Air Force Chaplain Investigated for Comments Bashing Other Religions

“Ryder did not say whether the complaints from April were still under review or why spokespeople the Air Force and the Air Force Reserves did not know about the inspector general’s review.”

Why would “spokespeople in the Air Force” (or Reserves) know about an IG complaint? DO they know how many IG complaints are out there? Heck, most people who are the subject of the complaint don’t even know if they have an IG complaint against them.

Smokes…They come in handy for deployments, and in foreign countries where one doesn’t speak the language. They’re also helpful for counseling services.

I must assume you don’t go to church, Smokes.
If you’re stationed overseas it’s a nice thing to have if you do. Fellowship is a big part of morale. As is Sunday school and vacation bible school and so forth for that kiddos.

“I must assume you don’t go to church, Smokes.”
Not since I was freed of my Roman Catholic chains decades ago.

You can “go to church” without the need of a commissioned officer sucking up resources being there. Designate a facility, fill it up with various tomes of all the religions, and people can go there for whatever. Someone from Installation Management will ensure upkeep.

You don’t see an O4 Gamemaster at the Soldier’s Center do you?

“You don’t see an O4 Gamemaster at the Soldier’s Center do you?”
If Gaming (or secular counselors of that matter) were a suitable substitute for religion the emotional health of the public would never be better.
Instead…though the levels of psychotropic drug taking and counseling have never been higher, the population is more and more depressed as rates of overdose go through the roof:
http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451576d69e201bb09a29a3b970d-pi

But all small potatoes compared to the existential crisis filled by tribal nihilism in the form of fascism and economic utopianism in the form of communism (when God was forsaken by those societies).

While I’m always about the proper use of bucks I’m more concerned by the improper authority created when you mix rank with religion.

Bleh was going to write more but people keep bugging me and this has been sitting here unfinished for a while, expecting me to do actual work…

Having seen a variety of “on base religions” (Catholic, Baptist, Protestant, Buddhist, Disco, and NCO Club), I’m pretty sure folks should be allowed to choose their own flavor. I will tell you about mine; but you don’t have to listem.

Liz seems to understand the role chaplains play very well. She has probably seen why it’s important, too. Like I saw when the 1st Armored Division troops were mustered out of Wiesbaden to go to Bosnia in 1995. Their last Sunday in Wiesbaden before the trip was pretty sad

Smokes only wants his religion allowed in the military. Which makes him as bad as Chaplain Hernandez, if the complaints are true. Many people feel like that. But Americans, for the most part, allow each other to believe whatever folks want to believe and worship however they want to worship.

CH apparently learned all about Christianity from Telly Savalas’ character in The Dirty Dozen and Donald Pleasance’s character in Will Penny. He should read The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler. He could do worse.

Neither appear to care what current GIs think about their chaplains. Since no one is forced to go to any particular service, why not let the marketplace of ideas rule? Have any of you seen this video of Marines enjoying a church service? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjZ_IlP9c5A

And as for “actual trained counselors”, isn’t that the job Nidal Hasan had at Fort Hood? I think that speaks volumes. YMMV.

“CH apparently learned all about Christianity from Telly Savalas’ character in The Dirty Dozen and Donald Pleasance’s character in Will Penny.”

You have dated yourself terribly…

…but other than that, don’t mistake satire for a sales pitch.

I very grudgingly agree that chaplains have a place in the military… not because the government has any business being involved with religion… a big problem in the world today, in case you have not noticed… but because it seems to be a service necessary for the mental health of many Americans… and perhaps a good motivator to get GI Joe to charge hills that wouldn’t normally be charged… both real and metaphorical.

There are plenty of good Christians… Setnaffa being a shining example of a great person.

I work with some (presumably) good Muslims… though, having grown rather fond of my head, I keep snide comments to myself just in case.

People can believe what they want.

But they can’t believe what they want without social concequences… such as others passing judgement on the validity of their beliefs.

And if their beliefs become intrusive to non-believers in any way, they must graciously consider the situation and attempt to compromise… unless, of course, their religion says otherwise… in which case, see: social concequences.

As a heathan of sorts, I cringe every time a politician/GI/civilian speaks of destroying the Radical Islamic Terrorist Threat… and then brings up God.

I cringe when the military can’t openly say it is at war with radical Islam because it is filled with some radical Christians.

Religion in the military is bad optics on every level…

…but I understand why it is necessary.

CH, we all know about sky-pilot clergy. In the past, nearly every empire used them (though the commies had commissars). But denying people the right to clergy is not liberty, it’s tyranny.

You don’t see an O4 Gamemaster at the Soldier’s Center do you?

Wait! Gamemaster is an O4 position?!?! Holy Carp, I was doing that for free!

Anyways, comments for and against a religious presence in the military have been made above, so I don’t have much to add.

Liz is mostly right in that it is hard to find a English speaking church in a foreign land. Not always impossible, as we attended services across the street from Camp Red Cloud. The CRC chaplains were OK, but not especially inspiring. The folks across the road were more entertaining, and laid out a better spread after.

You can see that some people need a “Higher Power” than themselves. Not all, but a good sized chunk. Fatty Kim and many of the other dictators who suppress religious services somehow put themselves in that position.

I go to a friend’s house here in the Southwest, I’m sure to see the Virgin Mary in a niche by the door, and Jesus over the mantle, surrounded by the rest of the family. I see pics of North Korean homes, and The Holy Trinity of the Three Kims stand in place of Jesus, Buddha, or the supreme being of your choice.

I once submitted something to the Army Suggestion Program proposing to turn all base chapels into combination Brothel-Libraries. Idea being that you could look for a good book and improve your mind while waiting to get your ashes hauled. Nobody at the program must have taken the time to read it, because a few weeks later I got a nice thank-you letter and a keychain with a little crescent wrench on it.

The worst chaplains I saw were the ones who considered themselves first and foremost to be part of the command & staff, and something useful to the troops later. The best ones did indeed function as counselors while in garrison. Good ones also had a good idea what the troops’ morale was really like, and the commander would generally listen, rather than choose to believe that morale was sky high and the troops were eating that shit up.

Catholics who are devout and observant have religious obligations and a right to receive sacraments. Other denominations have varying requirements for doing things that require a clergyman of one stripe or another.

Problem I always had was that there were never enough Catholic chaplains to go around, but plenty of Mormons (every Mormon in good standing is by their definition a priest), and of course Baptists.

Oddly enough the ROK Army drafts chaplains (군목), at least they did back in the day. Chapels in most camps, though, were built by the troops with materials either donated or provided by the Army. Some of the garrison Buddhist temples were quite beautiful. In a couple of ROK SF camps, the guy running it was enlisted, but had come into the Army out of a monastery.

As for the AF, I’ve been hearing for years about some sort of fundamentalist Christian cult thing they have going on in the officer ranks, stemming from some group at the AF Academy. The AF was also big into witch hunts for gays and lesbians a few years back. The worrying thing I had heard about this cult was that they preached some sort of “last days” millennial crap… and those aren’t the kind of people you want to have with fingers near the button.

And I had a few commanders who were real Jesus freaks. The best one was an SF group commander who made those of us living in the barracks keep a bible on our nightstand for inspections. My roommate plastered walls and ceiling of his side of the room with the most mind-bending porn I have not seen the likes of since (he said he made a special trip to Denmark from Germany to buy it). Group commander comes in, has a heart attack, but since the required bible was on the nightstand, couldn’t really say much. CSM said: “Nice room, you sick fuck!”.

That same commander was haranguing us one night because he overheard someone bitching about him ordering us to do something stupid during the exercise we were on in Florida. So he stood us all up and spent 15 minutes reading scripture, all about how “the Father does not punish, he chastises out of love” or something to that effect.

During that exercise the command and staff were living off post in nice motel rooms, while everybody else lived in the hangars. And then the commander’s wife knocks on his motel room door. Having received an anonymous phone call telling her that her hubby was having company every night, she decided to drive down from Bragg to surprise him.

Mike Morgan what TF are you talking about?
Stating one doesn’t buy into any religion is not the same as saying one is an Atheist.
There’s no right to clergy, you’re just making shit up.
Don’t bring up irrelevant claims about teachers doing whatever. You disparaged an entire profession due to the actions of one. I threw that garbage back in your face with a relevant point on how many clergy have been found guilty of terrible crimes yet you’ve not held them to the same standard you F’ing hypocrite.