army pastors

[froggy]

why aren't the atheies complaining about the pastors in the military? seperation church and state ain't that there creed, or will it make them look like bigger idiots than they already do?

 

[rdean]

why aren't the atheies complaining about the pastors in the military? seperation church and state ain't that there creed, or will it make them look like bigger idiots than they already do?

Actually, it's more than the atheists who are complaining. Don't get me wrong, plenty atheists complain about the attempts to force that crappy mysticism on them. Demons and angels are as real as leprechauns and sparkly fairies. If you can believe in that crap, then you probably believe that Obama was born in Kenya.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/washington/01church.html?_r=1

Still, some military personnel and activists opposed to what they see as “forced religion” in the military said they believed the problem had continued largely unabated, and they said private groups like the Officers’ Christian Fellowship and the Campus Crusade for Christ’s Military Ministry maintained an outsized influence on many bases.

Allegations of forced religion in the military grabbing headlines

Specialist Chalker is now a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit that accuses the military of ignoring laws and policies banning mandatory religious practices. Specialist Chalker, who earned a Purple Heart in Iraq, remembers returning from the war in 2007 and attending a mandatory ceremony that began and ended with a Christian prayer. The experience, Specialist Chalker said, was “humiliating and dehumanizing.”

An Officer's Experience in Our Christian Military : Dispatches from the Culture Wars

They were the turning point for me--when I finally understood the message several of my leaders had been expressing to me all along: the Army has no place for people like me: dissidents who stray from the unofficially mandated military religion; conservative fundamentalist Christianity.

 

[pinqy]

why aren't the atheies complaining about the pastors in the military? seperation church and state ain't that there creed, or will it make them look like bigger idiots than they already do?

There was debate about military chaplains back in 1775. Chaplains serve a role for all military...they are the unit's morale officer and are available for off-the-record counselling and advice outside the chain of command (military medical records are not necessarily confidential). All requests for compassionate reassignment or discharge also go through the chaplain. Keep in mind that not all chaplains are Christian, either..there are Muslim and Jewish chaplains. I'm not sure if there are currently any Buddhist chaplains, but there is provision for them. There have been many attempts for Wiccan chaplains, but the military has a requirement that chaplains must have so much training/education and their organization must have a set hierarchy. Few Wiccan groups meet the criteria.

There are certainly some abuses, as has been noted, mostly from Evangelicals. The rules and regs, if applied, are sufficient to deal with those matters, and they have been in cases like the attempt to circulate Pashtu Bibles from Bagram Air Base.

There is a need to care for the spiritual needs of those service members who have them, especially when there are no civilians available. As long as Chaplains don't cross the lines and treat ALL equally regardless of belief, there is no violation of the 1st Ammendment. Not having Chaplains would restrict the ability for religious expression (esp denying Catholics the Mass) and frankly we already have enough restrictions on our rights.

 

[geauxtohell]

The Chaplain's Corps in the military went to pot after it was invaded by the kooky evangelicals. Our chaplain hung out in the wire (his fat ass refused to leave it) and gave sermons on the evils of secular American society in the middle of Afghanistan.

What a dipshit.