Many Christian leaders and conservative politicians have scoffed at the notion of allowing atheist chaplains into the military, arguing that the idea, in itself, is an oxymoron. But one faith leader is speaking out and claiming thatpermitting non-theist chaplains in the ranks would actually be a good thing.
Wallace Henley, senior associate pastor at Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, recently wrote an op-ed for The Christian Post saying that, by allowing non-believing chaplains, atheists open themselves up to a scenario and label they may end up regretting.
“Allowing atheist chaplains recognizes atheism as a religion and would make atheists subject to the same legal restrictions they have gleefully placed on every other religion,” the Baptist pastor wrote.
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If this happens, the tables, at least in Henley’s view, would essentially turn. If secularism is a recognized religion, he argues that it would then be theoretically possible for Christians to pursue lawsuits against atheists, humanists and other non-believers for their refusal to allow invocations at government meetings.
See, in this case, Christians, among others, could argue that atheists are using their faith-based beliefs (or lack thereof) to try and hamper others’ free-exercise. Henley continues, noting that it seems as though some activists want to codify their non-belief into a religious structure:
http://news.yahoo.com/pastor-makes-surprising-case-allowing-atheist-military-chaplains-131059122.html