Military atheists want new rules on prayer

The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation
The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation exists to further the cause of 'unity without uniformity' by encouraging goodwill and cooperation among all people.

Mission Statement
The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation exists to further the cause of “unity without uniformity” by encouraging goodwill and cooperation among all people. The organization achieves its mission by advocating for and honoring people whose deeds symbolize the legacy of the Four Chaplains aboard the U.S.A.T. Dorchester in 1943.


Vision
The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation's vision is to impart the principles of selfless service to humanity without regard to race, creed, ethnicity, or religious beliefs.


Overview
The Reverend Daniel Poling, in honor of his son Chaplain Poling's heroism, began the movement to celebrate the Four Chaplains acts of courage. The organization was dedicated on February 3, 1951 by President Harry S. Truman. In his dedication speech, the President said, “This interfaith shrine... will stand through long generations to teach Americans that as men can die heroically as brothers so should they live together in mutual faith and goodwill.”

http://www.fourchaplains.org/

This is what Chaplains were supposed to be doing.

Military atheists want new rules on prayer
Coalition complains of religious discrimination in the services
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, November 12, 2008

WASHINGTON — A coalition of atheists and agnostics wants the new White House to protect young military members from what they see as rampant religious discrimination in the services.

The Secular Coalition for America held a news conference Monday urging new rules against proselytizing and more training for chaplains on how to handle nonreligious troops.

"When they say ‘there are no atheists in foxholes’ it’s slanderous," said Wayne Adkins, a former Army first lieutenant who served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. "To deny their existence is to deny that they serve."

The coalition also wants President-elect Obama to develop a new directive for all chaplains and commanders that eliminates public prayers from any mandatory-attendance events for troops and ensures the Defense Department will not endorse any single religion, or even the idea of religion over nonreligion.

Jason Torpy, a retired soldier and president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, said his group isn’t opposed to Christianity or any other organized religion.
click link for more

But the problems for the men and women in the military are happening, not because there are some who do not believe in God, but because the Chaplains decided that they were going to be evangelists instead of Chaplains, mostly with the blessing of the brass.

If you are a Christian and find nothing wrong with this, then please consider how many other Christians from different branches of Christianity you agree with. Even Christians can't agree among themselves, so think about that because that is what's happening. Now think how you would feel to not be a member of the Christian faith and then put thru hell because you are Jewish, of Muslim, or an atheist. What if it was your son or your daughter being made to feel as if their own faith was not up to military standards?

That's why this bothers me. I'm Greek Orthodox. (I am also a civilian Chaplain working with veterans) I have yet to meet or read about a Greek Orthodox Chaplain, so it's very unlikely that if I were in the military I would be able to speak to one. Let's say that I had to see a Chaplain who did not believe the same way I did, which is usually the case since some Christians don't believe in the saints, blessing themselves three times for the Holy Trinity or kneeling when they pray. I would end up talking to someone who did not value my faith as I do.

There are many differences and not understanding what they are causes a lot of harm. I worked for a Presbyterian Church as the Administrator of Christian Education for two years. They respected my faith because I did not try to force it on them and I respected their's enough to honor it and learn it. Problems happen when there is no respect for what God put into all of us. The freewill to believe as we do or not. He didn't force us to worship Him so why is it that some in the military consider it their right to force their own faith on anyone? kc