argh

Some of you might remember the story of Pat Tillman, an NFL player who famously quit to volunteer for the US Army. He was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan. The US Army attempted to conceal that it was friendly fire, awarding him various posthumous medals and the like. When details of the coverup came out, Tillmans' family was justifiably outraged, and have been very active in trying to get the details of what actually happened.

According to the officer who organised the first (bogus) review of the situation, the reason the family is so angry isn't because of the appalling way that the Army acted, no, not at all. It's because they're all ... gasp ATHEISTS!

Kauzlarich, now a battalion commanding officer at Fort Riley in Kansas, further suggested the Tillman family's unhappiness with the findings of past investigations might be because of the absence of a Christian faith in their lives.

In an interview with ESPN.com, Kauzlarich said: "When you die, I mean, there is supposedly a better life, right? Well, if you are an atheist and you don't believe in anything, if you die, what is there to go to? Nothing. You are worm dirt. So for their son to die for nothing, and now he is no more — that is pretty hard to get your head around that. So I don't know how an atheist thinks. I can only imagine that that would be pretty tough."

Asked by ESPN.com whether the Tillmans' religious beliefs are a factor in the ongoing investigation, Kauzlarich said, "I think so. There is not a whole lot of trust in the system or faith in the system [by the Tillmans]. So that is my personal opinion, knowing what I know."

Yes. ESPN doing investigative reporting. ESPN. The sports network. Nice work all round. There's a three part report here

And while atheists might end up "worm dirt" - anyone who'd attack a family who's trying to find out what happened to their son in this way is lower than worm dirt. I'm not sure if I have words to express my contempt for this man.