Nontheistic military chaplains?

[lotstodo]

The House Armed Services Committee will vote tomorrow on the inclusion of nontheistic chaplains in the Chaplain Corps of the Armed Forces. At first blush, this sounds ridiculous. You would think that the non-religious members of the military would simply discuss their problems with a secular counselor or a psychiatrist. You would until you realize that those discussions are not confidential in the military, and can be use to harm the career of the soldier. It turns out, that the 23% of the service men and women who self describe as agnostic or atheist must use a religious chaplain if they want the same confidentiality offered their religious counterparts. While most chaplains say that they do their best to aid these soldiers, they are not always equipped to offer the kind of discussion that they need.

It seems odd that there would be more confidentiality in the chaplain-follower relationship than the doctor-patient relationship, but that's the military for you. What do you think. Is this a good idea, or should the nontheistic suffer the "consequences" of their decision to not believe? What about added confidentiality between secular counselors and the soldiers? That won't solve a problem of accessibility in war zones. So is it time for nontheists in the Chaplain Corps?

 

[mei lan]

Well, it does sound completely oxymoronic, BUT as you state, since this is how the gubment works, I have no problem with it. I don't believe service personnel who aren't religious should be penalized with less confidentiality than another person who is religious.

 

[Guard Dad]

Seems that it would be more efficient to train chaplains in handling the non-religious issues.

 

[Madea]

Seems that it would be more efficient to train chaplains in handling the non-religious issues.

I guess you would assume that they already were. And, that seems like it would be an option. I think their are circumstances where folks don't have access to their particular religion.

I'm sorry that those who don't believe don't feel they really have anyone to talk with about issues. If they provide religious support that is confidential, they should provide the same level of confidentiality to those who don't have religious views.