Critics claim the phrase is dismissive of nonreligious service members.
Very true. I was an atheist serving in Iraq during one of the most dangerous times to be there, minus the initial surge into the country. Our base was mortared at least once a week. Over 150 civilians died in a bus bombing the week I showed up. We were working and living in hardened bunkers most of the time. I almost got blown up once, only surviving because I stepped outside to grab a tool. The three members who were inside the small building I was working in weren’t so lucky.
I never appealed to a higher power while there. If anything, the devastation and violence I witnessed further convinced me there couldn’t be a higher power in control of all this.
Very true. I was an atheist serving in Iraq during one of the most dangerous times to be there, minus the initial surge into the country. Our base was mortared at least once a week. Over 150 civilians died in a bus bombing the week I showed up. We were working and living in hardened bunkers most of the time. I almost got blown up once, only surviving because I stepped outside to grab a tool. The three members who were inside the small building I was working in weren’t so lucky.
I never appealed to a higher power while there. If anything, the devastation and violence I witnessed further convinced me there couldn’t be a higher power in control of all this.
If there was a God you wouldn’t have been there. I’m sorry you went through that and I hope you’re coping well.