I'm a tattooed, pierced, female former Marine. I'm also an atheist (well, mostly; I like a lot of what I read about Taoism, too).
And I live in Utah.
You'd sort of expect an unpleasant encounter or two on the subject of religion, given those bits of information. What has surprised me is that there hasn't been one, not from the LDS folks that live here, not any of the times that I've lived here.
This one came from one of my fellow members at the VFW post.
July 24th is a big state holiday in Utah, as the first LDS settlers arrived in the territory on July 24, 1847. Today my fiance and I participated in the city parade, and then we went to the VFW barbeque this evening.
We were meeting new people, shooting the breeze, and generally having a good time, when one of the senior females at the post, a Navy veteran, pulled me aside with a very ... stern look and told me she needed to "have a word" with me after she finished eating. I shrugged and said okay, and went back to my conversation.
She came to get me about fifteen minutes later, and pulled me out into the front parking lot (where there were conveniently no other people; this should have been my first warning).
"I've done three events with you now, and I'm going to tell you something. I think you're a disgrace to my military."
She then proceeded to lecture me about my Bad Religion tattoo, and how it doesn't matter what a tattoo actually is, all that matters is what other people think it is, and how I'm "not allowed" to be an atheist and a veteran, because when I took the oath of enlistment, I vowed to "serve god".
Let's pause here for a second to look at something:
I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
Nowhere, in that entire thing, does the servicemember vow to serve god, ANY GOD, period. The "so help me god" part is OPTIONAL. Nowhere in the UCMJ does it say you must have a religion or you'll get in trouble. What she told me, quite simply, is complete and utter bullshit.
I stood there for a second and stared at her openmouthed, because I honestly could not think of a single thing to say (well, besides "go fuck yourself"). Of course, she took that opportunity to keep on talking:
"You know, I'm a Charismatic Southern Baptist," ('oh, well, now this all makes sense', I thought) and I cannot believe you would shame my military and my VFW by walking around with that tattoo and your nose pierced. Don't you think you shame the Marine Corps, looking like that?"
"No."
"You said you would serve god, and your country," ('and your country' was added almost as an afterthought) "and you are offending many, many people, and I don't want to see you back here until you can stop being offensive."
I went in, found my fiancé, told him what happened, and told him I wanted to leave.
Now, I have spent YEARS trying to get over my dislike of organized religion, and the behavior of some of the followers of said organized religion. (Growing up in Utah can do that to you.) I do my best to be respectful of people who are religious; I don't crack jokes about religion around them, I keep my derogatory comments to myself, and I recognize that while I may think it's a load of hooey, they don't, and it's not my place to judge what they do with their own lives.
What I cannot understand is why I, as a non-christian, do not rate the same consideration. I especially do not understand this coming from a fellow veteran who ostensibly supported and defended the same Constitution I did, which includes A, freedom of speech and B, freedom of religion (to include freedom from religion).
The incident was reported to the senior chief at the post, and he is going to speak to her about it, as well as take it up the chain of command because it's, well, blatantly inappropriate. And I will not be talking to that woman ever again. For any reason. Period.
I'm only sorry I didn't demand she make her remarks in front of everyone else at the barbeque.
EDIT 1: Wow, when I went to bed, this had something like 35 comments, and I woke up to 300+. Thank you all for taking the time to read my diary, and for taking the time to comment; I truly appreciate that, no matter your stance on the diary or on my tattoo or the reason I got it.
EDIT 2: I also realize it was my bust to not explain that Bad Religion is a punk band, and the "no crosses" symbol is their logo. They've just been around since 1980 and I made the mistake of assuming that most people have heard of them. My sincere apologies for that oversight.
EDIT 3: On USMC regulations: my tattoo, in and of itself, is authorized under Marine Corps regulation, as it is not considered a "hate or gang related" tattoo. (The Corps actually asks for an explanation of what the tattoo is.) The only reason that it had to be grandfathered into the new rules is because it showed in the physical training uniform.
EDIT 4: The main issue, for me, is the blatant lack of respect, and the idea that a tattoo and not being religious somehow negate my eight years of service. If she had come up to me and said, "Hey, you know, we're in a pretty religious area, and I'd appreciate it if you could maybe wear your blues trousers instead of the skirt, because people may get the wrong idea," then that would be one thing. I still wouldn't have a high opinion of people who would just be judgmental instead of just asking about it, but that's my opinion. But to get in my face about being a shame to the military and a disgrace to the Corps, because of a tattoo and because she doesn't like atheists? No. Just ... no.