Yes, absolutely. And one thing to add is that he criticizes Iran for it’s “radical ideology” that has control of the military when he is doing the same thing from a Christian nationalist perspective.
Just read it. 👍. This. “Chaplains, by the way, are also involved with the families of those who die while serving. Should my family and I ever have to cope with that grief, I pray we are spared the mouthings of the sort of self-satisfied “Christian” Hegseth so ostentatiously congratulates himself on being.”
Would you like to speak in more detail re: a chaplain's role in combat when a unit has had 1 or more battle buddies die or even with stateside soldiers? I think people have seen MASH or WWII movies in which a "padre" gives last rites, but my understanding is that your role is deeper & more complex than that.
Good question. Yes, a chaplain’s role is more than simply providing “last rights.“ Chaplains deploy with the troops and our present with them during hostilities. However, chaplains do not carry weapons and do not engage in offensive operations. Chaplains are present when units return from engagements and at casualty collection points. The primary role of the chaplain in these situations is to provide initial crisis, intervention and counseling following the shock of loss, intense threat to life, and serious injury. They provide follow up ministry continuously through the hostilities, visiting with individuals and groups. They provide an opportunity for troops to express their emotions and reactions, helping to make sense of the situation. Throughout the process, chaplains do not assert their own religious perspective, but enable troops to draw on their personal faith and ideology in sense-making. The purpose is not to convert people to a specific ideology, but to enable troops to draw on their own spiritual resources for strength during the threat of death and loss. Nor is it a chaplain’s role to motivate and facilitate lethality. Typically, chaplains, help troops deal with post, traumatic stress, moral injury, and struggles with experiences of killing and being threatened with death. Does this help?
I appreciate the detailed response — that was my perception of what chaplains were supposed to do — I feel that the Hegseth approach blew off the actual role of a chaplain — he seems to see chaplains as reinforcing a specific belief system, not meeting folks where they are with the crisis they’re in at the moment. And since he’s manufactured a few crises for folks to have to process (e.g., playing political games with the casualty lists) it’s more reprehensible.
Do you know anything about the changes made in 2017? From your perspective, were they more or less helpful? My observation is that, in part, Hegseth places too much emphasis on denominations. Washington was an Anglican/Episcopalian in name & by habit, but the way he viewed God was Deist — to the best of my knowledge, Deism isn’t a denomination. And denominations per se aren’t relevant to other religions or religious practices. Was the effort to expand “the list” just a way of getting chaplains to learn more about a variety of religious approaches or how did it work?
It is my understanding that the expansion of “the list” was not to increase the understanding of chaplains. Instead, it was a move to recognize and appreciate the religious diversity of our troops. It was intended for troops to have the ability of specifically identifying themselves with a particular Faith group. The primary role of chaplains, and Chaplain training, reinforces this, is to provide for the free exercise of religion of all Faith groups. As a chaplain, it really did not matter to me, nor should it matter to any chaplain, if someone’s professed faith group is on “the list“ or not. My responsibility is to ensure that they have an opportunity to worship according to their professed Faith. to put it in another way, having a Faith Groupon “the list“ does not provide authorization for religious support. Troops have a right to free exercise for religion whether or not their faith group is on “the list.“ if a troop did not feel comfortable worshiping in the services that we provided, then I would advocate on behalf of the trooper to the commander to provide a time, place, and resources for individual worship time. Sorry for the lengthy, redundant response.,
But will the chaplain’s role be changed? Is Hegseth seeking to diminish the openness to diversity & push a more proselytizing agenda instead? Not asking you to predict the future, exactly, but if you spent 30 years in this work, you probably have friends still on duty who have thoughts, yes?
Nothing worse than a fake Christian who steals others' valor! Then to enforce that fake Christianity on the very people whose bravery and sacrifice he strip-mines for his own glory? Despicable! I'm pretty sure the Sermon on the Mount DOES NOT say: "He who drinks to excess, abuses women, and lies constantly shall inherit the rewards of the Trump administration".
Excellent piece that demonstrates (once again!) that for our very Christian nationalist Secretary of Defense, some people (white men who espouse a particularly violent and exclusivist form of Christianity) are simply more equal than others.
What happens when a unit leader comes from an evangelical background and a subordinate says they don’t believe in God? In the before times that shouldn’t have been an issue. Now that non-believers may be placing his life and others in the unit in danger. Another example of a time-honored institution eroded.
It is a violation of the law and DOD policy to discriminate on the basis of religion. If the subordinate experiences discrimination, she/he has several options to file a formal complaint through equal opportunity and inspector general channels. The DOD, including all military departments, reinforce respect for all faith groups, and respect for the choice of personnel not to practice a particular Faith. This respect for pluralism of religious practice is being eroded.
So, some very un Christian people are demanding everyone must be Christian? let's start with the man in the mirror which must get an overabundance of use from him...
most of us know that doing the compassionate thing is a religion unto itself...
Yes, and presently there seems to be an erosion of compassion. Historically, and until recently, our armed forces practiced care and compassion for their fellow troops, civilians in the area of operations, and even for the enemy. Care and compassion serves as a core value to mitigate extreme death and destruction. This was the motivation behind Augustine‘s development of just war theory. However, this administration only cares about lethality and therefore dismisses care and compassion.
I think Hegseth sees this as an opportunity to create an all male-killing force that is akin to the Crusaders. He wants to narrow the definition of religion away from actual faith to loyalty to a person who claims to represent the faith as ultimate power.
He does not seem to want any real connection to what Jesus taught. He wants the made up version that coincidentally affirms his blood lust, power lust and distorted sexual views.
This is part of why the regime is reinstating the draft. With this new focus, many Americans would hesitate to volunteer as what the military represents is now against their faith. So to fill the ranks, the draft. It also explains the "service core" they want gor high school. Get them young and teach them. I doubt the "service" provided will have anything to do with the Beattitudes .
This is a step closer to turning us into horror of North Korea. It is the essence of their military with severe punishment or death for refusal. The next step is to make Trump an immortal god to be worshipped.
If you notice Trump is taking all his favorite parts of his favorite dictators- living or dead- and combining them into his America.
He is a loser , a failure and a weak insecure man. I pray for our soldiers that are in harm under this incompetent administration! God help and protect them
Thank you for your service Chaplain and for explaining the role you have with our uniformed military. I respect freedom of religion for all Americans and freedom from religion for those who are not part of a religious faith. Hegseth is a dangerous ideologue who is unqualified to speak for the Christian faith and continues to do terrible damage to our military.
I don't believe it is accidental. Every appointment by Trump has degraded America in some way. Is he possibly following the instructions of Xi or Putin?
You cannot have freedom of religion without freedom from religion.
A-MEN!! So true!
Just a slimy, disgusting cult. The ignorance and arrogance of Hegseth is appalling.
This is terrifying.
Yes, absolutely. And one thing to add is that he criticizes Iran for it’s “radical ideology” that has control of the military when he is doing the same thing from a Christian nationalist perspective.
💯🎯
I could see hegs organizing a special military unit based on religious extremism. If he is allowed to continue on this path he chooses.
Please also consider
https://cejaxontselis.substack.com/p/thoughts-about-the-pentagon-losing
Just read it. 👍. This. “Chaplains, by the way, are also involved with the families of those who die while serving. Should my family and I ever have to cope with that grief, I pray we are spared the mouthings of the sort of self-satisfied “Christian” Hegseth so ostentatiously congratulates himself on being.”
Thanks for noticing.
Thanks, Carol.
Would you like to speak in more detail re: a chaplain's role in combat when a unit has had 1 or more battle buddies die or even with stateside soldiers? I think people have seen MASH or WWII movies in which a "padre" gives last rites, but my understanding is that your role is deeper & more complex than that.
Good question. Yes, a chaplain’s role is more than simply providing “last rights.“ Chaplains deploy with the troops and our present with them during hostilities. However, chaplains do not carry weapons and do not engage in offensive operations. Chaplains are present when units return from engagements and at casualty collection points. The primary role of the chaplain in these situations is to provide initial crisis, intervention and counseling following the shock of loss, intense threat to life, and serious injury. They provide follow up ministry continuously through the hostilities, visiting with individuals and groups. They provide an opportunity for troops to express their emotions and reactions, helping to make sense of the situation. Throughout the process, chaplains do not assert their own religious perspective, but enable troops to draw on their personal faith and ideology in sense-making. The purpose is not to convert people to a specific ideology, but to enable troops to draw on their own spiritual resources for strength during the threat of death and loss. Nor is it a chaplain’s role to motivate and facilitate lethality. Typically, chaplains, help troops deal with post, traumatic stress, moral injury, and struggles with experiences of killing and being threatened with death. Does this help?
I appreciate the detailed response — that was my perception of what chaplains were supposed to do — I feel that the Hegseth approach blew off the actual role of a chaplain — he seems to see chaplains as reinforcing a specific belief system, not meeting folks where they are with the crisis they’re in at the moment. And since he’s manufactured a few crises for folks to have to process (e.g., playing political games with the casualty lists) it’s more reprehensible.
Do you know anything about the changes made in 2017? From your perspective, were they more or less helpful? My observation is that, in part, Hegseth places too much emphasis on denominations. Washington was an Anglican/Episcopalian in name & by habit, but the way he viewed God was Deist — to the best of my knowledge, Deism isn’t a denomination. And denominations per se aren’t relevant to other religions or religious practices. Was the effort to expand “the list” just a way of getting chaplains to learn more about a variety of religious approaches or how did it work?
It is my understanding that the expansion of “the list” was not to increase the understanding of chaplains. Instead, it was a move to recognize and appreciate the religious diversity of our troops. It was intended for troops to have the ability of specifically identifying themselves with a particular Faith group. The primary role of chaplains, and Chaplain training, reinforces this, is to provide for the free exercise of religion of all Faith groups. As a chaplain, it really did not matter to me, nor should it matter to any chaplain, if someone’s professed faith group is on “the list“ or not. My responsibility is to ensure that they have an opportunity to worship according to their professed Faith. to put it in another way, having a Faith Groupon “the list“ does not provide authorization for religious support. Troops have a right to free exercise for religion whether or not their faith group is on “the list.“ if a troop did not feel comfortable worshiping in the services that we provided, then I would advocate on behalf of the trooper to the commander to provide a time, place, and resources for individual worship time. Sorry for the lengthy, redundant response.,
But will the chaplain’s role be changed? Is Hegseth seeking to diminish the openness to diversity & push a more proselytizing agenda instead? Not asking you to predict the future, exactly, but if you spent 30 years in this work, you probably have friends still on duty who have thoughts, yes?
Nothing worse than a fake Christian who steals others' valor! Then to enforce that fake Christianity on the very people whose bravery and sacrifice he strip-mines for his own glory? Despicable! I'm pretty sure the Sermon on the Mount DOES NOT say: "He who drinks to excess, abuses women, and lies constantly shall inherit the rewards of the Trump administration".
Excellent piece that demonstrates (once again!) that for our very Christian nationalist Secretary of Defense, some people (white men who espouse a particularly violent and exclusivist form of Christianity) are simply more equal than others.
Thank you for calling out these cruel, counter-productive and dangerous moves by Hegseth. His hypocrisy is still as staggering today as it was before.
What happens when a unit leader comes from an evangelical background and a subordinate says they don’t believe in God? In the before times that shouldn’t have been an issue. Now that non-believers may be placing his life and others in the unit in danger. Another example of a time-honored institution eroded.
It is a violation of the law and DOD policy to discriminate on the basis of religion. If the subordinate experiences discrimination, she/he has several options to file a formal complaint through equal opportunity and inspector general channels. The DOD, including all military departments, reinforce respect for all faith groups, and respect for the choice of personnel not to practice a particular Faith. This respect for pluralism of religious practice is being eroded.
So, some very un Christian people are demanding everyone must be Christian? let's start with the man in the mirror which must get an overabundance of use from him...
most of us know that doing the compassionate thing is a religion unto itself...
Yes, and presently there seems to be an erosion of compassion. Historically, and until recently, our armed forces practiced care and compassion for their fellow troops, civilians in the area of operations, and even for the enemy. Care and compassion serves as a core value to mitigate extreme death and destruction. This was the motivation behind Augustine‘s development of just war theory. However, this administration only cares about lethality and therefore dismisses care and compassion.
I think Hegseth sees this as an opportunity to create an all male-killing force that is akin to the Crusaders. He wants to narrow the definition of religion away from actual faith to loyalty to a person who claims to represent the faith as ultimate power.
He does not seem to want any real connection to what Jesus taught. He wants the made up version that coincidentally affirms his blood lust, power lust and distorted sexual views.
This is part of why the regime is reinstating the draft. With this new focus, many Americans would hesitate to volunteer as what the military represents is now against their faith. So to fill the ranks, the draft. It also explains the "service core" they want gor high school. Get them young and teach them. I doubt the "service" provided will have anything to do with the Beattitudes .
This is a step closer to turning us into horror of North Korea. It is the essence of their military with severe punishment or death for refusal. The next step is to make Trump an immortal god to be worshipped.
If you notice Trump is taking all his favorite parts of his favorite dictators- living or dead- and combining them into his America.
He is a loser , a failure and a weak insecure man. I pray for our soldiers that are in harm under this incompetent administration! God help and protect them
Thank you for your service Chaplain and for explaining the role you have with our uniformed military. I respect freedom of religion for all Americans and freedom from religion for those who are not part of a religious faith. Hegseth is a dangerous ideologue who is unqualified to speak for the Christian faith and continues to do terrible damage to our military.
This is so dang HORRIFYING!! 😱
"Leadership" by narcissists is a hallmark of fascism.
I don't believe it is accidental. Every appointment by Trump has degraded America in some way. Is he possibly following the instructions of Xi or Putin?
HOGSBREATH IS SO MUCH A NAZI teeny tiny. Brain; can’t even do a pull up ⬆️