Air Force to atheist Sgt.: "Recite 'So help me god' or get out"

[DemPGH]

Yeah, even the ultra conservative Supreme Court is, as far as I know, always on the side of this kind of thing being optional. I have no idea whatsoever what is gained by inserting religion into public oaths, or worse, forcing someone to acknowledge a certain deity.

I know of a couple young folks who went to different branches of the military, and they all actually told me how diverse the belief systems were of the recruits - there were nature religion types, old fashioned gospel, atheists, and so on. No one cared a bit so long as you could pull your weight.

It's unfortunately social pressure coming from someone who found a way to remove the optional language. You'll run into a lot of religion and especially superstition in sports culture, but you would never be told you HAVE to do it in my experience.