Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Atheist Chaplain ?

This is a funny cartoon. It is also a really dumb idea. I may be an atheist, but I still think the idea (being pushed seriously by some) of an atheist chaplain doesn't make sense. Atheists don't believe in any god or religion. That means they would have no use for a chaplain. Just stop making them participate in the religious activities of others -- That would be enough. From the site Atheist Cartoons.

6 comments:

  1. I keep thinking of Paula Poundstone saying how crappy atheists are at door-to-door evangelism. They knock; the door is answered; shrug: "I got nothin'..."

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  2. As a Unitarian I can see the value of an Atheist Chaplain, the man made structure of religion does serve a social function outside of the belief system.
    Also the armed forces are set-up with the Chaplain Services playing a large secular role in the soldiers lives. Most chaplains can separate their roles as secular administrators and preachers, some cannot.
    It would be nice to completely separate these functions, but it isn't going to happen anytime soon so an atheist chaplain is a first step.

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  3. Project Savior makes a good point.

    As a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Army, I can tell you that the Chaplain Services do indeed perform a secular role. Case in point: pre-marital counseling. Back in the 80's, my then fiancée and I (both of us soldiers) went through such counseling with our chaplain (we both attended his Protestant chapel services).

    Ray was an excellent counselor, and the fact that we all three shared the same basic belief system added to the confidence we had in him and the process. Shouldn't atheist soldiers be afforded the same opportunity we had?

    (Parenthetically, we didn't get married to each other, but both of us later happily married other people, thanks at least in part to the counseling we went through.)

    There are other secular functions that chaplains peform. For example, soldiers can confidentially counsel with their chaplain when the soldier feels there's a systemic bias in the chain of command. Once again, an atheist soldier might feel more comfortable discussing this with someone of a similar belief system.

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