AF Changes Oath
 

Good...About time...In keeping with the founding fathers and their deist beliefs.

Probably for the best, the AF was developing a reputation for evangelism...probably not where we want a military service to go. But OTH members should never be prevented from referencing their diety, if desired, when they're swearing an oath which may ultimately cost their life.

AF Changes Oath
 

It used to be an option to leave out reference to a deity, if the individual had a problem with it. Then someone decided to sneak the reference to deity back in. Fortunately, common sense prevailed and the policy was reversed before the situation got too ugly.

One day a Pastafarian is going to swear their oath the the Flying Spaghetti Monster and all hell will break loose.

BBC News - Austrian driver allowed 'pastafarian' headgear photo

Pastafarian minister sworn into office « Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

I suppose the idea is to equate the pasta strainer (holy colander) to a Koofy or a Yamaka. And they swear up and down they're not trying to mock anyone's religion.

I'm all for an oath change so long as expectations increase. I'm getting tired of having to resubmit travel vouchers because some 2-stripe REMF consistently screws up.

Maybe it is time to change the pledge of allegiance to go back to the original version.

So far the US military has limited religious accommodation to established religions and their known rites. Not just the big three, but also faiths like Wicken.

They don't accommodate somebodies "one-off" religion that they just made up on spot for the sole purpose of shirking duty or stirring the pot, nor would they take seriously an obviously farcical religion like "pastafarianism".

IMO athiests need no special accommodations because that is not a religion or faith, merely a lack of one. Don't believe in anything at all? Well you don't need to perform rituals to celebrate it, so get back to work.

Nor do we need atheist chaplains...atheists can get whatever non-theological counseling they need from regular chaplains...their faith won't hurt you if you don't believe in it. Or else they can go to medical, family-service, etc. But a person of faith who ends up being ministered to by an atheist "chaplain" in a time of great need would probably feel something was missing. How can one get religious support from someone who doesn't believe in it? That's like using ISIS to monitor elections in a developing country...