Today's New York Times is reporting that legislation for Pentagon spending is being delayed while Congress debates whether military chaplains should say non-sectarian prayers at non-denominational military events.
Some legislators say it violates a chaplain's right to free speech and freedom of religion to require that he/she say non-sectarian prayers at functions where attanedance is mandantory for service men and women of many faiths and no faith.
It seems to me that the legislators and chaplains behind this legislation have forgotten who is being served.
Chaplains exist to address the spiritual needs of the men and women from religiously diverse backgrounds who serve in the military. The chaplaincy does not exist to provide a platform for persons of any faith to prosyletize and/or flaunt their peculiar religious convictions.
I suspect that the chaplains and legislators behind this legislation think that the mission of chaplains is to serve God. If that is the case, then their God needs to pay their salary and their God needs to provide them a place of service where people can listen to their prayers voluntarily.
The God I serve only wants willing worshippers, not captives coerced into enduring pious pronouncements by self-absorbed dogmatists.
3 comments:
Of course, from my view, chaplains are already hopelessly compromised by trying to ministers of the nonviolent Jesus and officers in one of the world's militaries at the same time. You cannot serve two masters.
You are correct. The issue is whom do chaplains serve. Military chaplains serve the government. Their role is to provide religious justification for military action and to salve the consciences of those who have qualms about what they are commanded to do. They do not serve the Prince of Peace who rejected the path of violence. When they accept employment by the government, they become just like the Old Testament false prophets whose duty was to tell the king what he wanted to hear. As Michael Westmoreland-White wrote, "You cannot serve two masters."
Great post, Dr. Prescott. Those who want to be a preacher, a pastor, or a missionary, should seek one of those positions. Those who accept a position as military chaplain (or as a pharmacist), must be prepared for the requirements and restrictions of that job.
As a veteran, I wonder if your other commentors are implying that no one in the military - chaplain, officer, or enlisted - can be a genuine Christian.
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