MAAF Year In Review December 2023
Supporting atheists in foxholes from MCRD San Diego to Kuwait, CGSC to the Pentagon, in active duty, VA, and civilian life. And remembering two in particular we said goodbye to this year.
As we approach the end of another year, the shortest day, and the favorite holiday of our Christian friends, MAAF looks back on a great year.
In our community-first mission, we continue to support local groups with funding, care packages, and guidance. Will Harrell, newly deployed, reached out to lead a new community in Kuwait. They are coming together to discuss presentations on Christian Nationalism and the dangers of purity culture and cult indoctrination. Humanists are meeting regularly at the Pentagon as well with a senior officer nominated as lay leader. What about in your area? Do you have a local civilian group? MAAF sponsored a veterans day membership drive for Northern Indiana Atheists that featured advertisements on NPR and found 30 new veteran members. If your local civilian group is doing veteran outreach, get help from MAAF.
We pause here to offer special thanks to two special donors. The first was Steve Uhl who left a generous bequest to MAAF that has support us through 2023. His books included Imagine No Superstitution, in which he used his accessible writing style and wit to chronicle his journey from ordained priest to atheist activist. MAAF also mourns the passing of Woody Kaplan. He was a behind-the-scenes leader who drove major advances of atheism for decades, as well as many progressive political activities, and a veteran. He was a personal friend and mentor to seemingly everyone in the movement, especially here at MAAF, and is sorely missed.
With lobby firm Secular Strategies, MAAF brought atheists in foxholes to Washington DC to present in person the Congressional Freethought Caucus. We presented on the situation for atheists in foxholes on our military, which is that there are more of us than ever and we still need support. Vicki Gettman, superhero leader of Air Force Basic Training humanist services for years, told her story. Doug Wright, retired Navy Chief, told his story. They were joined by a dual military spouse and another enlisted family overseas who told stories of their military experience including family readiness groups. These real, in-person stories of the challenges we all face made an impact.
Members of Congress were concerned in particular about the lack of chaplain support. In response, MAAF published a 70-page survey of 26 major installations using their publicly-available chaplain services information. That is available on the MAAF Front page. We are disappointed but unsurprised to report a poor showing, with installations most commonly having 93% of their services reserved for Christians. And installations were graded overall between C- and D+, with B- being the best result. No website advertised a humanist service or even the desire to reach humanists as an underserved population, even in locations that have groups set up. These humanist activities seem to be treated as dirty secrets rather than success to be celebrated. As always, MAAF acknowledged the difficult job chaplains have of reaching a diverse population. However, our review points out widespread and specific problems and suggests specific ways to improve, for those chaplains and their non-chaplain leaders who are willing.
(MAAF has vetted this third-party offer to our members) Are you a service member or veteran who has experienced discrimination during your service for sharing non-Christian beliefs or for declining to participate in Christian activities? If so, an award-winning film production team would like to speak with you about the possibility of featuring your story in a television series that would air sometime in 2025. Share your story to inspire others and change culture for the better. Click here to apply to MakeBelieve, a series about religious trauma.
Chaplains are reaching out more and more to respect and support atheists in foxholes, in active duty and veteran contexts. I am advising on a thesis on nontheist support at the Army command college (CGSC) A chaplain student is writing chaplain services for nontheists. Also part of the advisory committee is a chaplain who accepted help as part of their thesis project years ago. While this project won’t determine military policy, it shows awareness of the problem and pressure to fix it. The Albuquerque VA Hospital hosted MAAF for a training session for its chaplains. MAAF connected Buckley Space Force Base with the local Secular Hub for a near-unprecedented diversity outreach event hosted by the chaplains.
Connections are not only in the United States. MAAF presented a joint briefing to Association Humanist du Québec in Montreal with Chaplain Marie-Claire Khadij, the first humanist military chaplain in Canada. She also collected and published a listing of international chaplains in 5 countries. There are inroads in the US as well, Jared Anderson is a humanist chaplain bringing his prison experience to work with the national guard.
While this is a lot of forward movement and good news, the reality is that there is a long way to go. In the VA and DoD, atheists are treated like second-class citizens, with little acknowledgement or support within the military system. New publications, like Army and Navy spiritual fitness guidance have started suggesting belief in a god is *necessary* for mental health. MAAF is working hard to make sure this lie is not codified further in military policy. There are atheists in foxholes. We serve, and we need to support each other.