Air Force, Navy Move To Reign In Some Chaplins
After accusations that evangelical chaplains at the US Air Force
Academy are among those pressuring cadets, the service Monday
issued new guidelines on respecting religious minorities --
guidelines that many military preachers say are "polarizing."
"There is a polarization that is beginning to set up that I
don't think is helpful. Us versus them," said Air Force Col.
Richard K. Hum, an Evangelical Free Church minister who is the
executive director of the Armed Forces Chaplains Board. He told the
Washington Post, "I don't know whether it's an overflow of what's
happening in society. But this sort of thing is so detrimental to
what we are trying to do in the chaplaincy."
Navy chaplains say they've been told
not to publicly pray "in the name of Jesus." Navy commanders,
regardless of faith, appear to be worried about the impact
prostelization has on moral among those who don't share the views
of evangelical Christian clergy members.
It all started with the resignation of the Reverend MeLinda S.
Morton, a Lutheran minister who quit her post as a USAFA chaplain.
Morton complained about the rise in evangelism on the campus in
Colorado Springs, CO. But she said the problem wasn't restricted to
the military's religious leaders. She told the Post that, since
1982, she's seen a measurable increase in the level of evangelism
among officers in general.
"When we were coneheads -- missile officers -- I would never,
ever have engaged in conversations with subordinates aligning my
power and position as an officer with my views on faith matters,"
she said. Now, however, "I've heard of people being made incredibly
uncomfortable by certain wing commanders who engage in sectarian
devotions at staff meetings."
Since the military recently abandoned attempts to keep the
chaplain corps in line with the faiths of those in the ranks, the
Pentagon has said the proportion of evangelical Christian chaplains
in the various services has increased substantially. At the same
time, the number of more moderate Protestant and Catholic clergy
members has been on the decline.
By far, the largest number of chaplains represent the Southern
Baptist Convention. There's one Baptist preacher for every 40
service members who profess that particular faith.
Rear Adm. Louis V. Iasiello, a Catholic priest and the chief
Navy chaplain, told the Post that the issue isn't what's said
during single-faith services, where ministers are talking to
members of their own particular religion. Instead, the controversy
centers on what's said during multi-faith services, meetings or
other public events.
"We train our people to be sensitive to the needs of all of
God's people," he told the Post. "We don't direct how a person's
going to pray. Because everyone's own denomination or faith group
has certain directives or certain ways of doing things, and we
would never -- it's that whole separation-of-church-and-state thing
-- we would never want to direct institutionally that a person
could or couldn't do something."
Navy officials say the National Conference on Ministry to the
Armed Forces says in its code of ethics that each chaplain must
function in a "pluralistic environment" and "not proselytize from
other religious bodies." The exception: the code says they "retain
the right to evangelize those who are not affiliated," according to
the Post.
But at the USAFA, a team from the
Yale School of Divinity criticized one chaplain for telling
Protestant cadets to let their fellow students know that, if you're
not born again, you'll "burn in the fires of hell."
When the Pentagon investigated, officials found "a lack of
awareness over where the line is drawn between permissible and
impermissible expression of beliefs."
There were other incidents at the academy, according to Pentagon
officials. In one case, the head football coach reportedly told
team members he expected to see them in church. In another case,
Jewish students said they were insulted because of their faith
after students were urged by faculty and clergy to see Mel Gibson's
controversial movie "The Passion of Christ."