{"id":28003,"date":"2023-11-06T09:20:16","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T17:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&p=28003"},"modified":"2024-02-01T14:37:18","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T22:37:18","slug":"the-complex-role-and-diverse-array-of-chaplains-in-the-military","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/the-complex-role-and-diverse-array-of-chaplains-in-the-military\/","title":{"rendered":"The Complex Role and Diverse Array of Chaplains in the Military"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Ivonne Spinoza<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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When you hear the term <\/span>chaplain<\/span><\/i>, if you’re not in the military, what usually comes to mind? It could be a pop culture reference, like Father Mulcahy in<\/span> M*A*S*H*<\/span><\/i>,<\/span> or prison chaplains in a movie with a death row setting,<\/span> or perhaps something from history, like the famed “<\/span>Four Chaplains<\/span><\/a>” from WWII. But what actually <\/span>is<\/span><\/i> a chaplain, and what are the different types of chaplains represented in the military? <\/span><\/p>\n

Chaplains are usually attached to an otherwise secular institution, like a hospital, the U.S. Senate, or, say, the military. As Hans Zeiger wrote for Pepperdine’s School of Public Policy, <\/span>\u201c<\/span>no office in America is so delicately balanced between church and state as that of the military chaplain.\u201d<\/span><\/a> A big part of a chaplain’s job is to be there to listen without judging, no matter who they are talking to, making them the de facto spiritual leaders inside the organization. <\/span><\/p>\n

Active duty service members don\u2019t only go to chaplains for religious reasons, but faith\u2014any faith\u2014 is a way for those serving to endure the challenges of the military experience. Beyond performing religious rites and conducting worship services, <\/span>chaplains provide confidential counseling<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"1948

1948 stamps issue of Four Chaplains (George L. Fox, Clark V. Poling, John P. Washington, and Alexander D. Goode) who sacrificed their lives in the 1943 sinking of the S. S. Dorchester. Public domain (U.S. Post Office)<\/p><\/div>\n

“Soldiers and cadets of all faiths and some with no faith come and talk to me,” <\/span>said <\/span>Captain David Ruderman<\/span><\/a>, Jewish chaplain at West Point. Echoing that experience, <\/span>retired Lieutenant Colonel Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad says that “oftentimes, people who are not of our profession think that [miltary personnel] only come to us for religious reasons [but] people come to us with the things that normally burden their souls.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Each squadron is supposed to have a chaplain who, regardless of their personal religious affiliation, serves the spiritual needs of all the members in that group. Per the official directive, the chaplain must \u201cprotect and promote the free exercise of religion for all faith groups [inside the military]\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Related<\/div>
Following the Journey of Interpreters We Left Behind<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Chaplaincy is not merely about religious instruction,” <\/span>Chaplain Saleha Jabeen, pictured at top right, adds.<\/span> “It is about being better at being human. In a military environment, such a presence serves as a moral compass that the senior-most members are in need of as much as the junior member needs it, to remain resilient, to serve the nation with integrity, and to care for their fellow service member with complete dignity and respect.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her experience with military members in crisis has led her to confirm that \u201c[the] reality is people have the courage it takes to battle through negative force and stay alive regardless of the intensity of it. They just need someone to hold their pain while they try to catch a breath,\u201d further cementing the importance of this position.<\/span><\/p>\n

How religiously diverse is the military?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201c<\/span>Religion and culture outpace politics across all regions surveyed as the root cause of tension between Muslim and Western worlds,” <\/span>according to the Gallup Center<\/span><\/a>. An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 U.S. military members practice Islam.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Captain Chaplain Rafael Lantigua, there was never doubt about expecting some level of hostility for being a Muslim because, as he states in the documentary <\/span>Three Chaplains<\/span><\/i><\/a>: \u201cJust because of the nature of what\u2019s going on in the world, the news footage continues to propagate this idea that Muslims are terrorists\u2026\u201d Despite that expectation, a poll from 2022 showed an <\/span>increased willingness of Muslim Americans to serve in the U.S. military<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Rafael

Rafael Lantigua at US Air Force Academy; credit: David Washburn<\/p><\/div>\n

While getting exact numbers is complicated because of differing practices in record-keeping, the <\/span>Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers<\/span><\/a> (MAAF, a “community for atheists, humanists, and other nontheists in the military”), in a 2012 survey, found that \u201cthe modern military includes over 100 religious preferences both among the general population and the chaplaincy, with the majority being Christian.\u201d This is in contrast to earlier eras, where \u201cat the outset of the chaplaincy in the 18th century and even [up to] part of the 20th century, it is fair to say military\u2026chaplains were almost uniformly Protestant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeing a hundred different preferences recorded may make it look like there\u2019s thriving diversity, but in reality, <\/span>the current lack of balance in religious demographics can threaten the interfaith nature of the chaplaincy<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a concern from the MAAF’s perspective, as some chaplains may put their evangelization or conversion duties above their military ones, thus subverting the spirit and responsibilities of the chaplain\u2019s office. That\u2019s why they also <\/span>endorse Humanist candidates<\/span><\/a>, and have cheered the <\/span>(so far unsuccessful) attempts to address the need for non-religious chaplains in the military<\/span><\/a>, a mission shared by the <\/span>Secular Coalition for America<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Frocking

Frocking ceremony for U.S. Navy’s first Muslim chaplain, when Navy (rabbi) Chaplain Arnold Resnicoff attaches new shoulder boards with Muslim Chaplain crescent insignia to uniform of Imam Monje Malak Abd al-Muta Noel Jr, 1996. Photo by U.S.Navy photographer Hank Buermeyer, public domain.<\/p><\/div>\n

Regardless of affiliation, military chaplain numbers are plummeting, to the extent that some religions even encourage joining the military. According to this <\/span>WUNC American Homefront Project report<\/span><\/a>, “The Catholic church now provides incentives for priests to join the military, such as paying for half their religious education,” adding that the Pentagon may decide to provide additional incentives of its own for chaplains of all faiths.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\"Sign<\/a>\n

“But the job carries unique responsibilities that don’t appeal to some faith leaders. Chaplains train with soldiers. They don\u2019t carry weapons, but they do deploy to war zones.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While there\u2019s a chaplain shortage<\/span><\/a> in general, the most startling numbers are those of Muslim chaplains.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are approximately 3,000 chaplains currently serving in the military, but out of those, not even 20 are Muslim, for an estimated 6,000 Muslim American soldiers, or 0.3%. (Interestingly, there’s an even more striking shortage of Muslim chaplains in the U.S. prison system, according to an <\/span>NPR report<\/span><\/a>, with 13 chaplains representing 11,073 Muslims serving time.)<\/span><\/p>\n

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“We go wherever the troops are to provide religious support, to be a moral and ethical compass during dilemmas, and to serve as reminders of the sacred.”<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While Muslim chaplain numbers are scant, on the surface it appears numbers for Jewish chaplains aren\u2019t any stronger. As of a few years ago, Ruderman was one of 11 active-duty Jewish chaplains of about 1,455 chaplains of all faiths in the Army, about 0.7%, but <\/span>U.S. Dept. of Defense data<\/span><\/a> shows that number is more in line with the number of active personnel who declare themselves Jewish.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One way to incentivize more chaplains to join the military ranks is making religious accommodations<\/span><\/a>, including cases of those who wish to change their appearance in accordance with their religion (one member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, also known as \u201cPastafarianism,\u201d applied for a beard exemption as part of his strict devotion but was ultimately denied by the Army.)<\/span><\/p>\n

It can also be complicated by those who, while religious, challenge the oldest traditions of their own faiths. Such is the case of Shareda Hosein and Saleha Jabeen, both featured in <\/span>Three Chaplains, <\/span><\/i>who each, during different times and with different outcomes, fought to become <\/span>female Muslim chaplains<\/span><\/a>, despite women being forbidden from leading prayer in Islam.<\/span><\/p>\n