I just learned that there is a test designed by the psychologist who inspired the CIA's Torture Program under George W. Bush’s regime. It is labeled as experimental, but so many of the most heinous atrocities against humankind were labeled experimental, the Tuskegee experiment, LSD experiments, Dr. Cornelius Rhoads Cancer experiment, Malaria experiments, the long list continues at Military and Government Projects.
In a current case, an Army mental-health and fitness initiative unconstitutionally requires enlistees to believe in God or a "higher power" in order to be deemed "spiritually fit" to serve in the Army. This experiment does not involve injections of life threatening toxins or diseases to unwitting participants, but it does center on a persons free will and belief system which is the very basis for our moral and ethical makeup. Can this be the next step in a secret program to transform free thinking humans into robotic killing machines without conscience? Given the history of how our fighting men and women in uniform have been viewed as lab subjects who are at the complete disposal of macabre and sick CIA whims, this idea cannot be brushed aside as fantasy or sci-fiction.
Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) is a $125 million "holistic fitness program" unveiled in late 2009 and aimed at reducing the number of suicides and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases, which have reached epidemic proportions over the past year due to multiple deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the substandard care soldiers have received when they return from combat.
The Army states that it can accomplish its goal by teaching its service members how to be psychologically resilient and resist "catastrophizing" traumatic events. In other words, the Army’s goal is to cut down on this type of distraction by teaching soldiers to ‘man up’ and become numb to the ‘hell of war’ so they can concentrate on what they are trained to do, winning wars.
CSF measures soldiers' "resilience" in five core areas: emotional, physical, family, social and spiritual. Soldiers fill out an online survey, and if the results fall into a ‘red’ area, they are required to participate in remedial courses to strengthen their resilience in the disciplines in which they received low scores.
For the thousands of "Foxhole Atheists" like 27-year-old Sgt. Justin Griffith, the spiritual component of the test contains questions written predominantly for soldiers who believe in God or another deity, meaning nonbelievers are guaranteed to score poorly and will be forced to participate in exercises that use religious imagery to "train" soldiers up to a satisfactory level of spirituality. Religious imagery, in other words ‘brainwashing’.
The Army gives no option to avoid questions concerning a higher being. The only responses available assumes there is a higher being and the questions do not take into account the viewpoint of atheists. This fact shows the Army deems anyone who is a non-believer is unfit to serve in the U.S. military. It further shows that it is the Army’s belief that without faith in a higher being the person has no meaning and purpose in their life and therefore it is hard for them to make sense of what is happening to themselves and others around them.
The Army exercises verbal gymnastics in order to get around the answer, but they say religiosity is not a mandatory part of the test. If this is the case then why is it presented as such? Soldiers feel they are required to participate, under fear of disciplined by their superior officers, in remedial training if they score poorly on the spiritual portion of the test and if they didn't act on the recommendations they received after taking the exam. In fact, nowhere on the test does it state that such training is voluntary.
It's not just the First Amendment which is being blatantly violated here, clause 3 of Article 6 of the body of the U.S. Constitution specifically prohibits any type of 'religious test' being used in connection with any government service. Thus, this 'spirituality' portion of the Army's CSF test completely savages this bedrock Constitutional prohibition.
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