A few weeks ago our unit (Texas National Guard) celebrated Texas' independence day with a BBQ her in Afghanistan. All of the functions held in our unit always have a prayer by the chaplain (more on the chaplain later) at one point or another. I just stand there and try not to laugh. I look around at everybody, and see their serious "I'm talking to god" face, and occasionally I see other non-religious people looking around. After the prayer and a few words said and a toast, we all got food and sat down. I was sitting at a picnic table with some friends, and a few other acquaintances, when one of my buddies started talking about trying to find me during the prayer. He said that he was looking for me to see what I was doing. He knows I'm an atheist and was curious how I was handling the prayer. One of our supply sergeants asked why he was looking for me. I told her that I was an atheist and the first thing that came out of her mouth was, "oh how sad!".
It really is sad how ignorant people are. I'm a very happy person. I really enjoy life, because it's probably the only one I'll have. I was really quite shocked and didn't even say anything in response. I doubt that anything I could have said would have mattered, but I still wish I had said something at least.
I would have started laughing and asked her why she thought that was sad. It's strange that just b/c we don't believe in a "god" or what ever, that someone has to feel sorry for us. I'm glad to hear that you my opinionated husband just let a stupid comment be just that!
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