Penn Jellette esentially agrees with my position. Conflicted between excitement about the posibility of equality and disdain for the whole concept.

The more I think about this the more I object to it, at least as a possibility for my own future career. It would be one thing if I had finished my MDiv, but I didn’t. I quit 40% of the way through. Few seminaries honor course work taken at another institution and few graduate programs of any kind accept credit transfers for classes taken more than five years ago (I enrolled in the seminary nearly five years ago), so I would be starting from scratch.

I want to make a difference in the world and be able to work professionally for the advancement of the atheist movement. Given the choice between spending three years in a seminary earning a masters degree in BS or spending three years in law school earning a doctorate in law and argumentation…I wonder if law would be the better choice.

I hope we can get humanist chaplains in the military. Equality would be great. I don’t like the idea of having to get atheism or humanism recognized by the government as a religion and would prefer it if the law was changed to allow for “philosophical traditions” to have equal standing. I would prefer it if we could get the title changed to something less religious. If I went to law school and joined the Army’s JAG Corp I would likely be able to do a lot of the same things that I would want to do for soldiers if I was a chaplain, namely to ensure they’re treated equally as the religious.

I still think it’s a great plan to get atheists more equally represented and supported in the military and something I’m happy to support. I do think it might be a good idea for all those involved to take a step back and make sure this is the right approach to take.

(Thanks to Lamar for the link.)