Tag Archives: Chaplain

General Officer, West Point Colonel Highlight Religious Conference

Jews in Green recently announced LtGen Howard Bromberg, US Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, and Col Glenn Goldman, Director of Military Instruction at West Point, will be speaking to the Aleph Institute’s 2013 “Military Training Course” in January.  (Gen Bromberg has spoken there before, and prior speakers have included Speaker of the House John Boehner.)

The annual conference is intended for Jewish members of the military who Read more

Unitarian Chaplains Multiply in US Military

An article at the Unitarian Universalist website notes an increase in Unitarian military chaplains and chaplain applicants after decades of under-representation.  The article reports the denomination now has 10 chaplains, with 7 more applying.  While a significant increase from the “one or two” chaplains before (including Army Chaplain Rebekah Montgomery), it still isn’t a high number.  The reason for the low interest?

It’s no secret that for many years after the Vietnam War many UUs harbored some hostility toward the war and the politicians who promoted it. In some cases veterans themselves were treated distantly in our congregations, even shunned.

One UU chaplain said they are needed to balance out “evangelicals”:  Read more

Military Chaplains Threatened by Marriage Redefinition

An article on the threat to military chaplains by social engineering efforts to redefine the institution of marriage comes from an unusual source: the UK defence forces, which, ironically enough, were held up as a standard of “its no big deal” when DADT repeal was being “debated.”

Sir Gerald Howarth, who served as a Defence Minister until September this year [warned that] military chaplains who do not support same-sex marriage could be dismissed under Government plans…

US Army Releases New Regulation on Religious Support

The US Army recently released Field Manual 1-05 (FM 1-05), Religious Support, the

Army’s keystone manual for detailing fundamental principles of comprehensive religious support.

Much of the 40-page manual is little more than logistics and structural guidance on how chaplains and religious support are to be integrated into Army operations.  That the Army felt the need to publish such a document, however, is one indicator of the high value it places on such religious support.

The manual begins with an introduction on the history and importance of chaplains:

Chaplains have served in the U.S. Army since the first days of the American Revolution and many have died in combat. These chaplains represented more than 120 separate denominations and faith Read more

Court Overturns Decision, Chaplains Continue Lawsuit against Navy

In one of the least-reported military religious lawsuits-that-never-ends, In re Navy Chaplaincy (DC Cir., Nov. 2, 2012), a US Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court ruling and said Navy Chaplains do have standing to continue their decades-old lawsuit against the Navy.

The long-running case centers on the allegation the Navy Chaplaincy discriminated against non-liturgical faith groups, resulting in favorable treatment of certain religious beliefs that affected promotion rates and the proportion of chaplains in the US Navy.

As reported by the Religion Clause.

Military Professors Debate Religion in the Military, Part 2

Dr. Don Snider (Col, US Army, Retired), a Political Science instructor at the US Military Academy at West Point, responded to USAFA law instructor David Fitzkee’s (Maj, US Army, Retired) prior Parameters article on religious freedom with a commentary criticizing the analysis of command involvement.  Regarding the memorandum on religious neutrality issued last year, Snider said

It seems fair to say that the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force does not trust some of his Commanders to correctly fulfill their responsibilities to “support individual Airman’s needs and provide opportunities for the free exercise of religion.” So, he has withdrawn autonomy from all of his Commanders to do so, turning it over to their Chaplains.

Snider accurately notes that this singles out issues of religion for separation from command guidance:  Read more

Wiccan Service Packed at Air Force Basic Training

 Cauldrons, spell books, brooms, and swords in a military witchcraft ceremony.
Photo credit: Katrina Gutierrez

A local paper — in an article briefly titled “No Hocus Pocus” — noted that “hundreds” of basic trainees have attended Wiccan services at Lackland AFB, Texas:

[There is] a curious multiplication of Wiccans at Lackland. Hundreds of basic military trainees have chosen to study witchcraft at the base.
 
“When we come over here on a Sunday, often times, there are 300 to 400 (trainees),” Tony Gatlin said.
 
Gatlin is the coven’s high priest. His wife Read more

Chaplains Serve Around the World, and at Home

The US military chaplaincy has sometimes been criticized for existing while troops are stationed in the United States.  After all, can’t troops just go off base to one of the hundreds of local churches?

In an official military article entitled “Iron Brigade Keeps the Faith,” the service of Chaplain (Capt) Christopher Adunchezor demonstrated one reason why chaplains are necessary wherever US troops are deployed:

“It is my duty as a chaplain to serve soldiers in the field, or wherever they may be, and to restore their faith and to deliver the message of God,” said Adunchezor…  Read more

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