Personally, I think it's obnoxious that he's holding a meeting like this - in a combat zone, where he knows damn well he's going to insult/agitate/annoy 99.whatever percent of the people there. Wouldn't stop him, he's got his rights - but his judgment leaves much to be desired.

There seems to be enough time to hold religious worship services in a combat zone, so would you say attending one of those is bad judgement too? I don't agree that the Athiest service members shouldn't do something together because it will "bother" other 99% of the other folks, who are Christian.

Just like the other young erstwhile "author" writing in TNR these days, I'll bet this kid is a handful for his NCO.

I think I was probably a handful to my battalion Sergeant Major as well. That came from me being Jewish and requesting time off to attend Rosh Hashanah services, while we were in garrison. I was actually told that if I couldn't conform to the "Christian Ideals" of the US Army, I could be discharged dishonorably. Luckily, there were a few folks above him who finally got involved in the situation and resolved the problem. Before that, I did get a lot of similar advice to just keep quiet and not make a big deal out of this, bascally blaming me as the problem.

I have a lot of sympathy for the person because, believe it or not, there are a rare few religious zealots in the military who use their positions, power, and influence to proselytize, persecute, and belittle folks who don't believe the same as them. When you run across one, it can turn your life and your military career upside down. The easy thing is to sit down, shut up, and not make waves. But, is that really the right thing to do?