Do you believe the U.S. Military has the right to a Christian chaplain?

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   BuffaloGal1960posted 9 years ago

   Do you believe the U.S. Military has the right to a Christian chaplain?
   
   I've heard the U. S. Military has ordered crosses down from Chaplain tents so they don't "offend" anyone and I've heard they are denying Christian Troops religious freedom to their Christian beliefs.  What are your thoughts?

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   junksellerposted 9 years ago

   My thoughts are that you should stop paying attention to sites like Breitbart and MrConservative. While Chaplains can be Christian, they are not there to be Christian, they are there to support the needs of soldiers of any and all faiths, and like any element of the government should not be using their position of authority to promote one faith over another. This really isn't a difficult concept.

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      Georgie Loweryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I did not know that military Chaplains had to support all faiths. That must be a difficult position for some.

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      junksellerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Cultures do change and perhaps there are some for whom the culture has changed around them, but really, the job description isn't unclear. Don't see why they'd apply to a job if it wasn't something they wanted to do.

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   FatFreddysCatposted 9 years ago

   I've heard that any statement that starts with "I've heard..." usually turns out to be B.S.
   
   Just sayin'.

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      BuffaloGal1960posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Actually, I heard it from about 8 different news sources. I heard it from a minister being interviewed also.

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      FatFreddysCatposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      "And I heard it through the grapevine....oh, I heard it through the grapevine..."

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      BuffaloGal1960posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The words "I've heard" can mean many things.  I think if you are in doubt that it's factual, you may want to google it and learn something rather than sound like a child.

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   Faith Reaperposted 9 years ago

   Well, of course, they have the right to a Christian chaplain because there are many soldiers who are Christian!  Just like if there are soldiers of other faiths for religions, then there should be chaplains for them.

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      BuffaloGal1960posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with you Faith. I was wondering if anyone was truly paying attention.  Have you noticed that if someone screams "I want to worship Satan" it's okay. If someone wants to read a Muslim bible, it's okay.  But if it has to do with Christ....Well!

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      Faith Reaperposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly!

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   Pollyannalanaposted 9 years ago

   Well of course it is true, and not right. Even the president ordered a cross covered at one of his appearances and we all know that. Not only that but when a Muslim terrorists shoot down our men we cannot call him a terrorist or give these dead the rights they deserved so it is anti-Christian going on right now from a Muslim president,(Ft Hood) no two ways about it. All we have to do is see what he does and we see. More are seeing all the time. Thank God.

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      BuffaloGal1960posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I hadn't heard the prez ordered one covered, but I'm not surprised either.

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   Georgie Loweryposted 9 years ago

   I hadn't heard and I don't like to speak without being informed, so I Googled "us military denying christian" and came up with a bunch of "news" sources from this past spring (and one from the recent government shutdown) and a lot of other sites quoting each other. I also found something about a cross being removed from a Chaplain's tent in a US military base in Afghanistan, but only one source and it's not one I trust to present anything resembling unbiased news.
   
   My personal thoughts are, in all honesty, that I'm not a Christian so it doesn't affect me. I'm perfectly okay with having crosses or not having crosses or having prayer or not having prayer.

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      BuffaloGal1960posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The news source I saw on the cross had photo. I believe it was submitted my an Air Force member.  It was on TV so I can't recall the news source. I think this effects everyone (end result) whether or not they are Christian.  Because what's next?

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      Pollyannalanaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      So then if it doesn't affect you you don't care? Why did you respond to this then, I have to wonder.

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      Georgie Loweryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The question asked was "What are your thoughts?" Those were my thoughts. Just because I'm not a Christian doesn't mean I don't have valid views and opinions.

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   BuffaloGal1960posted 9 years ago

   This is a retired general speaking in this video. He seems genuinely concerned and this video clip gives a quote from DoD (Department of Defense)
   http://www.examiner.com/article/obama-c … e-military

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      junksellerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      "Service members can share their faith (evangelize), but must not force unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert others of any faith or no faith to one’s beliefs (proselytization)." http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati … lical-pent

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      Ericdierkerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Excuse you but you do not understand what those words mean to true Christians. Junkseller those words can mean "by living a good life". So are you agreeing that Christian must act like jackasses?

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      Georgie Loweryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Ericdierker, are you saying that Christians should have benefits and privileges not afforded to people of other religions?

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      junksellerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Ericdierker, I'm not sure what you are going on about. I simply repeated what the military said and what those words mean to them. Intrusive attempts to convert people are wrong. Are you disagreeing with that?

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      Ericdierkerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I am saying that love trumps politics. Pros --- God's people must evangelize through love and action. If any institution goes so far as to prohibit that they are wrong and if you support hat you are wrong.
      Read the trancripts more carefully.

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      junksellerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Evangelizing through love and action are fine. Proselytizing through force and intrusion isn't. Seems like a clear distinction to me.

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   Ericdierkerposted 9 years ago

   Military code of conduct is pretty tight on speaking derogatorily about policy in the public domain. So the fact that these stories are actually attributed to servicemen speaks volumes as to credibility.
   But I think we have to be real and expect some of this. Atheists, Muslims and Jews and gays along with Native Americans and African Americans have had a rough go of it in the recent past in our military. And we need not even mention about women.
   So as bias is lifted and these folks elevate in rank it is only natural they do a little "stick it to the white male Christian". I think it will balance out. Yes we notice our POTUS has some of those tendencies also. But just think of other "regime" changes. Christians are massacred.
   So for us Christians we almost have to welcome the persecution as it lifts our faith and hones our grace and thankfulness. And in a societal sense it is a repentance of sorts for past heavy handedness.
   We live here with over 300,000 servicepeople in our county. And I think there is a great big agape love affair as we appreciate all service members.
   My wife works on the 32 street Naval Base and they do a big Halloween, Thankgsiving and all the traditional trimmings are out, not for Holidays but for Christmas. (and I must say the Thanksgiving/Hanukkah gave us great cause to donate turkeys to families of Jewish service members) That is way cool.
   And there were over 10,000 Christmas trees donated to Camp Pendleton Marine's families.
   
   So the persecution remains and so to higher the exultation of our spirit and The Spirit. Believe me, here in a very Military County our Christian servicepeople and their families are lifted up during this time of year. There is no threat here in a place named "St. James" or as we celebrate it out here San Diego!!!

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      Pollyannalanaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Our military as our country was built on the Jesus Christ faith but we allowed others in but now all of a sudden we are the ones they want to root out and you think that is OK? Tell me if you think God would make or approve of the remark you made.

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      Ericdierkerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      God would send and does send us messengers like Nelson Mandela and Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King jr. and Paul and Peter to remind us that God's kingdom is open to all. And while we may be violent in opposition to violence against others. Not ourselves.

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      BuffaloGal1960posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      What a great story!  Thanks for sharing that!

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      Pollyannalanaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You won't ever hear me speak a word against a Jew who is God's chosen but you a pastor are here promoting and defending gays and atheists? I wonder if you have ever read a bible. You should do that, God's word is THE word and you are misquoting Him b

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      Ericdierkerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Beautiful that those of us that preach love and tolerance are persecuted by you. I assume you be a woman. And if you a truly fundamentalist and scriptural sound you know you should not speak here out loud. Especially against a male preacher. ????

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9. 67

   Rod Marsdenposted 9 years ago

   I could be wrong but I thought freedom of religion was part of the U.S. constitution. If U.S. troops are fighting for freedom then it seems strange to me to deny them freedom that is given by basic U.S. law. Do U.S. citizens stop being citizens of the USA when they put on a uniform to serve their country?
   
   Yes, the U.S. military has the right to a Christian chaplain. They also have the right to a Rabbi if they are of the Jewish faith. Since the 1960s there have been African Americans who are of the Muslim faith. If they are in the military and want representation too, well, that is okay with me.
   
   As far as I know there have been Chaplains associated with the U.S. military since the War of Independence. Though Christian, I believe that some of these Chaplains are versed enough in Judaism and even the faith of the Muslims to pinch hit in an emergency when a Rabbi or a spiritual Muslim leader is not available. The idea here being to give spiritual comfort.
   
      Don't you have 'In God We Trust' on one of your coins? Should it be changed to 'We don't believe in anything and won't believe in anything for politically correct reasons.' My thoughts at any rate.

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      BuffaloGal1960posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I like how you addressed the "spiritual comfort" and that it should apply to all members of different faiths.  If one faith is recognized, it should recognize all of them.  Why are Christians being singled out? Christianity does not coerce!

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