ATHEIST CHAPLAINS? What do they REALLY do? Do they show up at the side of a GI about to die and tell them they are just an offshoot of a monkey, a common beast no different than a dog getting hit in the street? That there is NO future hope, but nice meeting you your last couple of minutes of life. Maybe if we had met under other circumstances we could have become "friends"? Or is there anything you want me tell anyone for you? Sorry, but you are just a meaningless speck of nothing on this space fabric of time, here today, gone tommorrow forever with no possible chance of a resurrection. Do they quote from Dawkins books or something?
( I happen to have served in the military myself and had contact with chaplains).
I think the concept of Military Atheistic Chaplains is absurd and a waste of money. If someone doesn't want to talk to a chaplain while about to die-that is their RIGHT not to. But if someone is in their death throws, and calls for a chaplain-imagine the look on their face as they hear the words from an atheist chaplain. Not quite what they were expecting to hear when they called for a "chaplain".
"Navy Chaplain Terry Moran is steeped in the Bible and believes all of it. His assistant, Religious Programs Specialist 2nd Class Philip Chute, is steeped in the Bible and having none of it. In the case of Chaplain Moran and RP2 Chute, their theological paths diverged long before their career paths joined. Terry Moran grew up in Spokane, Wash., a Seventh-Day Adventist, a denomination that believes the Sabbath should be on Saturday, not Sunday. Soon after they were assigned to work together, they had the inevitable discussion about RP2 Chute's beliefs.At first the chaplain got the sense RP2 Chute was agnostic. "I can work with that," Lt. Moran recalls thinking.But a few days later RP2 Chute dropped the A bomb: He was an atheist." Wall Street Journal
"Retired Army captain and Iraqi war veteran Jason Torpy says the chaplains employed by the U.S. military can't relate to people like him. He's an atheist. He's also the president of a group that's trying to get the armed forces to become more inclusive by hiring atheist chaplains. So far, he says, he's gotten a tepid response from the Chaplain Corps generals. They haven't shown any interest in seriously pursuing his proposal, but they haven't made a flat-out refusal." NPR
"But winning the appointment of an atheist chaplain will require support from senior chaplains, a tall order. Many chaplains are skeptical: Do atheists belong to a “faith group,” a requirement for a chaplain candidate? Can they provide support to religious troops of all faiths, a fundamental responsibility for chaplains? At the same time, an atheist group at Fort Bragg called Military Atheists and Secular Humanists, or MASH, has asked the Army to appoint an atheist lay leader at the base. A new MASH chapter at Fort Campbell, Ky., is planning to do the same as are atheists at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida." NYT
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
( I happen to have served in the military myself and had contact with chaplains).
I think the concept of Military Atheistic Chaplains is absurd and a waste of money. If someone doesn't want to talk to a chaplain while about to die-that is their RIGHT not to. But if someone is in their death throws, and calls for a chaplain-imagine the look on their face as they hear the words from an atheist chaplain. Not quite what they were expecting to hear when they called for a "chaplain".
"Navy Chaplain Terry Moran is steeped in the Bible and believes all of it. His assistant, Religious Programs Specialist 2nd Class Philip Chute, is steeped in the Bible and having none of it. In the case of Chaplain Moran and RP2 Chute, their theological paths diverged long before their career paths joined. Terry Moran grew up in Spokane, Wash., a Seventh-Day Adventist, a denomination that believes the Sabbath should be on Saturday, not Sunday. Soon after they were assigned to work together, they had the inevitable discussion about RP2 Chute's beliefs.At first the chaplain got the sense RP2 Chute was agnostic. "I can work with that," Lt. Moran recalls thinking.But a few days later RP2 Chute dropped the A bomb: He was an atheist." Wall Street Journal
"Retired Army captain and Iraqi war veteran Jason Torpy says the chaplains employed by the U.S. military can't relate to people like him. He's an atheist. He's also the president of a group that's trying to get the armed forces to become more inclusive by hiring atheist chaplains. So far, he says, he's gotten a tepid response from the Chaplain Corps generals. They haven't shown any interest in seriously pursuing his proposal, but they haven't made a flat-out refusal." NPR"But winning the appointment of an atheist chaplain will require support from senior chaplains, a tall order. Many chaplains are skeptical: Do atheists belong to a “faith group,” a requirement for a chaplain candidate? Can they provide support to religious troops of all faiths, a fundamental responsibility for chaplains? At the same time, an atheist group at Fort Bragg called Military Atheists and Secular Humanists, or MASH, has asked the Army to appoint an atheist lay leader at the base. A new MASH chapter at Fort Campbell, Ky., is planning to do the same as are atheists at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida." NYT
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Psalm 53:1
