I think there’s a requirement to render counseling services to all denominations, including atheists/agnostics, because the chaplain corps is pretty much the closest the Navy gets to mental health care while deployed. Not the greatest system, in all honesty.
Comment on recruiting theocracy
paddirn@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Can you be a non-religious chaplain? That feels like discrimination if there’s a religious requirement.
ZapBeebz_@lemmy.world 6 months ago
yeather@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Part of the roles of a Navy Chaplain are to provide spiritual and religious services. This is inherently a religious role, it should not be expected that an atheist or “non-theist” will perform these roles correctly.
Melkath@kbin.social 6 months ago
Chaplain: a member of the clergy attached to a private chapel, institution, ship, branch of the armed forces, etc.
By definition, a Chaplain is a religious insurgent.
Insurgent: a rebel or revolutionary.
So, an Insurgent Chaplain: An individual who is a Champlain in a country founded on the concept of separation of Church and State, but insists on being a paid state official to enforce their religion on members of the state.
Maeve@kbin.social 6 months ago
So what exactly do you think UU Ministers and ToS clergy do?
Lemming6969@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Oh look a religious test for a government position… What the fuck.
Maeve@kbin.social 6 months ago
Wow. I was thinking of Buddhist and Taoist chaplains, Or UU. personal gods may or not be held, but they don't usually push them on people, although the former two can and do have abuse allegations brought, some substantiated. Idk about UU.
kittyjynx@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I saw a Navy chaplain when I was going through some tough times in the Marines. I told him right off the bat that I was an atheist and he didn’t push any religious shit on me. He just talked to me and worked with my command to get me seen by a trained therapist. Other Marines I knew had similar experiences. Chaplains are officers outside the normal command structure and are trained to provide services to everyone regardless of their faith or lack there of. Also a lot of military members are at least nominally religious so it makes sense to have someone to coordinate religious activity, especially overseas where there aren’t local religious institutions.
Gonkulator@lemm.ee 6 months ago
thesmokingman@programming.dev 6 months ago
It’s pretty fucking childish to label metaphysics “childish.” Don’t conflate the shitty faith that gets shoved down our throats with the average person just trying to establish meaning (until their search for meaning infringes on your rights, of course). It genuinely disgusts me when people of one metaphysical persuasion are so rabidly antagonistic and make sweeping generalizations they’d be super offended about jf someone of a different metaphysical persuasion made about them. Adulthood involves maturation and maturation involves empathy. Get some.
Lemming6969@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Eww. The foundation that religion rests on is always childish and destructive. It is not possible for anyone who has magical thinking in one realm to not also make terrible decisions in other realms, like voting or other public policy. So that shit always infringes on others.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 6 months ago
Same argument can be made for Atheism which is basically people trying to convince themselves God doesn’t exist just so they can be immoral and live life without consequences. Why should society pander to that?
MutilationWave@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Belief in a god, gods, or the lack of belief have nothing to do with morality. In fact, most atheists I know seem to have sincere morality.
teft@lemmy.world 6 months ago
And every chaplain i met in the army was a jackass trying to recruit for their religion.
DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe 6 months ago
This makes sense, the Navy weren’t the people doing the Crusading.