Military chaplains should service all faiths
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/0425edchaplain.html
Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription) - GA, USA
By BILL NISBET
Published on: 04/25/06
In January, when reports about prayer and military chaplains were in the
news, I took my car in for its annual emissions inspection.
When the mechanic noticed the Army decal on my car, he asked what I did in
the Army. I told him I was a chaplain.
"What do you know about that Navy chaplain starving himself?" the mechanic
asked, referring to Chaplain (Lt.) Gordon James Klingenschmitt, who in
early January was on a hunger strike in front of the White House.
"I've read about it," I said.
"Here's the way I see it," the mechanic, who I discovered was an ex-sailor,
told me. "I don't care what you chaplains say during your worship service
in your chapel. But when I am ordered to stand at attention, you should not
be allowed to cram your religion down my throat. I have my own faith; I
don't need yours."
Since January, Klingenschmitt has continued to pursue new rules for Navy
chaplains. He is urging President Bush to sign an executive order to allow
military chaplains to pray according to their individual faith tradition.
He said that if the president decides not to sign such an order, he might
sue the Navy.
I have to agree with the mechanic and not with Klingenschmitt. Putting the
First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution into practice is a tightrope
military chaplains and their commanders walk. Keeping one's balance between
the non-establishment of religion and the free exercise of religious faith
is critical. Soldiers want to practice their faith, not mine.
I consider Thomas Jefferson's "sound bite" about "a wall of separation
between church and state" as unfortunate. The First Amendment is not about
a wall; it is about a tension and balance between two equal parties: the
church (and synagogue and mosque) and the state (federal, state or local).
This critical balance is uniquely American. It is a covenant that no
particular religious faith will be established by the state as "the faith"
and that all faiths can be practiced and will be equally respected by the
state and its citizens.
The opening of the First Amendment says: "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof." It is a statement written by those who vividly remembered
religious persecution in Europe. It forbade the new state or its citizens
from being persecutors of any religious faith.
The issue is not "either/or," as if the choice is between church or state.
The issue is "both/and" — both the non-establishment of religion and the
free exercise of religion.
Military commanders represent the power of the state. That power requires
the commander to ensure that individuals living and working within the
military not be deprived of their right to the free exercise of religion.
The chaplain advises the commander and helps provide for that free exercise
while at the same time ensuring the non-establishment of any particular
faith.
As a Presbyterian chaplain it is my duty to help the Catholic find a
priest, the Jew a rabbi, the Muslim an imam. I am a proud Presbyterian and
do not hesitate to say that Jesus in my Lord. But neither my Calvinism nor
their Methodism, Lutheranism, Mormonism, Judaism, Islamism, Orthodoxy or
Buddhism can become "The Established Faith" of the United States. The
Chaplain Corps is a band of brothers and sisters with diverse religious
arms that provides commanders and soldiers the opportunity to freely
express their individual faith.
Some chaplains describe this military ministry as "bringing God to soldiers
and soldiers to God." If that means imposing my God and my experience of
faith on a captive audience, then I have made the wrong choice.
When the tension inherent in the First Amendment is balanced, the chaplain
is doing his or her duty for God and country. Then soldiers, sailors,
airmen and Marines, regardless of religious belief, can proudly say,
"That's my chaplain."
Col. Bill Nisbet is a reserve chaplain on active duty at Headquarters,
Forces Command, Fort McPherson, in Atlanta. He is a member of the
Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, PC (USA). E-mail: bill.nisbet@us.army.mil.
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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