A few weeks ago I wrote about the possibility of having humanist chaplains in the military. Rabbi Shmuley thinks the whole idea is ridiculous:

On the one hand, it’s kind of absurd. Atheist chaplains? It’s a contradiction in terms. What are they going to teach? Non-belief? What services will they offer? Non-prayers and sermons on evolution? And what comfort will they offer dying soldiers, G-d forbid (oops! Even that doesn’t work). Will they say, “Game over. You’re going to a place of complete oblivion. Thank you for your service.”?

On the other hand, I am completely opposed to any kind of religious coercion and why should non-believing military personnel not have someone they can talk to who shares their absence of faith?…

So. Do I think it’s a good idea for the military to have atheist counselor soldiers? Sure. Let’s have trained professionals who profess atheism who are made available to non-believing service men and women who are reluctant to discuss personal issues with religious chaplains. But please, call them something that doesn’t make a mockery of religion by pretending that someone can be a minister of the religion of non-belief.

I have to agree, to an extent. The whole idea of a movement centered on the rejection of all the things that define religion, a movement that often prides itself on not having clergy, to have chaplains is ridiculous. To do so would be to effectively start ordaining atheist pastors.

Do do whole heartedly have to disagree that giving atheists equal footing with theists in terms of the support offered does not make a “mockery of religion.” The religious don’t need us to do that for them, they do a pretty damn good job if it themselves.

If you have an atheist who does everything that a chaplain does, but isn’t called a chaplain then how would that work exactly? Would these “atheist counselors” part of the chaplain corp? Would they have the same access to base facilities? Would they serve equally as advisors to commanders? My guess is that they would be bunched in the the medical corp attached to hospitals, not attached to combat units.

Those kinds of differences from the way things are done may be good. Heck they may be great reforms, but only if the entirety of the chaplain corp is treated the same.

Back to the idea of ordained atheist clergy, it does justifiably support a misguided notion that the Rabbi holds:

Having said all this, I think it worthwhile to point out that the move on the part of atheists to create an official chaplaincy reinforces my firm belief that atheism is becoming its own religion.

Atheists in the military deserve equal support to that which religious soldiers have. Having someone who you can talk to that shares similar beliefs and who can be your advocate in the chain of command is a valuable service, but it’s denied to them.

Under current military regulations, appointing atheist or humanist chaplains would require recognition as a religion. It would be a valuable pragmatic move, but what do we lose if to gain equality we have to become that which we hate?

This of course is coming from someone who is considering it as a possible career move. As I’m sure you can tell, I have some reservations about the idea.