Category Archives: Chaplain

Navy Chaplain Impacts Marines in Afghanistan

A US military news release documents the story of US Navy Chaplain (LT) James Ragain, currently deployed to Afghanistan.  While much of the article covers the standard mantras of Chaplains and their roles, Ragain’s story demonstrates the strengths of having a military Chaplain integrated with a combat unit:

“He’s probably the greatest secret weapon I have here in my squadron,” said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Clarence Harper, the squadron’s commanding officer. “The way he goes about building religious Read more

Soldiers Seek Life, Death Answers in Combat

A Chaplain candidate recently explained what motivated her to join the US military Chaplaincy:

[Doretta] Fortenberry spent quite a bit of time visiting with battle-weary, solace-seeking soldiers [during a deployment to Iraq].
 
“They knew I was a Christian and would come ask me spiritual questions,” Fortenberry said. “We ended up losing six soldiers while we were there. Soldiers started to come to me trying to understand, questioning the deeper meaning of life, why does this happen, what happens when you die? Death was a real reality, and still is, for soldiers.”
 
It became obvious to Fortenberry that she could combine military with ministry.
 
“All of a sudden, there it was,” Fortenberry said. “This is what God Read more

Local Priest Serves US Troops

Similar to the prior story from Afghanistan, US troops in Haiti also found a local religious leader with whom to worship.

Father Glenn Meaux, originally of Abbeville, La., was able to minister to Louisiana National Guardsmen and other troops deployed in Task Force Bon Voizen in Haiti.  Father Meaux moved to Haiti in the late 1980s, and the senior enlisted leader of the Task Force knew he was there.  The unit’s Chaplain was able to find Father Meaux on the internet and arrange for him to minister to the American forces there:  Read more

Update: US Army Hindu Chaplain

As previously noted, US Army Chaplain (Capt) Pratima Dharm has reportedly become the US military’s first Hindu Chaplain.  One point of curiosity was the Chaplain’s badge; she had reportedly worn the Christian cross “until this year.”

In an article at the Huffington Post, US Air Force LtCol Ravi Chaudhary explains his role in helping Dharm represent Hinduism as opposed to Christianity (which, incidentally, she doesn’t reject under the “inclusive” Hindu spirituality).  (Chaudhary, a Hindu US Air Force C-17 pilot, was highlighted here just a few months ago; he currently serves in the Pentagon.)  He notes the discussion of the “religious identifier” Dharm was to wear — a particularly interesting endeavor, since Hinduism doesn’t really have exclusive religious symbology:  Read more

US Military’s First Hindu Chaplain

A Stars and Stripes article indicates US Army Chaplain (Capt) Pratima Dharm has become the first US military Hindu Chaplain.  Dharm is a Chaplain at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Dharm did not enter as a Hindu Chaplain — she has simply changed endorsers.  She was originally endorsed by the Pentecostal Church of God, but is now sent by Chinmaya Mission West.  (In 2007 an Army Chaplain previously tried to convert to Wicca, but was discharged after he lost his endorsement and was unable to find an approved Wiccan endorsing agency.) 

The article is unofficial, and doesn’t indicate what insignia Dharm now wears (only that she wore the Christian cross “until this year”).  There is no official Hindu Chaplain emblem (at least not publicly), and public images still show Dharm wearing the cross.

Think someone will spin this as evidence of a Christian takeover of the military?

Atheist Chaplains and Independent Ideology, or Lack Thereof

Christianity Today re-covered the prior discussion on “atheist Chaplains,” asking the same question others had previously:

All religious groups make absolutist claims of one kind or another. But how can a belief system — or is it a lack of belief system? — championed by figures like Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens support Christian soldiers in any meaningful sense? When considering chaplains who support Hitchens’s rather broad contention that “religion poisons everything,” how can such leaders “provide the means for others to observe their own faith”? If Christians are indeed suffering from a “God delusion,” as Dawkins has suggested, how can a chaplain who promotes Dawkins’s ideas offer belief-respecting encouragement to a Christian soldier?

The author acknowledges a similar accusation can be made against exclusive religions, but there is a positive response in the Christian faith and historical precedent (something Chaplains are already doing):

One might counter by suggesting that Christians themselves Read more

Army Chaplain Receives 2011 Hoeing Memorial Award

US Army Chaplain (Col) Nosson Sachs received the 2011 Chaplain Joseph I. Hoeing Memorial award in May from the Rabbinical Council of America.

The award, according to the RCA, recognizes an individual chaplain who, “through his unselfish concern for the spiritual needs and welfare of all military personnel, embodies the dignity of Judaism and brings honor to the Torah and glory to his people.”

According to the article, Sachs was specifically honored Read more

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