What is it with some so-called Christians and public prayer? Don't they read the gospel stories? Are they unaware of what Jesus is reported to have said about praying in public?We written previously about military chaplains praying in the name of Jesus at non-religious gatherings involving military personnel. They insist it is their "right," even if no one at the particular event professes the Christian faith.
Their desire to pray in Jesus name is not, of course, about prayer, or Jesus or Christianity. It's about power and the desire to dominate (they would say "evangelize") everybody within earshot.
Lt. Col. Bob Bateman, writing for Media Matters, refers to a column in the Washington Times (that's the Moonie right-wing paper) which says this:
"New legislation would assure that all military chaplains in every branch of the U.S. armed services, including military academies, would have the prerogative to recite a closing prayer outside of a religious service according to the dictates of the chaplain's own conscience.
"'For Christian chaplains, closing their prayers in the name of Jesus Christ is a fundamental part of their beliefs, and to suppress this form of expression would violate their religious freedom,' says Rep. Walter B. Jones, North Carolina Republican and sponsor of the legislation introduced last week.
"'The demand for so-called "non-sectarian" prayer is merely a euphemism declaring that prayers will be acceptable only so long as they censor Christian beliefs.'
"Jones says some progress is being made. The 2007 National Defense Authorization Act, for instance, directed the secretaries of the Navy and Air Force to rescind 2006 guidelines preventing chaplains from praying according to their own faith and conscience in public venues."
Lt. Col. Bateman responds: "Jones apparently does not understand the implications of his proposed legislation. If I, as an officer or leader, learn of or watch my chaplain invoke 'his' god at a public command-presence ceremony in accord with Jones' proposed law, I will have a very simple solution. I will not have a chaplain at such an event. Ever. Period.
"These events under consideration, you see, are not religious. They are secular military things, like change of command ceremonies, or a pre-deployment ceremony, or military social functions like a formal 'dining in.' In other words, they have nothing to do with religion, and enlisted men of all religions are required to be there. ...
"So, the effect of Jones' legislation is that I, and people like me, may well likely take the simple step of just not inviting the chaplain at all. We will dump the chaplain and his 'right' to invoke his own god in a public military ceremony. He can sit in his office or stand quietly in formation by himself for all I care. It is that simple. Jones probably should have thought of that first."
An excellent solution, me thinks. Except for the fact that there are a number of openly fundamentalist Christian officers in the military services (e.g. General Jerry Boykin) who will welcome prayers in Jesus name at secular military functions.
Furthermore, Bateman's solution doesn't deal with Jones and his compadres and their beliefs that are the foundation for the resolution promoted by this extremist Christian from North Carolina. Jones is one of those people who believe the U.S. is a Christian nation, or should be. He is a dominionist - working toward a theocratic state based not on the Constitution but on deranged biblical interpretations contrived by a spate of ultra-fundamentalists who don't give a damn about our form of government. They wish to overthrow our secular state and replace it with a government of their own creation - under which every knee shall bow!
This resolution, therefore, is not about prayer. It's about power! It's about imposing the will of a few on the majority. It's about a radical restructuring of the government and its agencies, including the U.S. military along fundamentalist Christian guidelines.
But there something else that Mr. Jones may have failed to consider. Let's say the chaplain in question, invited to recite a prayer in accordance with his own faith and conscience is Jewish or Muslim or some other religion. Will it be all right with Mr. Jones if Yahweh is invoked, or Allah is invoked?
Finally, why does the United States government hire religious professionals, give them a commission, put them in an officer's uniform, and send them off amidst the troops to promote their particular brand of religiosity?
Maybe the solution is to rid ourselves of the military chaplaincy, and simply offer volunteers to conduct services or other religious rites as needed, separate from any formal military connection. Maybe we should dump the chaplains, period.
3 comments:
First, as a military chaplain I wholeheartedly agree with you (see, there ARE miracles!) that religion-specific prayers at command, non-religious, functions are absolutely an abuse of power on the part of any chaplain who would use a mandated participation event to espouse a particular religious worldview. But, secondly, before you do the knee-jerk reaction of "solving" the whole issue by removing military chaplains and replacing them with "volunteers", you should aquaint yourself with the history and rationale behind the existence of military chaplains. I have MANY personnel who are very glad I am present in the command but who never attend my religious services nor are they people of any religious faith. But what I do for them, and for the command, cannot be done by "volunteers" for many and obvious reasons. You had a good point about prayer, but you lost focus and the credibility you'd gained with your original concern.
Thanks for writing, anonymous. And I appreciate the fact there are points with which you agree. I take it you are a chaplain.
I've known several chaplains personally and was almost one myself long ago. And I know they often do good work.
You didn't really deal with the larger problem which is the power of the fundamentalists within the military establishment and people like Jones.
What do we do about that?
And notice I said "Maybe" we should do away with the chaplaincy. There is, I think, a church/state separation issue involved.
By the by, I've also known some pretty lousy chaplains and wondered about the vetting process - not only with the various denominations but also the Chaplains department.
Again, thanks for your comments. Sorry I lost my credibility - but I did say "Maybe" ...
Jacob
I served in WW2 and must say that the forceful pushing of any particular belief on others of a different faith or belief was offensive. I only saw/heard on Jewish chaplain and no Muslims or any other faith but Christian. I think one can pray in a foxhole, difficult in the Navy of course, or outside, or anywhere you find God. For those that do not want to pray or sit thru a service etc, it is difficult when out ranked or pressure is brought to bear. It is possible to offer a prayer to God without mentioning Jesus. I have heard such prayers. It seems to me that Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc should have some consideration for those that do not wish to take part in other’s services, prayers, etc. the military should attract all comers that qualify. There personal belief should be respected as they should respect others. It might even be the Christian thing to do. The majority has a duty to respect the minority in all settings. That is the base of the separation of church and state. I doubt if an atheist would be alloyed to openly proselytize in the military, yet can serve honorably. Reverse the situation and put a Muslim in charge and see how the others react.
Bob Poris
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