Dustin Chalker, an atheist soldier who has filed a lawsuit with the help of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, has a petition that calls on the White House to end discrimination against non-Christians in the military. If it gets 5,000 signatures, the White House has to at least consider it. It is less than 200 signatures away, so let’s put it over the top.
Oct 28 2011
Sign This Petition Please
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bricewgilbert
October 28, 2011 at 8:21 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Signed a couple of these a few weeks back. Got an email response to the one about removing God from the pledge,money, and the national motto today. Here is a section of the response by Joshua DuBois, Executive Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships speaking for the White House I suppose.
A sense of proportion should also guide those who police the boundaries between church and state. Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation – context matters.
That’s why President Obama supports the use of the words “under God” in our Pledge of Allegiance and “In God we Trust” on our currency. These phrases represent the important role religion plays in American public life, while we continue to recognize and protect the rights of secular Americans. As the President said in his inaugural address, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers.” We’re proud of that heritage, and the strength it brings to our great country.
Figures. We all know that officially putting God in the national motto, on our money, and having it uttered in public schools every day is not government endorsement. It’s just a random public utterance.
paulabryder
October 28, 2011 at 8:44 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Done. Thx for the heads-up.
Marcus Ranum
October 28, 2011 at 8:49 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Signed.
We all know that putting “in god we trust” is respectful to atheists. Because we don’t believe in any god, we don’t trust the money?
ogremk5
October 28, 2011 at 8:51 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Funny you should mention this right now. I just finished a post on why We the People is a massive failure.
http://ogremk5.wordpress.com/?p=987
It’s just a tool to help people feel empowered. Anyone who thinks that anything will change because of this is naive.
Everything has already been done or nothing will change.
ogremk5
October 28, 2011 at 8:54 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Sorry, WordPress messed up (or maybe I did)
Proper link: http://ogremk5.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/petition-the-white-house/
BTW: I did sign this petition as well.
Kiwi Sauce
October 28, 2011 at 10:45 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The good news: only 62 signatures required now. :)
larianlequella
October 28, 2011 at 11:18 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I signed as well, and I also got the form letter for other issues I signed on… Not very encouraging in those petitions. But since the discrimination case seems much more clear cut, maybe that will have an effect?
Okay, so I am naive at heart!
larianlequella
October 28, 2011 at 11:21 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Crap, just saw this in Time Magazine about Josh DuBois… *PUKE*
Pieter B
October 29, 2011 at 3:05 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It’s over the top, in the literal sense. The registration process was rather Byzantine with several “you are not allowed to access this page” errors.
I wish that petition creators had to go through some sort of peer-review process so that their descriptions made at least grammatical sense, but since the whole thing is likely just “We really are listening to you, honest. Next?” it doesn’t matter in the long run.
Aquaria
October 29, 2011 at 7:46 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I couldn’t help it. I sent a letter to the Office of Faith Based Initiatives, and gave them a piece of my mind. That sniveling, sneering letter pissed me off that much.
Aquaria
October 29, 2011 at 9:39 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I signed the petition a while back, but I knew all I’d get is some sniveling, lying response, anyway. Still, it’s good to make these things known to wimps like Obama.
DaveL
October 29, 2011 at 11:43 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It pissed me off, as well. Could you post the e-mail address you sent your reply to?
abb3w
October 29, 2011 at 1:56 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
…and it’s now a bit over the 5000 mark.
bobbarker
October 29, 2011 at 7:08 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
These “We the people” petitions are shams. I just read the administration’s reply to the “Legalize and regulate cannabis” petition created by NORML (which was the most signed petition in the bunch, garnering over 70,000 signatures.) The White House’s response was filled with talking points, lies, and red herrings, unable to cogently answer any of the questions raised in the petition. You can read about it on NORML’s blog.
Other responses have been less-than-enlightening as well. It seems these petitions aren’t actually intended to spark discussion and make the people’s voices heard after all. Rather, the “We the People” petitions exist solely to give Americans the illusion that our voices are being heard.
DaveL
October 29, 2011 at 7:17 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Yeah, but a clumsy illusion at that. They set themselves up so they would have to give direct responses to direct demands, and so far those responses have been “go pound sand down a rathole.” My hypothesis is that they didn’t actually expect anybody to get 5,000 signatures in 30 days. You’ll notice they’ve upped the “response threshold” for new petitions to 25,000 signature from 5,000.
ogremk5
October 30, 2011 at 7:14 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Anne put a link to a new petition on We the People.
It’s sadly humorous.
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/%21/petition/actually-take-these-petitions-seriously-instead-just-using-them-excuse-pretend-you-are-listening/grQ9mNkN
President Obama should…
take these petitions seriously instead of just using them as an excuse to pretend you are listening.
Nemo
November 2, 2011 at 2:38 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’d sign it, but the wording is “We are forced …”, implying that the signer is a member of the military, and I’m not.