Jason Torpy is a committed humanist and vegan. He graduated from West Point with a Bachelor of Science degree and from The Ohio State University with a Masters Degree in Business Administration. He served as a Captain with the 1st Armored Division in Iraq and now serves as President of the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers (MAAF), a nonprofit community for atheists and humanists in the military.
**Comments at The Human Animal do not necessarily reflect the official policy or positions of the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers are any other organizations.**
“Call of Duty,” “Ghost Recon,” “Band of Brothers,” and a long list of other video games glorify warfare and put players in the position of killing and laying out destruction. Putting aside for a moment the ethical implications of that, let’s ask who’s left out? The Chaplains, of course. So now, the Army has contracted the company Engineering and Computer Simulations to tackle the task of including the chaplain perspective in warfare video games: Read more
Last Thursday, the Army shut down to focus on suicide prevention training. With skyrocketing rates of suicide, a problem stretching over the course of years, the Army needs to be addressing this. Collaborating on these issues are experts in the areas of psychology, behavioral health, and, of course, religion. Army Behavioral Health provides scientific approaches, including their “Shoulder to Shoulder” message of camaraderie and their “Ask-Care-Escort” (ACE) model of addressing potential issues. These approaches make good sense. In addition, the… Read more
Atheist blogger JT Eberhard posted a glowing review of new game “Guild Wars 2” and called for a Godless Guild. I’m not a gamer myself, but I do find them fascinating. Humanists are trying to remake the world without deference for religious tradition or authority. There are obviously adjustments to physics in the video game world, but the best worlds build culture, society, and ethics within which people build new lives. Progressive Humanists who would like to fiddle with the culture… Read more
West Point cadets scheduled to graduate in 2013 have been presented a survey of their leadership traits every year since 2009. That doesn’t sound bad… until you realize the survey includes promotion of spirituality, religion, and faith without accommodation for the nontheist perspective. The Commandant of Cadets distributed the survey with these instructions: “You have been part of a 4-year study to determine the effect of the West Point Experience on development as a Leader of Character… seeking your responses and… Read more
