Heard this whopper – the military is inducting chaplains from the Church of Satan!
Of course it’s BS, but I need to prove that it’s BS. I did some research, and I discovered that various Pagan groups are indeed trying to sponsor pagan priests to be military chaplains, since apparently chaplains need to have the backing of a religious organization. (This is so that the DoD doesn’t need to be in the business of deciding if a person is priestly enough to be a chaplain.) However, there’s a bit more to it than just getting a letter from a religious organization, meaning priests from smaller denominations often need to take graduate level classes in a religion that’s not their own, as an example. So far it doesn’t appear that the pagan community hasn’t been able to get a priest to jump through enough hoops.
And of course, even if the priest jumps through all the right hoops, it’s still up to the military branch to decide if the chaplain meets the needs of the branch, and I don’t think there’s ever going to be enough pagans in the military for them to decide that they need some pagan chaplains.
Of course, all of this means that there’s nothing in the chaplain guidelines and regulations that actually prevent the military from ever having a pagan chaplain of course, which is as it should be. It just hasn’t happened yet, as far as I can tel. But I don’t want to go back to this guy only being able to say, “I can’t find any evidence of this claim you made.” I want to know where this rumor came from, so I can shoot it down more thoroughly. Anyone have any ideas?
While the military chaplains are affiliated with a denomination they are expected to serve the needs of all soldiers. I am personally aware of a Baptist chaplain assisting a group of Wiccans in having a place to meet although he did not participate.
Thanks runner pat, ignorance fought. If a mod wants to update the thread title, that’d be great, as the claim I heard was specific to Satanism. I didn’t mean to get the pagans involved, I guess
Yeah but also, the Church of Satan is not satan worship either. They basically called themselves that because they are publicity whores, but for all intents and purposes the Church of Satan is basically a pagan self actualization group.
from the CoS page here: http://www.religioustolerance.org/satanis1.htm/
" People have created Gods in many forms; pick one that might be useful to you.
Heaven and Hell do not exist.
Satan is not closely related to the modern (post 1400 AD) concept of the Christian devil. Satanists view Satan as a pre-Christian life principle which represents the carnal, earthly, and mundane aspects of life.
Satan is not a being, a living entity; he is a force of nature."
The actual ideals and principles are pretty much identical to all the other wiccan / pagan groups except they are a bit more in your face about it for PR purposes.
When evangelical christians equate paganism with Satanism they are pretty much right, but not in the way they think
I’m not sure exactly what you’re looking for. Are you looking for evidence that pagans aren’t trying to get pagan chaplains in the military? I’m sorry, but you’re going to be disappointed on that front, because we most decidedly are. Have we yet? Not to my knowledge. But, as you note in your post, that’s because we don’t have many currently acceptable training institutions, because “pagan” is about as useful a term as “Judeo-Christian” in this context. There are hundreds - nay, thousands - of individuals and groups which call themselves pagan. Many of them agree on only the barest bones of “pagan” belief, and there are very few formal tax-exempt official Churches among them. There are some, but few.
Many have their own paths to Ordination, but because few of them are legally incorporated a churches, their clergy often get more accessible, generally Christian in name, ordination from churches like Universal Life Church. So if you had a Hermetic Pagan who studies with her Circle for 10 years and becomes a Priestess through their teachings and then gets a ULC ordination so she can legally perform weddings…is she a Hermetic Pagan Priestess or a Pagan Minister or a non-denominational chaplain? (No, really, tell me, because when people ask me, I don’t know what to answer!)
Look towards Cherry Hill Seminary for your most likely first Pagan military chaplain. They’ve got the oldest most formalized and recognizable to outsiders program for chaplaincy that’s indisputably pagan.
We do have at least one pagan *prison *chaplain, Patrick McCollum.
Don Larsenwas a military chaplain, until he decided to officially convert to a Wiccan endorsement but could not produce the proper paperwork. He was drummed out of first chaplaincy and then the service. I don’t know what’s happened to him since, but that was quite a while ago, as these things are measured.
On Preview: Dangit. Well, I’m gonna post this anyhow, as I think it does provide at least one bit of information: I bet the OP’s friend heard about Larsen and that’s what provoked this.
So, you are saying that active members of the armed services who happen to be Satan Worshippers or Pagans do not deserve to have thier spiritual needs met?
Much thanks, this may be what I’m looking for. It wouldn’t at all surprise me if he was making the same mistake I was about Pagan/Satanism/Wiccan confusion, and this is exactly what he was talking about. As coremelt points out, it’s a confusing array of religions, and I’m certain that when he talks about Satanism, he doesn’t realize that it’s not enemy-of-Jesus satan.
*You must obtain an ecclesiastical endorsement from your faith group. This endorsement should certify that you are:
A clergy person in your denomination or faith group.
Qualified spiritually, morally, intellectually and emotionally to serve as a Chaplain in the Army.
Sensitive to religious pluralism and able to provide for the free exercise of religion by all military personnel, their family members and civilians who work for the Army. *
Dunno what documentation they would find convincing, for a group with as relatively loose a hierarchy as pagans or Satanists. Or Druids, for that matter.
The Wiccan pentacle is #37 on the list (3rd page). Also present are the “Humanist emblem of spirit” and the Atheist atomic symbol, along with several denominations with which I an entirely unfamiliar.
Does being morally qualified depend on how well you live the principles of your religion and how often or how seriously you “sin” according to your faith (e.g. Catholic chaplains must not commit more than 5 mortal sins per year or else they are not morally qualified), or does it simply mean that you pass a secular criminal background check?
I believe he was an army chaplain. I never could understand how the US Army would allow someone like that to exist in their organization.
Details are sketchy, If you google “temple of set” “michael aquino” you get a lot questionable hits…someone with more time than myself might want to wade through some of them…
considering how many ex counter strike playing geeks there nowadays are in the US forces flying drones I’m guessing it’s only a matter of time before the US military gets its first “Jedi” chaplain.
Semi-related question here. Did the Wehrmacht or the SS in World War II ever have Norse neopagan chaplains, considering how some Nazis were fascinated Odinism?
