{"id":43904,"date":"2018-12-05T00:30:47","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T03:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/?p=43904"},"modified":"2021-04-01T13:12:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T16:12:47","slug":"a-humanist-chaplain-who-doesnt-understand-military-chaplaincy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/05\/a-humanist-chaplain-who-doesnt-understand-military-chaplaincy\/","title":{"rendered":"A Humanist Chaplain Who Doesn’t Understand Military Chaplaincy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In early November Jason Torpy posted a profile on Jared Anderson<\/a>, a man who presents himself as a chaplain endorsed by the Humanist Society. A former Mormon (Latter Day Saint) — or a current LDS who doesn’t follow LDS theology, depending on how you look at it — Anderson advocates\u00a0“religious humanism.”<\/p>\n

The nice thing about the United States of America is you can call<\/strong> yourself whatever you want. However, that does not mean you get to do<\/strong> whatever you want, nor that the government or society are required to support your choice (gender and pronouns notwithstanding, apparently).<\/p>\n

That’s something Anderson apparently doesn’t understand, as he claims he wants to be a military chaplain (and the US military doesn’t have<\/em> non-religious religious leaders) [emphasis added]:\u00a0 <\/p>\n

I feel most strongly called to a modern ministry that provides not just Christian<\/strong> worship services but also humanist<\/strong> services and outreach to those who reject religious labels…<\/p>\n

As a Humanist<\/strong> Chaplain, I am completely comfortable praying<\/strong> with hospice patients, administering rituals,<\/strong> and officiating religious services<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That’s precisely the problem. To officiate a religious<\/strong> service, one would need to be religious,<\/strong> not humanist.<\/strong> Does Anderson really think he would be welcome by Jews, Christians, and Muslims to officiate each of their respective religious services — especially when\u00a0he’s\u00a0“dedicated his life to fixing<\/strong>“ their religion<\/strong>? That’s moronic. It belittles the faithful to think they would allow someone\u00a0who doesn’t share<\/em>\u00a0their belief<\/span> to go through the motions and “lead” them in their belief<\/span><\/strong>. It is a mockery — yet one Anderson seems to think is legitimate. That’s either na\u00efvet\u00e9, stupidity, or malice — or perhaps some combination thereof.<\/p>\n

Anderson’s a la carte<\/em> approach to spirituality is his personal preference, but that’s all it is. And neither the government nor the military are required to legitimize his personal take on religion.<\/p>\n

As an aside, Anderson continues to repeat Jason Torpy’s demographic falsehood<\/a> about the US military:<\/p>\n

This is even more important in a military that has strong support for established religions, but does not yet provide resources for the over twenty five percent<\/strong> of members who choose no religious identification<\/strong> on their official records. That\u2019s over a quarter of our military that can\u2019t be served<\/strong> by current chaplain offerings, and I hear them calling.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As has been demonstrated previously, “no religious preference” does not<\/strong> mean atheist, agnostic, humanist, or even “not religious.”\u00a0 One of those 25% of people Anderson hears\u00a0“calling” is Nidal Malik Hasan. Do you really think the devout, extremist Muslim wanted a humanist “chaplain” just because he did not choose a religious identification in his records?<\/p>\n

For a guy with a PhD, you’d think Anderson would know better.<\/p>\n

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