Navy atheist required to pray, say “Amen”, and feign hatred of atheists

[Aardverk]

..... but in the heat of the moment with your superior in front of you (who is completely aware of what triggers you, via standardized training), and all of your conditioning behind you, a soldier is likely to do whatever the fuck he or she is told.

"I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong ... They never called me nigger." – (Muhammad Ali). I see nothing wrong with conscientious objectors and hope I would have had the courage to have stood by my principles in any of the stupid wars in my lifetime. Whilst I do understand your point about a soldier's conditioning and the reasons for it, I feel that 'church parade' is hardly the same thing. It is not a period of danger, high stress and adrenalin where you obey orders blindly. IF, in church parade you were handed a gun and told to shoot the man in front, most people would refuse - I hope. Principles would/should stop you following a ridiculous order. I hope the same applies to an order to someone to pretend to be Christian.

Fortunately I was never conscripted  and I'm far too old now. So, what would happen to a soldier who refused to pretend to be Christian?