But if someone doesn't share those beliefs, that's their prerogative. That person should be able to swear an oath of enlistment (or in this case reenlistment) without a phrase that goes against his or her beliefs.

I have never heard the argument "How do you use money with 'In God We Trust'" written on it before this thread, and now I have read it several times.

It really makes me sad, to see so many people fail to have even a basic understanding of logic and rhetoric. By all means, people we have the ability to express our opinions, so I fully support doing so, but please take some time to educate your self on things such as logical fallacies. You might think you are arguing your case, but in reality you just come across as having no understanding of the argument at all.

Get over it. If you cannot recite the oath because of your own vanity, then you don't deserve to serve. This was a nation built on God.

The USAF has been in the news quite recently for actions on the other side of the aisle. I think there has to be more to this story. I am wondering if this was done intentionally to allow the perpetually offended Freedom from Religion folks to sue to get all 'so help me gods' struck out.

Just read the article and the first thing that jumped out to me was that the Airman purposely crossed out the words on his contract. To me this was a deliberate attempt to get attention. Had the individual just remained silent at the end of the oath taking I highly doubt anything would have been done. The old Chief in me makes me wonder if the Airman was a regular problem child and this instance was just the last straw for a command that was tired of dealing with a troublemaker.

I love this words; however, we have more important things to worry about.

Yes. I think in the end the Air Force is going to have to back down.

It's clear to me that certain officers and NCOs involved in this need a Ninja Punch. It's too bad that with the recent changes in the UCMJ they can't be demoted.