Richard
01-23-2011, 11:45
And so it goes...
Richard :munchin
Military Chaplains' Faiths Fail To Mirror Service Members'
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 22 Jan 2011
In the military, the chaplain serves as both a religious leader and a listener -- ideally one who can assist military personnel of all faiths. A frequent refrain among chaplains is "chaplain to all, pastor to some."
But according to Department of Defense data, the nation's corps of chaplains leans heavily toward evangelical Christianity, failing to mirror the military it serves.
While just 3 percent of the military's enlisted personnel and officers call themselves Southern Baptist, Pentecostal or a member of a denomination that's part of the National Association of Evangelicals, 33 percent of chaplains in the military are members of one of those groups, according to Pentagon statistics.
And the disparity could soon widen.
Data from the Air Force indicate that 87 percent of those seeking to become chaplains are enrolled at evangelical divinity schools.
The discrepancy is the result of a number of variables, including an aversion by mainline Protestant and Catholic seminary leaders to participate in military culture after the Vietnam War; changes in the military's chaplain staffing and education policies; and the popularity of online courses for chaplain candidates at evangelical seminaries.
Military officials point out that chaplains are trained to support troops of all faiths, regardless of their own religious affiliation.
"In these various roles, chaplains respect the rights of others to their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs," said Eileen Lainez, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
But liberal theologians and educators say the imbalance could compromise efforts to meet the spiritual needs of soldiers facing combat or the stresses of military life. And some critics go further, arguing that the military risks becoming a mission field for evangelical Christianity.
In response, Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Mo., is launching its own program to train chaplains. The school is a seminary of the United Church of Christ, which is among the more liberal mainline Christian denominations. And its decision to train chaplains comes despite reservations about military involvement and objections to war.
"There's a vacuum," said Eden's president, the Rev. David Greenhaw. "And there's a general sense here that it's important to fill that vacuum."
Eden hopes to partner its chaplain track program with Webster University's counseling department, which works extensively with the military. Greenhaw said students would do theological coursework at Eden and counseling coursework at Webster.
The roots of Eden's decision can be traced to a visit Eden Professor Kristen Leslie and her graduate students made in 2004 to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs to train chaplains there to deal with sexualized violence on campus.
Leslie, then a professor at Yale Divinity School, later filed a report saying she and her students observed cadets who "were encouraged to pray for the salvation of fellow [cadets] who chose not to attend worship" and were told that those not "born again will burn in the fires of hell."
Mikey Weinstein is a graduate of the Air Force Academy and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which argues that a military heavily influenced by evangelical Christianity threatens to trample the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
"These are government-backed missionaries for Jesus Christ who see the military as a mission field, fecund and fertile for proselytizing," Weinstein said. "I commend [Eden] for trying to fight back."
Military officials say they are sensitive to issues of diversity and interfaith understanding.
"We look, in particular, for a pluralistic understanding or attitude," said Col. Steven Keith, a chaplain and commandant of the Air Force Chaplain Corps College in Fort Jackson, S.C. "We want you to keep your theology and be able to work with people of different theologies."
Chaplains at Scott Air Force Base, whose duties include caring for airmen who are readying to deploy, say being sensitive to all faiths is critical.
Maj. Kenneth Johnson, a chaplain and an African Methodist Episcopal Church pastor, said that while he has opportunities to promote his own faith, he generally steers clear of doing so.
"I meet someone where they are, not where I am," Johnson said. "If the Holy Spirit lets that opportunity occur, it will, but you have to stay true to the spirit of who you are as a minister."
Col. Douglas Slater, a fellow chaplain at Scott, said that while chaplains should strive to be pluralistic in their work, they nonetheless "can't leave the roots of our endorsing agents."
Leslie's findings on her visit to the Air Force Academy point to a far more aggressive form of proselytizing by military chaplains and commanders. Her testimony on the issue before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee in 2005 helped lead the Air Force Academy to issue revised guidelines designed to encourage respect for the rights of cadets from all faith backgrounds and those who don't claim any particular faith.
Even so, in August a leaked report of a recent survey of cadets published by the Colorado Springs Independent revealed that 3 percent of cadets said they had been "subjected to unwanted proselytizing sometimes or very often." An additional 5 percent said they'd been proselytized "once or twice."
Critics say much of the problem stems from the fact that the faiths of chaplains are not reflective of military rank and file.
For example, the most popular Christian denomination among military members -- as it is among the public -- is Catholicism. Twenty percent of those in the active-duty military identify themselves as Catholic. Just 1 percent, meanwhile, are Southern Baptist.
In contrast, 16 percent of active-duty chaplains are Southern Baptist, while just 8 percent are Catholic, according to the Pentagon.
Meanwhile, there's less disparity in faith between non-Christian military personnel and non-Christian chaplains. In both cases, less than 1 percent identify themselves as being either Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, B'hai or Hindu.
Even so, there are only 33 such chaplains across all branches of the military, according to the Pentagon, making it unlikely that personnel adhering to those faiths would ever encounter a chaplain of their faith tradition.
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2011/01/military_chaplains_faiths_fail.html
Richard :munchin
Military Chaplains' Faiths Fail To Mirror Service Members'
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 22 Jan 2011
In the military, the chaplain serves as both a religious leader and a listener -- ideally one who can assist military personnel of all faiths. A frequent refrain among chaplains is "chaplain to all, pastor to some."
But according to Department of Defense data, the nation's corps of chaplains leans heavily toward evangelical Christianity, failing to mirror the military it serves.
While just 3 percent of the military's enlisted personnel and officers call themselves Southern Baptist, Pentecostal or a member of a denomination that's part of the National Association of Evangelicals, 33 percent of chaplains in the military are members of one of those groups, according to Pentagon statistics.
And the disparity could soon widen.
Data from the Air Force indicate that 87 percent of those seeking to become chaplains are enrolled at evangelical divinity schools.
The discrepancy is the result of a number of variables, including an aversion by mainline Protestant and Catholic seminary leaders to participate in military culture after the Vietnam War; changes in the military's chaplain staffing and education policies; and the popularity of online courses for chaplain candidates at evangelical seminaries.
Military officials point out that chaplains are trained to support troops of all faiths, regardless of their own religious affiliation.
"In these various roles, chaplains respect the rights of others to their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs," said Eileen Lainez, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
But liberal theologians and educators say the imbalance could compromise efforts to meet the spiritual needs of soldiers facing combat or the stresses of military life. And some critics go further, arguing that the military risks becoming a mission field for evangelical Christianity.
In response, Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Mo., is launching its own program to train chaplains. The school is a seminary of the United Church of Christ, which is among the more liberal mainline Christian denominations. And its decision to train chaplains comes despite reservations about military involvement and objections to war.
"There's a vacuum," said Eden's president, the Rev. David Greenhaw. "And there's a general sense here that it's important to fill that vacuum."
Eden hopes to partner its chaplain track program with Webster University's counseling department, which works extensively with the military. Greenhaw said students would do theological coursework at Eden and counseling coursework at Webster.
The roots of Eden's decision can be traced to a visit Eden Professor Kristen Leslie and her graduate students made in 2004 to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs to train chaplains there to deal with sexualized violence on campus.
Leslie, then a professor at Yale Divinity School, later filed a report saying she and her students observed cadets who "were encouraged to pray for the salvation of fellow [cadets] who chose not to attend worship" and were told that those not "born again will burn in the fires of hell."
Mikey Weinstein is a graduate of the Air Force Academy and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which argues that a military heavily influenced by evangelical Christianity threatens to trample the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
"These are government-backed missionaries for Jesus Christ who see the military as a mission field, fecund and fertile for proselytizing," Weinstein said. "I commend [Eden] for trying to fight back."
Military officials say they are sensitive to issues of diversity and interfaith understanding.
"We look, in particular, for a pluralistic understanding or attitude," said Col. Steven Keith, a chaplain and commandant of the Air Force Chaplain Corps College in Fort Jackson, S.C. "We want you to keep your theology and be able to work with people of different theologies."
Chaplains at Scott Air Force Base, whose duties include caring for airmen who are readying to deploy, say being sensitive to all faiths is critical.
Maj. Kenneth Johnson, a chaplain and an African Methodist Episcopal Church pastor, said that while he has opportunities to promote his own faith, he generally steers clear of doing so.
"I meet someone where they are, not where I am," Johnson said. "If the Holy Spirit lets that opportunity occur, it will, but you have to stay true to the spirit of who you are as a minister."
Col. Douglas Slater, a fellow chaplain at Scott, said that while chaplains should strive to be pluralistic in their work, they nonetheless "can't leave the roots of our endorsing agents."
Leslie's findings on her visit to the Air Force Academy point to a far more aggressive form of proselytizing by military chaplains and commanders. Her testimony on the issue before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee in 2005 helped lead the Air Force Academy to issue revised guidelines designed to encourage respect for the rights of cadets from all faith backgrounds and those who don't claim any particular faith.
Even so, in August a leaked report of a recent survey of cadets published by the Colorado Springs Independent revealed that 3 percent of cadets said they had been "subjected to unwanted proselytizing sometimes or very often." An additional 5 percent said they'd been proselytized "once or twice."
Critics say much of the problem stems from the fact that the faiths of chaplains are not reflective of military rank and file.
For example, the most popular Christian denomination among military members -- as it is among the public -- is Catholicism. Twenty percent of those in the active-duty military identify themselves as Catholic. Just 1 percent, meanwhile, are Southern Baptist.
In contrast, 16 percent of active-duty chaplains are Southern Baptist, while just 8 percent are Catholic, according to the Pentagon.
Meanwhile, there's less disparity in faith between non-Christian military personnel and non-Christian chaplains. In both cases, less than 1 percent identify themselves as being either Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, B'hai or Hindu.
Even so, there are only 33 such chaplains across all branches of the military, according to the Pentagon, making it unlikely that personnel adhering to those faiths would ever encounter a chaplain of their faith tradition.
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2011/01/military_chaplains_faiths_fail.html