the brights (NY times op-ed)

[Dave Wilton]

> the medical folks are a particular problem because they want to be
> able to provide you with (free) counseling, comfort, solace, etc. via
> the representatives of various organized religions.  the people who
> process the forms want to find a slot for everybody, and they're often
> disinclined to accept "none" or "non-believer", which they view as
> unresponsive; everybody believes in *something*, after all (they
> think, and sometimes say).

In the US Army, atheists, agnostics, and members of "fringe" religious
groups (e.g., Wiccans) get labeled as "No Religious Preference," or "No Rel
Pref" as it reads on one's dog tags. This despite the fact that "Atheist"
and "Other" are officially acceptable entries.

When filling out the form for my dog tags, I put down "atheist" in the
religion block. My dog tags came reading "No Rel Pref," which to me is an
entirely different thing. I didn't try to change it though--I figured that
if it came to the point where someone was looking at my dog tags to find out
my religion, being doctrinaire about my lack of belief would be way down on
the list of things to be concerned about.

The complete list of official US Army religious designations is in AR
680-29,
http://books.usapa.belvoir.army.mil/cgi-bin/bookmgr/BOOKS/R680_29/TBLTBLUNIQ
65 Both "atheist" and "other" are on the list. Interestingly, so are
pacifist denominations such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Friends.