I stumbled upon an article on Fox News today that is a perfect example of the ignorance and stupidity that surrounds part of my job as a military chaplain. The article brought to light, yet another, military chapel that was, as they put it, “forced to remove a cross from its building.” Of course the chaplain comes across as being a “pushover” or, at best, a “liberal Christian” and the one or two soldiers interviewed come across as just your average every day Christian whose religious rights were violated. Then, of course, you get the ridiculous comments by folks who have no military or government service experience who see this as just another case of the federal government trying to deny the Christian roots of our nation.
If you would like to read the actual article before I go any further with this post, click here.
For those of you who have no military experience, who do not understand the way a federally supported chapel program runs, allow me to enlighten you and do my part to put an end to this insanity. The U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion for all citizens. It doesn’t matter if you are a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Wiccan, or a believer in the almighty Sacred Turkey, the United States is the land in which you are free to worship whomever, and however, you choose (barring any violations of another person’s civil liberties…meaning, your worship cannot murder someone in the name of sacrificing to your god…that’s just inappropriate).
When the U.S. government requires its men and women in the military to travel to far off lands around the globe, it must continue to guarantee them their right to worship how they see fit. Thus, the reason for my existence in the military. Military chaplains and the chapel programs we are responsible for, is the answer to this potentially serious problem. Not only will a service member’s rights be violated if they are not enabled to worship or practice their faith, the military is wise enough to realize that a service member who is not “spiritually prepared” to engage in battle will be a less effective warfighter.
Unfortunately, however, there are dozens, if not hundreds of religions and faith groups represented in the military and it would be all but impossible to attempt to provide a space that every faith group could call their own on a post, base, or ship. It would be awesome if every deployed base could have its own church, synagogue, mosque, shrine, tabernacle, temple, and holy hut but the truth is the military is in the war fighting business, not the religious building business. For this reason, whenever service members are deployed, space for a chapel of one kind or another is always provided and it is to serve as the one place where all faith groups can practice their faith as they see fit. Therefore, a chapel may play host to a church, a synagogue, a mosque, a temple, and every other religious body that the service members require and it is the chaplain’s job to accommodate (not accept, endorse, or practice, but accommodate) for each request he or she receives for a religious need.
When I forward deployed from Joint Base Balad, Iraq to an “Undisclosed Location in Soutwest Asia,” the base at which I arrived was just being built. There was no chapel, yet. It was my job to create a chapel and a chapel program that would serve the needs of as many people living and serving on the base as possible (ideally it would serve all, but the fact remains that there are simply some people that will never be satisfied). I started with a basic needs assessment of the wing. I surveyed people. I asked them, “What do you believe?” ”What kind of religious service are you interested in?” and “When would be a good time for you to participate in that religious service?” It was a daunting task. I was forced to provide time and space for faith groups I do not personally believe in, but my job was not to convert everyone to my faith group, my job was to ensure that every airmen, sailor, soldier, and civilian on my base had an opportunity to practice their faith as the U.S. Constitution guarantees.
This meant I was not allowed to nail a cross to the wall of the chapel. It also meant, however, that I could not nail a crescent moon, or a Star of David on the wall either. I had to create a space that was “religiously neutral,” that could be used by faith groups of all different shapes and sizes to worship the way they see fit. When Christians worship, we are allowed, encouraged even , to hang a cross on the wall. When Muslims worship, they are also guaranteed the same right to put up a crescent moon. And so on, and so forth.
This is NOT a result of political correctness run amok, or the liberal agenda getting the upper hand. This is the result of the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing all Americans the free exercise of religion. I am a Christian chaplain. I am a follower of Jesus. I wear a cross on my uniform each and every day I serve in the military. Everyone who knows me or sees me around base knows that I am a Christian. However, they also know that if they have a request to practice a religion that is different than mine, I am a safe person to come to in order to make that happen. This is a sacred and beautiful part of the culture of the military. No where else in the world will you ever see an orthodox Muslim approach a devout Christian to discuss their religious needs and desires. Does it mean that I have no backbone when I don’t make every attempt to convert those who request religious accommodations different than my own? Does it make me a hypocritical follower of Jesus? Some may answer, “Yes” to those questions. However, I would rather be in a position where those who believe differently than me are willing and able to approach me than in one where walls are built between us and we never engage in a spiritual conversation at all.
I am getting slightly off topic, and I apologize, the point I am trying to make is that the chapel is not a church. The chapel plays host to a church when “the church/the body” gathers to worship within its walls. The chapel is a place set aside by the federal government to host all forms of religious worship. The chapel cannot bear permanent religious symbols in order to not bar those of varying faith groups to worship within it.
I am thankful that the Constitution guarantees all the right to practice their faith and worship, no matter their spiritual flavor. I consider it a sacred honor to be one of the ones responsible to see that this Constitutional right is provided to all in the military. Be careful of what you ask for if you are one of the folks who are upset that a cross cannot be permanently attached to a military chapel. Imagine a world where Christianity is no longer the predominant religion and every chapel is permanently affixed with a crescent moon or sacred turkey. If/When that day comes, you might be a bit more comfortable with the idea that the chapel is not owned by any particular faith group and is usable by all, no matter whom or how they worship. Yes, the majority faith group of the military is Christian. However, that doesn’t mean that the handful of others who believe differently are not to be afforded their rights because they are in the minority. That is not the American way and as long as I have a say in it, it never will be.
