Marci,
My concern is about this case is that the plaintiff's request seems to go beyond addressing the problem that is described. It's one thing to prohibit attempts "to involuntarily convert [and] pressure" the cadets, and those should be prohibited. A prohibition on attempts to "exhort or persuade" without a clear statement that conversations among willing participants are permitted would, however, swing the pendulum too far in the opposite direction. We shouldn't correct one wrong by creating another.
As far as the atheist being ordered to attend religious services is concerned, that makes no sense to me. I can't fathom a line of reasoning that would justify it. Even if the commanding officers were trying to evangelize soldiers such as the one you describe (which would clearly be a first amendment violation if the attendance was ordered), it would be foolish from a strictly practical standpoint. You aren't going to persuade anybody with an argument you force them to listen to against their will. All you do is give them good reason to be resentful.
Brad
Marci wrote:
Steve is right that this is a case involving the creation of an intolerant atmosphere where there was a pervasive atmosphere skewed toward evangelicals engaging in proselytizing. Conversations are one thing, but an institutinally-sanctioned, pervasive regime where those who are not evangelicals feel set upon or disenfranchised is deeply troubling in the military, which should be a gathering of any and all believers united in defending the U.S.
On a related note, I spoke to someone whose brother just came back from Iraq. He is an atheist and he was ordered to attend religious services on a weekly basis at a minimum. He found it extremely coercive, but there was no sense among his commanding officers that there was any harm caused by forcing him to participate in religious activities.
Marci
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