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I think its quite clear from
this
that many chaplains do not expect to have to serve the needs of all soldiers equally.
As a gay lawyer living in Washington, DC with many friends who are gay and who have or are serving at all levels short of being a general officer, and with friends and colleagues who have litigated DADT and DOMA issues, I am quite familiar with that. As I said, they're human. No system is perfect. What some individuals "expect" and what the chaplain corps is required to do under the law and military code of conduct are two different things. And if they can't do it, they can resign with honor. You can have a beef with individuals and be perfectly justified in it. But be careful to not paint with too broad a brush.
They need some sort of concept of hell.
So, wait, isn't that where we're all living right now?
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I think its quite clear from
this
that many chaplains do not expect to have to serve the needs of all soldiers equally.
As a gay lawyer living in Washington, DC with many friends who are gay and who have or are serving at all levels short of being a general officer, and with friends and colleagues who have litigated DADT and DOMA issues, I am quite familiar with that. As I said, they're human. No system is perfect. What some individuals "expect" and what the chaplain corps is required to do under the law and military code of conduct are two different things. And if they can't do it, they can resign with honor. You can have a beef with individuals and be perfectly justified in it. But be careful to not paint with too broad a brush.
Precisely. I'd weigh in more on this one, but I've said about as much as I should. I'll reiterate that Army chaplains are service providers for all Soldiers regardless of faith, or as in my case, lack thereof.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I think its quite clear from
this
that many chaplains do not expect to have to serve the needs of all soldiers equally.
I served in the military. I wasn't a chaplain, but I served in a support role. Serving as support it was my job to alleviate problems for other service members so that they could focus on their job. A guy who works on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, launching and recovering planes, needs to have his head on the flight deck. Not 5,000 miles away worrying about how his wife is going to pay the rent.
Any support role person in the military who puts their ideology over the welfare and mental state of the service member they serve has no place in the military.
It was indeed mostly a reaction to the evangelical concerts (which you had to attend or you'd be "volunteering" for toilet cleaning duty).
Exactly this. The armed forces are notorious for discriminatory choices when it comes to leave time: "Attend the Chsritian revival prayer session all day Saturday and take Sunday off, or else stay on base and get crappy work details all weekend" was infamous. (Disclaimer: I was never personally faced with this choice, as I always lost all my leave time anyway due to excessive sarcasm and a penchant for "inventing" orders I was "carrying out.")