{"id":14317,"date":"2011-11-24T00:45:35","date_gmt":"2011-11-24T03:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=14317"},"modified":"2011-11-24T01:14:22","modified_gmt":"2011-11-24T04:14:22","slug":"us-army-removes-cross-from-afghan-chapel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/24\/us-army-removes-cross-from-afghan-chapel\/","title":{"rendered":"US Army Removes Cross from Afghan Chapel"},"content":{"rendered":"

FoxNews repeats<\/a> the Politico report<\/a> noting the US Army pulled a cross off the front of a US military chapel at Camp Marmal, Afghanistan, which was dedicated just a few months ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Before and after courtesy photo originally published at Politico.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

At first, this situation seems similar to the US Army’s removal of crosses from the chapel in Kosovo<\/a> a few years ago.<\/p>\n

However, the current issue is actually somewhat more complex.<\/p>\n

First, US military policies are not necessarily identical among the services.\u00a0 Most US military regulations generally acknowledge the necessary “neutrality” of chapel facilities, but that is not universal. \u00a0This is something Pentagon spokesman\u00a0William Speaks (Commander, US Navy) didn’t\u00a0seem to\u00a0understand, as he cited an Army regulation:<\/p>\n

Speaks said it is his understanding that the rule applies not just to that particular camp \u2013 but all military chapels.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Many regulations\u00a0do\u00a0reference\u00a0permanent<\/em> or “architectural” features (though, again, that is not universal).\u00a0 The Camp Marmal cross was apparently left hanging on the wall long-term, but there is nothing to prevent the chaplains from re-hanging the cross as often as they want — so long as it does not remain a permanent fixture.<\/p>\n

Second, its not actually a US military base:\u00a0 Camp Marmal is a German-run military facility.\u00a0 In theory, then, US military regulations wouldn’t apply.\u00a0 However, through an awkward arrangement, the US Army apparently has control over that particular building.\u00a0 So Army regulations apply to one building, but not necessarily the others — which makes for an odd contrast discussed below.<\/p>\n

Third, categorically saying US military chapel facilities have<\/em> to be “religiously neutral” is\u00a0inaccurate.\u00a0 In fact, it is not unusual for US military bases to have specific-faith chapels when facilities exist for other faiths.<\/p>\n

As noted previously<\/a>, the world-famous US Air Force Academy chapel has a Protestant sanctuary with a 50-foot tall cross hanging at the front — quite permanently.\u00a0 It also has Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, and Buddhist sanctuaries, not to mention the “All Faiths” room and the outdoor Cadet Chapel Falcon Circle<\/a> intended for pagans.\u00a0 While “ecumenical” meetings can be held in any space, USAFA regulations specifically prohibit <\/em>“neutralizing” the faith-specific chapel areas.<\/p>\n

In fact, Air Force documents\u00a0specifically note<\/p>\n

Religious facilities should be geared toward meeting the needs of the majority religious population on the installation <\/em><\/strong>but should also provide adequate spaces for members of other organized religions on the installation. [emphasis added]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is relevant in this case because Camp Marmal has not one but two<\/em> other faith specific chapels<\/a> — both mosques<\/a>. While the Politico article notes the cross was removed after a complaint, servicemembers reported Jewish servicemembers had used the chapel without <\/em>complaint.\u00a0 Consistent with the beliefs of the anonymous servicemembers quoted in the article, the “complaint” seems to have been both targeted — and vicarious.<\/p>\n

While a strong self-defense is a natural reaction, an overreaction to someone else’s hypersensitivity isn’t necessary, and it may not help.<\/p>\n

Does the removal smack of the seemingly increasing cultural hypersensitivity toward Christianity?\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 Does it inherently restrict the military members’ free exercise?\u00a0 Not necessarily.\u00a0 Does it favor — or target — a religion?\u00a0 Perhaps, though the policy seems to be applied equally to the American facilities at Camp Marmal, even if not the other buildings there.<\/p>\n

In this case, Pentagon spokesman Commander William Speaks said<\/p>\n

“The removal was, in fact, in accordance with Army regulations” and [he] pointed out that the Army chaplain manual prohibits permanent display of religious symbols.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They didn’t say it couldn’t <\/em>be displayed — only that it couldn’t be displayed permanently<\/em>.\u00a0 The chaplains at Camp Marmal should follow the regulations (as they have), as the military leadership has interpreted them.<\/p>\n

And they should raise the cross at every opportunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FoxNews repeats the Politico report noting the US Army pulled a cross off the front of a US military chapel at Camp Marmal, Afghanistan, which was dedicated just a few months ago. Before and after courtesy photo originally published at Politico.com. At first, this situation seems similar to the US Army’s removal of crosses from the chapel in Kosovo a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[58,88,37,2281,38,5284,96,162,44,39,79,2,76,63,2497,10,171,65,2498],"class_list":["post-14317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-and-religion","tag-afghanistan","tag-army","tag-buddhism","tag-camp-marmal","tag-chapel","tag-chaplain","tag-christian","tag-cross","tag-islam","tag-jewish","tag-kosovo","tag-military","tag-pagan","tag-pentagon","tag-politico","tag-religion","tag-religious-freedom","tag-usafa","tag-william-speaks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}