Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers

Policy on the Pledge of Allegiance, 15 August 2002

In 1954, the Knights of Columbus, a religious organization, convinced the federal government to add the words "Under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. This represents an unconstitutional preference of religion over non-religion. We advocate removing these two divisive words from our Pledge.

As long as the words "Under God" remain in the Pledge, its recitation in schools causes secular students to feel excluded and presents the appearance that the government, through its school systems and teachers, promotes religion. As soon as the words "Under God" are removed from the Pledge, it reverts to its original status as a motivational and patriotic expression of the commitment of citizens to the US Government and its values, and citizens everywhere should recite it regularly, especially while benefiting from government-provided services.

Policy on The National Motto, 15 February 2002

The motto "In God We Trust" is the US National Motto and found on US Currency. This is an unconstitutional preference of religion over non-religion. Before "In God We Trust" was the motto, our founding fathers chose "E Pluribus Unum": out of many one, a motto celebrating our cultural diversity and national unity. This is a motto the entire nation can support, and we advocate re-instituting it on our currency and as our official national motto.

MAAF Mission and Vision, 15 March 2002

MAAF Vision
A military where service members of all beliefs are given the same respect, and where the military shows no preference for any belief system.

MAAF Mission
To provide a community and support network for nontheistic service members. To educate the public on atheism and freethought within the military. To identify, examine, and respond to insensitive practices that illegally promote religion over non-religion within the military or unethically discriminate against minority religions or differing beliefs. To promote Consitutional Separation of Church and State and 1st Amendment rights for all service members. To ensure chaplains serve the needs of all service members, including secularists. To coordinate with other national organizations who hold the same values.

Policy on Military Headstones, 01 December 2003

The Veterans Administrations supplies headstones to veterans upon request. MAAF fully supports VA policies and procedures. The VA lists the religious emblem as optional, only adding a religious emblem to the rectangular marker at the request of the service member or next of kin. The VA requires that all religious emblems be reviewed prior to approval. This maintains the dignity of the cemetery and is reasonable because the VA should not be expected to fund overly elaborate designs. More importantly, the VA has clearly shown tolerance of theistic and nontheistic beliefs in its acceptance of designs. Among the choices are Atheist and Humanist. We thank American Atheists and the American Humanist Association for taking the time to secure approval for these emblems.

Applicable References:
Application for Headstone (including approved markings, Humanist to be published)

Policy on Identification Tags, 15 February 2002

1. MAAF proposes a change of focus for line 5 of I.D. tags from religion to funeral preference.

2. The number of soldiers whose beliefs do not fall into the familiar categories of religion is ever increasing. In the past, these soldiers have been ignored or punished for attempting to specify their beliefs. They are forced to assume a mainstream religion or the infamous "no rel pref" for their ID tags while they must deny their true beliefs. Separation of Church and State is a basic tenet of the US Constitution to prevent this type of active and passive discrimination.

3. The opportunity for soldiers to have personalized tags made is now available; however, this does not allow the soldier to receive the benefits that they desire from that information, namely, a proper burial. Because proper burial is the practical application of line 5, it should be treated as such. Only by using Line 5 for a practical use can the military disestablish religion from this operation.

4. Line 5 would be better suited to allow soldiers to choose from preselected free ceremonies that the military would pay for, such as Christian (burial), Roman Catholic (burial), or cremation. This list should include all feasible alternatives and not be limited to traditional ceremonies. For special requests, such as scattering of ashes, the option "will" would allow for the person to specify in a will the desired funeral. The will would provide for payment through private funds as well as one of the Army options should funds be insufficient. This would allow the individual unlimited options and would relieve the Army's funeral obligation in many situations.

5. Placing religion on ID tags has always been an immediate and constant source of discrimination in the military for many soldiers. Focusing on Line 5's practical relevance, rather than forcing traditional religions on soldiers or continually attempting to add more and more religions to the list of ID tag-approved religions is a simple solution to a serious problem.

Policy on the Status of Congressionally Chartered Organizations, 15 February 2003

The US Congress issues Congressional Charters in accordance with US Code Title 36. These Congressional Charters constitute official government sponsorship, and authorize other government organizations to offer special privileges to these organizations and their members. Because of this, what might be considered a private organization acquires a federal status. The Congress has a responsibility to revoke charters of organizations that violate federal guidelines, including guidelines against religious discrimination, or when the operations of organizations would create an excessive entanglement of government with religion. At the same time, organizations must recognize the responsibility they take on with a Congressional Charter and either act in accordance with government regulations or refuse their Chartered status.

Specification 1 : - rescinded 24 JAN 04. The VFW has changed what was a discriminatory membership application. We applaud the VFW and encourage all veterans to join this powerful and productive veterans organization. Read our current policy on the VFW.

Specification 2: The Boy Scouts of America holds a Congressional Charter while discriminating against atheists. The BSA ejects openly atheist members, even those that have reached the highest ranks of the organization. The values, community, and service so fundamental to the BSA would provide an even greater service to the nation if they would promote respect for all beliefs, including atheism. The BSA must either support atheist scouts as they do all other scouts or step down from their Chartered status. Failing this, Congress should revoke their Chartered status.

On 12 Jan 09, MAAF joined the American Humanist Association in asking President-elect Obama to reject the title of honorary president of the Boy Scouts - press release.

As of 15 Nov 04, the ACLU of Illinois secured a settlement with the pentagon. The pentagon agreed to stop its military bases from chartering Boy Scout units due to their god-belief requirements:http://www.aclu-il.org/news/press/000220.shtml Veterans group American Legion wants the pentagon and the president to stand up for religious discrimination against atheists and violate the constitution: http://www.legion.org/?section=pub_relations&subsection=pr_listreleases&content=pr_press_release&id=249

MAAF Member Brian Westley has been working with the ACLU to achieve this new change in policy. View Brian's information page at http://www.visi.com/~westley/bsa.html .

copy of rescinded policy Specification 1 : The Veterans of Foreign Wars holds a Congressional Charter while discriminating against atheists. The VFW is one of the most powerful lobbying organization for military members, and MAAF recognizes their value to all soldiers, members, nonmembers, theists, and nontheists alike. However, the VFW requires members to profess belief in God by a written membership statement. This is contrary to their stated membership requirements, which include three things: US citizenship, an honorable discharge, and an overseas campaign medal (or 30 days' service in Korea).

Requiring belief in God for membership in the VFW marginalizes the contributions atheist soldiers have made to the nation. This constitutes discrimination against atheist veterans. The VFW is a private organization. Although disappointing, the administration of the VFW is authorized to discriminate against its fellow veterans. However, given that the VFW's Congressional Charter allows it the use of government facilities and provides it favored status. The federal government is effectively favoring discrimination. If the VFW denies access to atheists, Congress must revoke the VFW's Congressional Charter.

Recognizing the contributions of VFW to all soldiers throughout history, MAAF supports the continued existence and strength of the VFW. MAAF encourages all of its members to join the VFW so that we can effect change from within. Members should honor their own beliefs as they feel necessary, by striking out the offending statement or actively taking up the matter with their local posts. In all cases, membership should be the end result because our presence will show that discrimination is unnecessary and damaging to veterans. Members should address membership questions to individual posts first and report discrimination to MAAF and the VFW National Council. This will create measurable action to educate the National Council, or, if necessary, to provoke action by Congress.

Policy on Chaplains, 10 Jan 2008

:: Alert :: Chaplain policy is contained in the MAAF chaplain outreach program

Combined Federal Campaign Eligibility, 15 November 2003

The Combined Federal Campaign is a list of charities disseminated by the US Government to all government employees. Government efforts to disseminate charities to well over 1 million potential subscribers is a program that must conform with Church/State Separation. Currently, there are several charities that openly proselytize and must not be included in this government-sponsored charity promotion.

See list of charities and how they conform to this policy.

Charity Lists at opm.gov/cfc
The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is open to all charitable organizations recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as tax-exempt under Title 26, United States Code, Section 501(c)(3). Applicant organizations must meet the eligibility and public accountability standards detailed in the United States Code of Federal Regulations, Title 5, Chapter 950. Local organizations must demonstrate that they have a substantial local presence in the geographic area covered by the CFC campaign, a substantial local presence in the geographic area covered by an adjacent CFC campaign, or a substantial statewide presence.

Position Paper on the Veterans of Foreign Wars - 25 January 2004

The Veterans of Foreign Wars recently published a new, nonsectarian membership application that included none of the religious requirements of their previous application. We applaud this action and consider their stated membership requirements to be comprehensive and fair: US citizenship, an honorable discharge, and an overseas campaign medal (or 30 days' service in Korea). We encourage all veterans to join the VFW, both to continue the long service of the VFW to soldiers and in recognition of the VFW's newfound respect for nonreligious soldiers.

We consider it the responsibility of the membership to generate new, progressive change in the policies of the VFW. We encourage the VFW to continue to represent all soldiers by avoiding religious issues and focusing on military policies. We encourage the VFW to publicly recognize their new membership policy by official resolution. The VFW should rescind its support of the current Pledge, a document that creates religious division in America, and lobby the supreme court for the original Pledge, the true statement of patriotism in America. We encourage the VFW to work with the Boy Scouts of America to adopt a similar, nonsectarian membership application that does not discriminate against nonreligious young men. Members should encourage the VFW to represent their nonreligious as well as religious membership by rescinding or changing sectarian policies.

Visit the Veterans of Foreign Wars website at http://www.vfw.org

Activities in Uniform, 15 February 2002

The Federal Government regulates the activities of service members in and out of uniform. The US Code, DOD Regulations, individual service regulations, and, where applicable, foreign national military regulations, take precedence hold the power of law. This policy is intended to promote legal activity.

MAAF members should at no time present the appearance that they are speaking as a representative of the military or the government. Including one's rank, title, or making reference to one's service may do that. Avoid such references and present written or verbal disclaimers to ensure that no one will be confused.

At a minimum, MAAF members should never participate in any activist event in uniform.