I found an interesting article on Wondering Eagle about the ongoing effort to allow Secular/Humanist/Atheist chaplains in the U.S. Military. Apparently many major universities have Humanist chaplains, including U.S.C., Harvard, Yale, American, New York and Rutgers. It seems that they fulfill a need, and may be provide a balance: For example(according to the article)
I know that when I was in the military a non-secular shoulder to lean on might have helped once in a while…so what’s the hold-up?
How can you have an atheist chaplain?
It’s a silly name, but the role is meaningful: a counsellor, confidante, sympathetic listener, and moral advisor.
Call him a psychologist if you have to, but an atheist would be well-placed to help guide other atheists through their anxieties.
Atheist chaplain. Who knew?
From my time in the military, the chaplains were a royal pain in the neck, finding issues where non-existed.
Do we really need 500 more hand holders? Isn’t this what friends, shipmates and mentors are for?
So, not really a chaplain at all, but simply a psychologist or counselor, both of which the military already has.
If a Southern Baptist and/or a Muslim chaplain can council a Jewish soldier, why couldn’t a Humanist/ Atheist chaplain?
Because I would assume, as I did when I was in the military, that I would go to a chaplain in order to get spiritual guidance. How an atheist chaplain can offer spiritual guidance is beyond me. that’s why if I DIDN’T want spiritual guidance, which I wouldn’t want if I was an atheist, I wouldn’t go to a chaplain, but to a counselor or psychologist.
It sounds like chaplains are provided by outside groups (just guessing from the previous posts), and that what you talk about with or that you talked to a chaplain doesn’t go on your record.
The counselors and psychologists are not usually available on the frontlines the way chaplains are, and the chaplains are trained in performing religious services for religions they don’t personally believe in. if there is no problem with a Jewish chaplain performing a Baptist service, why should there be a problem with a Humanist chaplain doing the same thing?
Most (I don’t know if all) chaplains are military officers.
Do Jewish chaplains perform Baptist services?
Are there any other military positions that exclude atheists?
My post was a reply to someone who thought chaplains were provided by outside groups, not a reason to exclude atheists.
I just don’t see how a spiritual counselor and religious leader can be an atheist.
If the troops want a non-spiritual counselor that is not a religious leader, the military already has that.
I think chaplains are unnecessary in the military (though I’ll admit that as a non-religious veteran, I might be biased) and should be phased out. We didn’t have them on the submarine (volunteer religious leaders led services for those sailors interested) and no one that I know of expressed any dismay at the lack. As far as the chaplains on base, from what I heard from other sailors, their chief function seemed to be to diplomatically say “quit complaining and get back to work”.
I agree with what others have said. If you’re looking for religious counseling, you’re not going to get it from an atheist “chaplain” (or counselor). If you’re looking for general non-religious counseling, you can get it from a religious chaplain. So I don’t see a need for specifically atheist counselors.
Out there with the troops, on the frontlines?
To be honest, the only time I ever saw a chaplain during my enlistment was during the Invocation that we were forced to listen to before big ceremonies. I’ve never even been to a base chapel outside of basic training.
I don’t think chaplains are driving around in convoys or outside the wire missions if that’s what you mean.
But if not, just have forward deployed counselors or psychologists, if we don’t already have them. No need to call them chaplains.
It looks like this was discussed previously a few years ago in this forum. It’s not that long a read, and some reason(s) to have/not have them are brought up.
Not too bad of a thread. Not sure much has changed since then. I did do a quick search on Google and, admittedly just picked the first link, for Army psychologists and it seems like they do get deployed to Iraq and such, as I suspected. Here’s a story about one such guy: link