9.26.2006
Sectarian Sacrifices
If you want to get some controversial rule-change passed, bury it in a bigger piece of legislation that is sure to pass. At least that seems to be the tactic of U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) in the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act. (H.R. 5122). Buried in section 590 is a innocent-sounding passage about military chaplains.
It reads:
"Each chaplain shall have the prerogative to pray according to the dictates of the chaplain's own conscience, except as must be limited by military necessity, with any such limitation being imposed in the least restrictive manner feasible."
While that idea sounds nice on the surface, what it would do is essentially eliminate mandated non-sectarian prayer. Which means that the vast majority of prayers to soldiers would be prayers to Jesus Christ. This hasn't escaped the attention of the Union for Reform Judaism.
"This innocuous-sounding provision would open a Pandora's Box of religious proselytizing in the military by giving chaplains free reign over where, when, and how to pray, regardless of the religious preferences of other military professionals, and regardless of the carefully thought-out existing policy. This harmful language would circumvent the religious protection guidelines instituted by the military and codify into law the acceptability of religious proselytizing. This is unacceptable and deeply hurtful to people of all faiths." - Mark J. Pelavin, Associate Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Meanwhile, certain Christian groups* are trying to spin the rule-change as benefiting non-Christian faiths in the military.
"The question that faces all of us is whether chaplains, regardless of their faith tradition, should be legally allowed to pray in a manner that honors their religion in both public and private settings. The answer is clearly yes, hence the bill should be passed with the provision included. This means that I, an evangelical protestant Christian, will listen to a Muslim chaplain pray to Allah at an official military meeting. It means that I will sit in a room and listen to a prayer offered by a native American pagan. She will offer this prayer officially as a chaplain of one of our military branches. Not a problem. This is a small price to pay to sit in a meeting and hear men and women pray with integrity, no matter their belief." - Michael S. Heath, Executive Director of the Christian Civic League of Maine
But even the Military Chaplains Association thinks that the new rule would create a "host of new difficulties".
"While apparently intended to acknowledge military mission and order, the condition will not totally prevent disruptive consequences. As now framed, this congressional intervention will reach far beyond the grievance(s) it seeks to remedy and foster a host of new difficulties...For this leg of our American journey to reach its best possible destination, we must stretch our capacity to recognize, understand, affirm, and even promote the rights of others while caring for our own. Among other things, this will likely require substantial departure from the evolving notion that the Constitution guarantees absolute freedom from ever being offended for any reason. It will also likely require that we resist the tendency to seek new laws or file suits in order to mitigate if not resolve conflicts over religious practices. In matters of religion, such actions frequently only further impede any efforts to alleviate injury or achieve just arbitration of competing needs, interests, and perspectives."
This new rule would damage the military, and could well make military service an explicitly Christian activity. As it stands now, an overwhelming number of chaplains are Christian and 60% of all chaplains are evangelicals.
"Only 14 percent of the U.S. population is evangelical Christian, compared to 40 percent of the military's active duty personnel. More than 60 percent of military chaplains are evangelicals."
How friendly do you think the military will be to Pagans (or Jews for that matter) if the rule is passed. While one Pagan body has been approved as an Ecclesiastical Endorsing Agency for military chaplaincy, there are currently no Pagan chaplains. Jewish and Muslim chaplains both number in the low double-digits (29 and 13 respectively). Instead of the religious utopia sketched out by evangelical Michael S. Heath, we would instead create a de facto "Christian" military.
Currently Senator John Warner (R-VA) has asked that the phrase be dropped from the legislation before it comes to a vote on the floor (the Senate version doesn't have the provision, only the House). I think it might be time to contact your Representative and tell them (politely) that section 590 of the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act is at its heart a discriminatory change to how military chaplains operate and would create a chilling environment for non-Christian service men and women.
*Religious groups opposed to section 590 include: American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, The Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Washington Office, Friends Committee on National Legislation, General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, National Council of Jewish Women, Presbyterian Church (USA), Washington Office, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), The Interfaith Alliance (TIA), Union for Reform Judaism, United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society, and the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
Labels: Paganism
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