Tag Archives: Chaplain

Shortage of Catholic Chaplains draws Protestants, Contractors

The shortage of military Catholic Chaplains has been noted here repeatedly.  Now, military Archbishop Timothy Broglio has said the shortage is causing Catholic military personnel to seek help from Protestant Chaplains.

Because many in the armed services often face grave situations, [Broglio] said, questions about the meaning of life and the existence of God often surface.

“They are at great risk because there are not nearly enough priests to meet their needs,” he said. Read more

USAFA Religious Respect Meeting Brings Varied Faiths Together

As previously noted, the US Air Force Academy held a “religious respect” conference to work on the “religious tolerance” training program for cadets.  According to the official Academy release on the event, the attendees included Christian, Jewish, atheist, pagan, and “interfaith” representatives.

While Jason Torpy did attend, Michael Weinstein pouted that he was not invited to the “propaganda” event.  Weinstein, of course, is not a faith group representative as the other participants are; he also didn’t explain why he wanted to be party to a meeting with a school with whom he is “at war.”

Photos of the event, as well as the invited attendees, can be seen at the event website.

Also noted at the local Colorado Springs Gazette.

Army Captain: Where Did God Go in Afghanistan?

US Army Capt Michael Cummings writes an interesting commentary at the New York Times on the “religiosity” of the US Armed Forces in Afghanistan:  “Where did God go in Afghanistan?

In what could be considered a disappointing indicator of the spiritual tenor in Afghanistan, Cummings writes that no one seemed interested in attending their Chapels, at least not publicly:

As I entered [the makeshift chapel], I thought for a moment I was in the wrong place. Read more

USAFA Should Rescind Atheist’s Religious Respect Training Invite

A recent article on the US Air Force Academy Cadet Interfaith Council made a passing reference to an upcoming USAFA “religious respect conference” in November.  The purpose of the conference is reportedly to work on the cadet “religious respect” training program.  It seems this is the “next step,” following the respect training given to all basic trainees this past summer that was designed and developed by the Jewish Anti-Defamation League.

Jason Torpy, a former Army Captain and current president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, recently announced on his website that he had been invited to the religious respect conference.

Broadly speaking, it is not at all unreasonable that an atheist would be invited to such a conference, as the military environment is one that favors no particular faith, or lack thereof.

Jason Torpy is an abysmal choice, however, and the Academy should rescind his invitation.

Torpy has actively worked against religious freedom in the military; he has Read more

USAFA Cadets Discuss Faith, Freedom, Proselytizing

One of the results of the religious “scandals” that have plagued the US Air Force Academy over the past few years was the creation of the Cadet Interfaith Council.  The CIC was the subject of the latest USAFA news article on religious expression and diversity at the Academy.

The 20-member cadet group serves as a focal point for religious issues in the cadet wing.  Current president Cadet 2nd Class Philicia Fahrenbruch notes the Council helped ‘protect’ the time set aside for SPIRE on Monday evenings last year, and has helped deal with other issues since then.

Some of the topics noted in the article highlight the continued sensitivity of religion at the Air Force Academy:  Read more

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: The Military Christian’s Perspective

The ongoing public debate over homosexuality and the US military (most often referred to as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”) presents a unique conflict for Christians in the military.  There are those who believe homosexuality is morally wrong and must be prohibited at every possibility, and there are those who believe people have the freedom to do as they please in their private lives.  This situation has implications from both the Christian perspective and the military perspective (in isolation), though they must be integrated to form the military Christian’s perspective.  Each of these three is addressed individually below.

The Christian Perspective

The Christian faith considers homosexuality a sin, just as theft, adultery, murder, and lust are sins.  Still, Christianity does not condemn the person who expresses a homosexual preference.  In addition, while many people in this world are tempted to sin (as was Jesus during his incarnation), the temptation to participate in sinful conduct is not itself wrong.  Finally, man is a fallen creation and has a sinful nature; thus, succumbing to temptation and sinning are a common experience of many on this earth — even the stereotypically staunchest Christians.

For a Christian, it is disheartening to see the culture, government, and now military move to end opposition to immoral behavior.  This is a dramatic indicator of the direction of cultural morality in the United States:  Few other issues have so rapidly moved from Read more

Soldier Saw No Atheists in Foxholes

An interesting article from Illinois notes the return of a local Army unit from Afghanistan, and focuses on the spiritual support sought by both the troops and their families:

Army Spc. Brian Peters witnessed firsthand what is meant by the familiar adage, “There are no atheists in foxholes…”  A noncommissioned officer he was with began praying during a firefight last year.  “I saw it right there on the battlefield,” Peters said. “We were in a ditch taking sniper fire.”

This suggests people often will appeal to a higher power when their lives are on the line even if they consider themselves atheists.

Several families also noted the importance of local churches in Read more

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