How Military Chaplains Facilitate Freedom of Religion Essay

MILITARY CHAPLAINS' FACILITATION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Military Chaplain's Facilitation of Religious Freedom

Chaplains help ameliorate many hardships for service members, like the inability to attend church regularly, participate in religious studies, or even talk about faith with like-minded people. Chaplains don't have to be Christians, and do, in fact, tend to service members of all denominations and faiths. Not only do chaplains conduct services when they can, but they also counsel service members who would otherwise refuse mental health services. As American service members work on international missions, their chaplains also find themselves ministering to soldiers from all over the world, speaking many languages. This requires them to help facilitate religious freedom for all of the service members under their care.

In South Africa, military chaplains are seen as the guardians of "first human right - religious freedom" (Lampman 1999). Therefore, internationally, chaplains facilitate religious freedom, not only for their own service members, but for others, as well. According to Army Regulation 165-1, Religious Support, Army Chaplain Corps Activities, "Army Chaplains represent faith groups within the pluralistic religious culture in America and demonstrate the values of religious freedom of conscience and spiritual choice" (Headquarters, Department of the Army 2009).Therefore, even if they don't support another faith, individually, they must still do so as part of their job. For example, chaplains are allowed to perform same-sex marriages where they are legal, though they are not required to if it is against their religions or beliefs (Headquarters, Department of the Army 2009). If a chaplain chooses not to perform the marriage, they still have an obligation to help find a chaplain who would perform the marriage.

Chaplains are required to support the free exercise of religion for all faiths (Headquarters, Department of the Army 2009). As of 2009, there were 101 faiths for active-duty personnel, including Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Buddhists, Bahai's, Mormons Wiccans, evangelicals and nearly 300,000 with no religion at all (Smietana 2009). Note that chaplains are supposed to demonstrate religious freedom as well as help soldiers with their difference religious. This wide variety of faiths can be difficult for an individual chaplain to serve without evangelizing. For example, while conducting religious worship services, chaplains can pray according to their own faith, but during non-religious ceremonies, like christening….....