At HuffPo, Page writes that over the years, he's had several of his fellow cadets come to him with stories of harassment and bigotry. He's also had to pull teeth to get official recognition for the Secular Student Alliance, and even since winning recognition this year it's gotten so little funding that it's had to live a hand-to-mouth existence. While the highest levels of the academy leadership seem to understand there's a serious problem here and are willing to address it, Page thinks it's not nearly enough.



In response to this utter nonsense, and much more, I initiated an Equal Opportunity investigation earlier this semester. I have received nothing but positive responses from the chain of command since then. The Commandant of Cadets himself, Brigadier General Theodore Martin, expressed what I perceived to be a sincere desire to see to it that these issues are dealt with quickly and severely. As happy as I was to hear his words and see his genuine concern expressed, his influence alone will not be enough to change the confidently bigoted culture of this sad place. The gulf between the intent of a General Officer and the execution of that intent by those in positions of immediate authority is massive in a complex bureaucracy entrenched in over 200 years of tradition. This chasm is widened by the rarity of people like General Martin who are willing to take on a proactive role in attempting to ensure that equality is established. The existence of decades of legal precedent and policies prohibiting this pervasive religious bigotry has not stopped it from happening in the past, and will most certainly not stop it from happening in the future so long as the many who oppose it remain too timid to stand up and be counted.

For example, Page told NBC that the SSA has been repeatedly denied requests to leave campus on routine "rest and relaxation" outings.

Page is making his move with the full backing of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. MRFF president Mikey Weinstein thinks that Page is no less than a hero, on par with Rosa Parks.

This charismatic Christian can only applaud Page for what he's doing here. After all, there are times that what the fundies are cooking up feels oppressive even to us reality-based Christians. Hopefully he won't be the last to take a stand.

Since this made the rec list, I thought I'd also mention Military.com's piece on Page.

Some people have wondered--why didn't Page stay and fight this out until he graduated? I have two theories. In one scenario, Page may have feared that the anti-atheist bias among West Point's day-to-day commanders was such that they'd trump up a reason to get him expelled, and he decided to leave rather than get thrown out like a dog. Also, he may have thought that once he got his commission and it got out that he was an atheist, his superiors could trump up a reason to screw him over and wreck his career.

Since this is still on the rec list as of this morning, I thought I'd pass along a story a few people have mentioned in the comments--Page not only won't have to reimburse the Army for his education at West Point, but he's been granted an honorable discharge. It's somewhat bittersweet, though--apparently he was diagnosed with clinical depression earlier this semester. Which probably explains why he decided not to stick it out through May--apparently the stress of being hounded about his unbelief combined with the suicide of his father made him fear he was close to the breaking point. However, he does intend to continue the fight against fundamentalist influence in the military.