LONG OVERDUE: ATHEIST FOXHOLES SALUTE TO HANS KASTEN

[beam me up scottie]

LONG OVERDUE: ATHEIST FOXHOLES EVENT TO INCLUDE APPEARANCE, SALUTE TO HANS KASTEN -- A GREATEST GENERATION STORY FINALLY TOLD SIX DECADES LATER!

Web Posted: November 4, 2005

Thousands of veterans, including those from "the Greatest Generation" who served in World War II, are expected in Washington, DC next week for the November 11 "Atheists in Foxholes" Parade and Rally on the national mall.

The event is designed to counter the ugly stereotype that "there are no Atheists in foxholes," and salute those Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists and other nonbelievers who have worn the uniform, or currently serve in the nation's military.

But if one required compelling evidence that there ARE "Atheists in foxholes," there is the evocative and dramatic story of Hans Kasten. Now in his 80s and living in the Philippines, Kasten is making the long trip back to America to attend the AIF Veterans Day event, and share his story with anyone who cares enough about the history of that war and is willing to listen.

Already his life has been profiled in books, articles, web sites and a stirring documentary by film maker Charles Guggenheim dealing with American soldiers trapped in the midst of the Nazi holocaust. Guggenheim's cinematic opus, "BERGA, Soldiers of Another War," focuses on the plight of U.S. soldiers captured by the Germans during their last-ditch effort to throw back the advancing allied armies, and buy time for the development of "miracle" weapons. Those POWs, including Kasten suffered horrific indignities, everything from beatings and verbal taunts to starvation, imprisonment under brutal conditions, and always the prospect of execution, especially those who were Jewish or "looked Jewish." Many of the camps or Stalags were under the control of the Nazi SS, Hitler's elite corps of shock troops and thugs who were also in charge of the holocaust killing machinery targeting Jews, gypsies, political dissidents and anyone else who stood in the way of the Third Reich.

Read the rest at http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/foxhole1.htm

[Az]

1. I have met a lot of atheists that spent time in foxholes

It has consistantly been my honor to shake their hands. Wish I could be there for this event.

[beam me up scottie]

2. You're speaking to one now,

er, so to speak.

My oldest brother is another atheist in a foxhole, he's in Iraq now NOT praying for a deity to save him.

I wish I could be there as well.

[papau]

3. I wish your brother - and you - only the best. Someone posted that the

military Chaplin service does not have rules requiring no "belief" talk when trying to help an atheist. And there are over 5000 atheists self identified in the active duty military, so such a rule seems needed.

I hope all goes well for him - and tell him we all - believers and non-believers - thank him for his service and wish him a safe journey home.

There are some responses to an earlier posting on this event at this link.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5261319

[beam me up scottie]

4. Thanks, I missed that thread.

When I was in, they refused to put "Atheist" on my dog tags.
I had to invoke the name of the anti-christ ACLU to get them to do "No preference".

They told me they were going to put me down as protestant if I didn't specify.:mad:

Let's hope the up and coming ranks realize that atheists give their lives for what they believe in too, and they deserve no less respect.

[papau]

5. I agree :-)

:toast:

:-)

[EvolveOrConvolve]

6. Does Arlington National Cemetary

have a headstone for nonbelievers? I know that there are crosses for Christians, and Stars of David for Jews. What about atheists who are buried there?

[beam me up scottie]

7. They've got an emblem for atheists as well as many others.

I believe one also has the choice of no faith emblem.
Here's the link that shows almost all of them:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/funeral_information/authorized_emblems.html

[EvolveOrConvolve]

8. Is that an "official" atheist emblem?

It looks like some sort of atomic symbol. Is there supposed to be a connection to Einstein or something?

I can't link to it, it's in PNG format, whatever that is, but it's #16. Personally, I like the Humanist symbol better.

[Az]

9. It's specifically the American Atheists symbol

Not all atheists are on board with AA though. Humanists are one of the groups that AA has historically had issues with. There are a lot of splintered groups in the atheist community. Though of late we have been healing a lot of old wounds.

[beam me up scottie]

11. Ha!

You beat me to it, but I have visual aids...

[beam me up scottie]

10. That's the American Atheist symbol.

From their website:

An international symbol for Atheism has long been needed. When American Atheists was formed in 1963, a contemporary scientific symbol was chosen; this acknowledges that only through the use of scientific analysis and free, open inquiry can humankind reach out for a better life.

Recognizing the new atomic era, but also emphasizing the truths of older scientific findings, the atomic whirl was chosen. The atom is still a distinguishing unit of all matter, the smallest particle of an element that can exist and still retain the properties of that element.

You may notice that one of the orbital in our symbol is broken, or open-ended. This demonstrates that while Atheists rely on the scientific method for learning about the cosmos and increasing our knowledge about nature, we know that "not all of the answers are in." We recognize that with new knowledge come new questions and areas for human inquiry and exploration.
That open orbital forms an "A" to represent Atheism. The small letter in the center represents of the first letter of the country in which an affiliated group is located. In our case, the "A" signifies American, and the symbol thus represents American Atheists.

I'm not real big on symbols, personally, but the humanist one is one of the best.

[Az]

12. Have to agree with you on that one

The humanist symbol is my fave of the nontheist varieties.

[beam me up scottie]

13. Yeah, it's hard to dislike this: