if i were an atheist in the army, i'd be very wary of congregating with others of my belief in a public venue, as you can bet the military intel types will be attending in force, taking photos and checking license plates -- as they have done in the case of anti-war protests around the country since the '60s. ... elements within the defense establishment are attempting to build a politically reliable cadre in the armed forces (think: waffen ss) using christian fundamentalism as a discriminator. one may wonder what they plan to do with this "army within an army," but i think it has to do with their building a "state within a state" as well, via the so-called contingency or shadow government (work begun so long ago by that great constitutionalist, ollie north. ... this site would do the public a great service if, in addition to profiling obscure diplomats in faraway posts, it decontructed the membership of the shadow government (and who chose them). but of course you can't: that's a "national security" secret.