My point is that Quakers simply don’t (willingly) enlist in the military.
I recall a few years ago, having a discussion on another board with someone who insisted that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was not Christian. Now, I’m not Mormon, but I know a lot of them here in southern Alberta, so I know something about the faith.
I was able to shut that guy down when I pointed out that the proper name of the Mormon church is, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.”
As for military chaplains, think back to Colonel Potter’s arrival at MASH 4077. He is introduced to Fr. Mulcahey, who is Roman Catholic.
“Father, can you do Methodist?”
“Sure, no problem.”
And in the military, it seems to me that religion shouldn’t be a problem. Just as Fr. Mulcahey can switch over to whatever faith needs are necessary, so should today’s chaplains be able to do the same thing, no matter what the service member’s faith (if any) is. If none, then the chaplain should at least be able to offer counselling and comfort.
Well, that too, of course. I was just pointing out that saying that any groups that were dropped just because of low numbers was just not true.
I think you may have misunderstood either me or the situation. When the United Methodist Church split, there were two primary factions:
- The United Methodist Church - more inclusive, voted to remove bans on LGBTQ+ clergy and same-sex marriage. These were the churches that stayed.
- Global Methodist Church - conservative, “traditional” views on clergy, marriage, and sexuality. These were the bulk of the churches that left.
When Hegseth left the Methodists on there, I guarantee he was thinking GMC, not UMC.
Sure, but I’d say it’s indicative of the care being given to all of this. And exactly what I would expect from these guys.
I don’t understand why Christians are broken up into a million little subcategories, but Islam, for example, is just one. Shouldn’t there be, at least, Shia and Sunni categories? If there’s Christian - Orthodox, Christian - Non Denominational, etc., shouldn’t Judaism be broken up into Reformed, Conservative, and Orthodox at least?
I imagine Sunni and Shia have more differences than Lutheran and Methodist, or Lutheran and Church of Christ (I asked my Lutheran minister family member what the difference was between Lutheran and Methodist, and I still don’t get it). Ditto the difference between Reformed Jews and Orthodox.
Nitpick: “Reform.”
See? If they were broken out on the list, I wouldn’t have made that mistake.
Absolutely not. That’s not how we think about it.
That’s the teaching, at least. There are plenty of people who describe themself as a member of a religion but who don’t follow any given tenet of that religion. Nixon, for instance, was far from a pacifist.
From my Catholic perspective, I’d say that Lutherans are a lot closer to Catholics than Methodists are. But how much Lutherans and Methodists themselves care about that, I don’t know.
From Mad Magazine’s Guide to Religion:
Quakers do not believe in War.
There are a million Quakers in the US.
President Nixon says he is a Quaker.
Make that 999,999!
Well, yes and no. All Jews are equally Jews, that’s true, and the important prayers and rituals are basically the same for everyone - but if I ever needed a rabbi, I’d prefer dealing with a Conservative one rather than an Orthodox one.
Two Jews, three opinions.
This isn’t about what type of rabbi you would want. This is if you want to be classified as Jewish or if there should be a distinction between different types of Jews in your records.
Broken up into categories by whom?
I guess the practical answer from an institutional perspective is whether that subgroup requires certain accommodations on behalf of their religion.
For example, I was raised Jewish (reform I think…whatever the most casual one is). But I don’t go to temple, don’t follow any dietary restrictions, or have any particular dress or grooming requirements. So for all intents and purposes, my Jewishness is about as irrelevant as my wife’s presbelutheranism or most other religion, from an operational point of view.
“Christian.”
No one would force you to declare yourself Jewish. Just use No Religion if that suits you.
What a delightful way to officially claim that, finally, there are no atheists in our foxholes!
Bravo!
Except, that was true up until 2017.
Neither atheist or agnostic was recognized in the 80s. Best we could get was NR for Non-religious.
Not sure of the year Agnostic was added, but it appears to have been after 2011.
And then, for the better, it wasn’t true. What is happening now can only be seen as a giant leap backwards.