What Is the Role of a Military Chaplain

In a recent announcement, 40 retired military chaplains wrote an open letter asking that the military policy against gays serving openly in the military not be rescinded, claiming that by doing so, they would be forced to disobey their faith.Ignoring the specifics of why they are resistant, the question I have is:What is the role of a military chaplain? Is it to service their own faith or is it to service the faith of the Servicemembers? Clearly, it is impossible for a single person to be available to every possible Servicemember. There are simply too many religious backgrounds for a single person to be competent in them all such that they are able to give good counsel and advice to everyone who may need them.But even though a chaplain can't be all things to all people, surely it is part of the job description to be an non-judging resource who can listen to the Servicemember and provide help. Even if it means saying that you don't know the particulars of that individual person's needs, you can provide a safe place.By the logic put forward by these chaplains (all of which are evangelical Christians), we should restrict membership in the military only to those of a particular faith so that a chaplain doesn't have to be faced with someone who doesn't share that faith.I find this slightly different from the question of pharmacists who wish to withhold medical treatment when that treatment conflicts with their religious views and the recent law passed in Oklahoma that allows physicians to lie about the health of a fetus if the doctor thinks the mother might have an abortion upon finding out. The military, as many who oppose equality claim, is different. In the military, you are specifically and deliberately put in dangerous situations that you are not allowed to extricate yourself from simply because you don't like it. And as such, the military provides support for the Servicemembers in order to keep an effective fighting force.But part of that requires the Servicemembers to give up some of their freedoms. Because you are in an enforced society, you're not allowed to say everything you would want to because you must be able to maintain your connections to the rest of the unit. But does the need for unit cohesion mean that there must be religious uniformity? In the conflict between the Servicemembers and those who support their spiritual life, whose needs get to come first?Edited by Rrhain, : Forgot that Coffee House threads were open.

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Rrhain

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Thank you for your submission to Science. Your paper was reviewed by a jury of seventh graders so that they could look for balance and to allow them to make up their own minds. We are sorry to say that they found your paper "bogus," specifically describing the section on the laboratory work "boring." We regret that we will be unable to publish your work at this time.

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Minds are like parachutes. Just because you've lost yours doesn't mean you can use mine.

This is precisely why we have the Establishment Clause in the 1st Amendment. To avoid this exact thing.And this is why I don't think there should be military chaplains at all. It is a conflict of interest. The Chaplain Corp was started to give the troops somewhere to go for their spiritual needs. They do all ascribe to their own respective faith's, but they are required to give a kind of secular counseling or a loose "spiritual" counseling if a servicemember requests it. Yes, exactly so. But like a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist, they are required by law to inform the appropriate authorities if you express either suicidal or homicidal ideations. Other than that, they are supposed to a non-judgmental ear to listen to you and to provide for you a sanctuary where you feel safe. These chaplains are over-stepping their bounds. They knew coming in to the military that the issue of interfaith service would be required. If they are going to remain consistent, then they should allow homosexuals the same courtesy or go find a new line of work, one where it doesn't place religion and the government in the same sphere of influence.

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"Political correctness is tyranny with manners." -- Charlton Heston

My first answer would be that there are some Christian sects that say that you should never drink alcohol. Have any chaplains of those sects said that no-one should be allowed to openly drink beer in the military, and that they cannot serve as chaplains to such an Army without disobeying their faith?