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Soldier Says She Was Harassed Because of Muslim-sounding Name

pbrauer

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When people demonize Muslims it can affect people other than a person of Islamic faith. Her father was born into a Muslim family, however he converted to Christianity after meeting her mother, a Catholic.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sgt. 1st Class Naida Hosan is not a Muslim — she’s a Catholic. But her name sounded Islamic to fellow U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and they would taunt her, calling her “Sgt. Hussein” and asking what God she prayed to.

So before deploying to Afghanistan last year for her second war tour, she legally changed her name — to Nadia Christian Nova.

This did not solve her problems.

Instead, matters escalated. Nova complained to her superiors about constant anti-Muslim slurs and jokes. She says they responded with a series of reprisals intended to drive her out of the Army, leading her to consider suicide.

“My complaints fell on deaf ears every time,” said Nova, 41, a member of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C. “Any time I would say something about it I was treated like I didn’t know what I was talking about or that I’m an idiot or that I was a Muslim sympathizer. It was just a very lonely feeling.”

Determined to remain in the service for at least eight years, until she is eligible for retirement, Nova recently re-enlisted. But she agreed to tell her story to The Associated Press because “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else if I can help it. It’s a horrible to feel like people are against you when you are supposed to be on the same team.”

Soldier Says She Was Harassed Because of Muslim-sounding Name

 
So who are you blaming?
 
I don't buy it. The Army in 2013 is so insanely politically correct, if someone even accuses you of making a discriminatory slur to his cat, you'll probably lose rank. She obviously has a ****ty chain of command, but she doesn't seem to know how to call one of the many agencies in the Army that specifically deal with this kind of thing.
 
I don't buy it. The Army in 2013 is so insanely politically correct, if someone even accuses you of making a discriminatory slur to his cat, you'll probably lose rank. She obviously has a ****ty chain of command, but she doesn't seem to know how to call one of the many agencies in the Army that specifically deal with this kind of thing.

That's not actually true. There are powerful evangelical groups within the army that proselytize and discriminate against non-Christians. Muslims and atheists both face a lot of backlash from these organizations and superior officers. Nothing about this story is far fetched.
 
Seems this story is not so much about a soldier's complaints as pushing an agenda.

The cited "news" source (let alone mainstream) is plainly garbage.
 
That's not actually true. There are powerful evangelical groups within the army that proselytize and discriminate against non-Christians. Muslims and atheists both face a lot of backlash from these organizations and superior officers. Nothing about this story is far fetched.

They must be in a different Army than I was, because they take EVERYTHING far too seriously. They even have muslim services on post, we even had the option to go to them in basic training. Any call to IG (Inspector General) would launch a very serious investigation.

They even have hotlines specifically for this.
 
That's not actually true. There are powerful evangelical groups within the army that proselytize and discriminate against non-Christians. Muslims and atheists both face a lot of backlash from these organizations and superior officers. Nothing about this story is far fetched.

I was a militant atheist who ran my mouth all the time, as disrespectful to religion as possible when the fishing looked good. I never got any crap for it at all, even when directed at a poor wandering chaplain. In my platoon, 4-5 of the 8 guys I went to bars with were atheist.

Let me guess... you've never been in the military but someone told you this.
 
Seems this story is not so much about a soldier's complaints as pushing an agenda.

The cited "news" source (let alone mainstream) is plainly garbage.
The news is solid, I accidentally posted it in mainstream. I tried to get the mods to move it, but so far they haven't done it.
 
The news is solid, I accidentally posted it in mainstream. I tried to get the mods to move it, but so far they haven't done it.

Enjoy your ding. Let me know when you find a source worth a crap.
 
Enjoy your ding. Let me know when you find a source worth a crap.

I hope to see you post with equal ahhh clarity when a right winger posts a WND/Breitbart sort of source... :2wave:

But it seems crap source has a lot to do with the lean of both the observer and the news source.
 
I hope to see you post with equal ahhh clarity when a right winger posts a WND/Breitbart sort of source... :2wave:

But it seems crap source has a lot to do with the lean of both the observer and the news source.

I dunno what lean it is. It doesn't take a genius to write off "internetmemes.com".
 
That's not actually true. There are powerful evangelical groups within the army that proselytize and discriminate against non-Christians. Muslims and atheists both face a lot of backlash from these organizations and superior officers. Nothing about this story is far fetched.
Excuse me, I don't recall ever reading about you serving during my time on this website. In addition, you are WAY off base with this crap post. Powerful evangelical groups? LOL. Yep, so powerful that they can't even keep a cross above chapels in Afghanistan.
 
When people demonize Muslims it can affect people other than a person of Islamic faith. Her father was born into a Muslim family, however he converted to Christianity after meeting her mother, a Catholic.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sgt. 1st Class Naida Hosan is not a Muslim — she’s a Catholic. But her name sounded Islamic to fellow U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and they would taunt her, calling her “Sgt. Hussein” and asking what God she prayed to.

So before deploying to Afghanistan last year for her second war tour, she legally changed her name — to Nadia Christian Nova.

This did not solve her problems.

Instead, matters escalated. Nova complained to her superiors about constant anti-Muslim slurs and jokes. She says they responded with a series of reprisals intended to drive her out of the Army, leading her to consider suicide.

“My complaints fell on deaf ears every time,” said Nova, 41, a member of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C. “Any time I would say something about it I was treated like I didn’t know what I was talking about or that I’m an idiot or that I was a Muslim sympathizer. It was just a very lonely feeling.”

Determined to remain in the service for at least eight years, until she is eligible for retirement, Nova recently re-enlisted. But she agreed to tell her story to The Associated Press because “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else if I can help it. It’s a horrible to feel like people are against you when you are supposed to be on the same team.”

Soldier Says She Was Harassed Because of Muslim-sounding Name

On to the real topic here. Sounds like a soldier with thin skin to me. Teasing such as this happens to ALL races, religions, creeds, etc in the military. It just does. Especially in ground units. I am very forthcoming with the fact that I'm a Christian. I have been teased about it. It doesn't bug me. We had the Chaplain come out to play basketball last week. Guys were saying "The power of Christ compels you" everytime he shot. It's the nature of the military. We joke around about everything. It's one thing for someone to be discriminated against. There isn't an issue with that, from what I've seen, in our military. Sure, there are 10% but that's everywhere. It's a whole other thing to endure the standard teasing and ribbing that occurs on a daily basis. Sound to me like this chick got butt hurt because someone made fun of her, they saw blood in the water, and now she's going public with it. The only reason it's getting any sort of press is because the word muslim was used. It must not be that bad. She friggin reenlisted. Get a clue.
 
i don't deny that this could be possible, I'm just saying, if it is, it is something that doesn't usually happen. It's an isolated case and it should/will be resolved internally, in the military, if it has any truth to it. Not in the court of public perception.
 
Nor apparently to call a source you don't like crap while ignoring other crappy sources you agree with. :peace

I contend that the above statement is completely full of ****. Show me using or promoting a crappy source. I'm not a republican or conservative. Where the **** am I supposed to get a source biased to my own personal ideology? I don't own a TV even (15 years). So spare me the BS.

Prove it, or you're a ****ing slandering liar that is so full of crap it's hard to believe you can breath.


I eagerly await your lack of evidence and an apology. :peace
 
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I was a militant atheist who ran my mouth all the time, as disrespectful to religion as possible when the fishing looked good. I never got any crap for it at all, even when directed at a poor wandering chaplain. In my platoon, 4-5 of the 8 guys I went to bars with were atheist.

Let me guess... you've never been in the military but someone told you this.

Excuse me, I don't recall ever reading about you serving during my time on this website. In addition, you are WAY off base with this crap post. Powerful evangelical groups? LOL. Yep, so powerful that they can't even keep a cross above chapels in Afghanistan.

Yeah, anecdotal responses. Terribly compelling. Too bad there several outstanding lawsuits against the army for prosthelytizing and discrimination. Here's some info on two of them.

Atheist soldier sues Army for 'unconstitutional' discrimination - CNN.com
US soldiers punished for refusing to attend Christian rock concert | World news | The Guardian
 
Yeah, anecdotal responses. Terribly compelling. Too bad there several outstanding lawsuits against the army for prosthelytizing and discrimination. Here's some info on two of them.

Atheist soldier sues Army for 'unconstitutional' discrimination - CNN.com
US soldiers punished for refusing to attend Christian rock concert | World news | The Guardian

Let's utilize some basic reasoning here:

This stuff occurs in the civilian world, why do you think it will not occur in the military? Every group has good and bad, smart and stupid, clever and wise. Those very few individuals and cabals that break military law and discriminate are prosecuted. You are attempting to use a couple crimes to indict the entire military. That's like using the Boston Bombers to indict all Chechnyans. The only thing that could make your position more ridiculous would be to use the Ft. Hood shooter as evidence on your behalf. Or, to claim it is part of the 9/11 inside job.

We might also note that there are far more than 20 ex-military members on this website. When the sample size reaches n=20, we are no longer talking about anecdotes. We could question 40 ex-military members and get the same response from each. At what point will you abandon your use of isolated criminal incidents to demonize entire groups of people? Is there any evidence that could cause you to reconsider your grand conspiracy theory?



So, are you for or against using isolated criminal incidents as an indictment and demonization of entire groups?
 
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Is there anything more useless than a soldier with thin skin? That's like a football player complaining about getting sweaty.

Plus, it sounds like an attention whore with an agenda.
 
I still don't get how this is "Breaking News". There has been a complaint filed by a military member!!!!! Breaking news!!!!

Really?

Could someone explain to me what news is breaking? I mean, of course, beside the fact that someone in the military has filed a complaint.
 
:twocents:
Btw. we have the same crap in the IDF too.
People joke and taunt each other for being Russian, Arab, having weird names, whatever.... as long as it is not done as a purposeful insult, nobody cares much.

Cheers,
Fallen.
 
Yeah, anecdotal responses. Terribly compelling. Too bad there several outstanding lawsuits against the army for prosthelytizing and discrimination. Here's some info on two of them.

Atheist soldier sues Army for 'unconstitutional' discrimination - CNN.com
US soldiers punished for refusing to attend Christian rock concert | World news | The Guardian
I notice you dodged the "you never served" portion of my post. You also failed to read the "there's always 10%" quote as well. Sure, there will always be idiots that do stupid things like the ones you named. But if it were the epidemic you claim it to be, it would be in the news everyday now wouldn't it? The fact of the matter is that any claim anyone makes on this website can be backed up by a stupid story on the internet. How about all homeless people eat other people? Or how about all Hispanics kidnap women and hold them for 10 years? I have stories I can back those claims with.
 
There are plenty of cases where harassment or cases brought up before the Chain of Command fall on deaf ears. Does that mean it's a ****ty Chain of Command? You damn right they are, but it's this kind of attitude of "oh, it's just an agenda" instead of maybe an actual problem, that annoys me. I'm not saying it's all over, but I've personally seen problems with certain Chain of Commands and I feel that's something that should be addressed by the military.
 
The U.S. military needs to purge it's ranks of all of these whiny politically correct troops.
 
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sgt. 1st Class Naida Hosan is not a Muslim — she’s a Catholic. But her name sounded Islamic to fellow U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and they would taunt her, calling her “Sgt. Hussein” and asking what God she prayed to.

Here's my guess: she is an outspoken Christian and that's why it was funny. I met a guy in the army named Sgt. Harry Beaver. He didn't change his name.

I figure the woman is unstable and being used for political purposes. Of course, it wouldn't be the first time that the anti-military agenda uses a soldier in distress. It never seems to matter what the troops say until one goes off the deep end and hits a talking point. That one is used and discarded, others are paid no heed.
 
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