Religion in the Military

This is something I wrote several months ago that was published in Air Force Times: “If I had my way, you people wouldn’t even exist here.” Those were the words that an Army wife and I heard when we introduced ourselves to our base Chaplain and offered to serve as points of contact for other minority-faith believers. Both of our families are Pagan (or as it is misspelled on my husbands dog-tags “Pagen”), an umbrella term for several religious traditions that revere nature as a Divine Revelation and view Deity/God as both Father and Mother. We’re used to being misunderstood- my own mother feels squeamish about the word “Pagan”, which actually comes from the Latin root “paganus” meaning country-dweller. But much like Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus, we are present in the military today and our numbers are increasing.
Unfortunately, this response was neither unusual nor completely unexpected. The military is traditionally a very conservative environment and the idea of being dramatically different often does not set well with the rank and file. In Iraq, my husband was bombarded with bootlegged copies of “The Passion of the Christ” by well-meaning Christians who saw no irony whatsoever in using stolen copies of the Easter story as an evangelistic tool. While it’s true that there are no atheists in foxholes, there are very often Hermetics, Agnostics and Unitarians. Everyone is entitled to honor and serve God/dess in whatever way they are called to do so; but it does take a toll on individual morale when it seems as if everyone around you feels compelled to serve their god by “saving” you.
Admittedly, many Chaplains today are becoming more aware of the diverse nature of the personnel they are charged to serve. In some ways this is a great change, since it encourages them to broaden their depth of understanding when it comes to smaller, perhaps less-traditional faiths. There has also been a backlash amongst chaplains and fundamentalist politicians who advocate a policy of what I see as religious intolerance through First Amendment protection. Their approach is to claim that requiring military personnel to curb evangelistic activities or to refrain from voicing their disbelief in (or in some cases disrespect for) other faiths constitutes an unfair restriction on freedom of religion. It is my belief that when a minister makes the decision to accept a call to serve such a diverse flock as that of any military unit, they must be comfortable with the idea that not everyone there will practice their brand of religion and be willing to minister to the needs of the troops, regardless of their private practices. If this is contradictory to their faith and they want a community that is entirely consistent with their own doctrine, then perhaps they would be better off serving a church of their denomination rather than a combat unit.
It is difficult to serve in the military today, heartbreaking to be a military spouse and traumatic to be a military child, especially in a time of war. Every soldier hopes that they will never have to leave their families behind to worry and wait while they once again don Kevlar and take up arms. Whether they are Baptist or Wiccan, a practicing Santero or a devout Jew, they each pray for a lasting peace. It should not matter what we envision in our minds when we pray and the last concern on the battlefield should be trying to convince each other that ones spirituality is flawed or evil. Faith is what transforms a soldier into a Warrior. Spirituality gives a higher purpose and a comfort to the family members left behind. It is time that we stop debating whose religion is scripturally true or politically valid and simply recognize one another as honorable people of faith. For Pagans, the idea of trying to “convert” or “witness” is doctrinally prohibited and is usually seen as offensive and rude. For others, evangelism is a vital part of their religious practice. These differences should not take precedence over the mutual support of brothers and sisters in arms working together to complete their mission. Battlefield evangelism and spiritual isolation at home hurts morale and diminishes retention. To this end, it is my hope that we can each act according to the wise suggestion of Keteri Mitchell who wrote “Our first task when approaching another religion is to take off our shoes. Otherwise, we may step on something holy and forget that God has been there long before our arrival.”