I'd like to meet other people who left the mission dissatisfied and see what kind of testimony they had regarding these kinds of things. Chances are, though, that there aren't any others, because no one else had the guts to stand up to the mission like I did, and even what I did could only just barely be called standing up to them.
***
In our text we're now on chapter 2 "Relationship of Chaplains." I'm going to be skipping around a bit here, but the first section is from Section I. "Military", part 8. "Relationship to Commanders.""a.... By Army Regulation, the commander is responsible for the religious life, morals, and morale within the command even as he is for the strictly military affairs (AR 165-15)." (p. 3)
The thing that struck me here is how can a secular commander be responsible for the religious life, morals, and morale? I'm not sure how this is played out or what this means by way of daily life, but it sure doesn't sit well with me on first glance. I guess if he hears there are Buddhists in the group (platoon or whatever) and they don't have a place to worship, then he'll pass that on to the chaplain. But I hope it doens't mean that he's going to start defining religious life, morals and morale.
***
part 10. "Relationship to Troops"
"a. ... The chaplain must never lose sight of his military position or social station within the military, but he must be equally careful to emphasize his professional and spiritual responsibility for all military personnel." (p. 4)
This is pretty much what you'd expect in a military chaplain position, a dual responsibility between the military and the pastoral, so some of the earlier statements in the handbook should probably be taken in light of this statement.
To be honest with you, I still don't feel comfortable with the institution of military chaplain because of the compromises (I think they're compromises) that you have to make to be able to work within the military environment. The soldiers deserve spiritual support, but I think it should be independent of the military, although that might not always work in the favor of the military so it will never happen.
***
Continuing in part 10...
"b. The chaplain makes informal visits wherever men are gathered for work or play." (p. 4)
So we saw in that one text where the author actually participated in the soldiers' exercises and became an instructor in weaponry (!) The latter there was a bit of a shock to me, because I didn't think chaplains did that, although maybe it's just fight in wars that they don't do. So maybe this informal visiting includes these kinds of things. They sort of become "one of the guys."
I have a bit of a problem with that. Of course, I don't really like the military either, though. The thing is that as Christians we are supposed to be salt and light, which means being a little separate, but they're not, they're just getting right in. Of course, they're not seeing what they're doing as sin, so maybe that's different. For me that might be an issue. For the Army chaplain they're sort of buddy-buddy with the soldiers then.
I must say that the leaders at the Vienna mission were like that too, as were the H.R. directors, although I only knew the one very well.
***
Also in part 10..."c. Chaplains assigned to units or installations should spend a minimum of fifty percent of their duty time each week with troops." (p. 4)
That's a lot of time. I'm not sure how they define that time, if counseling sessions count, or morale seminars count, etc. But that's a lot of time. Then how much time does he have to prepare for Sunday church or midweek Bible study or a new membership class, etc.? So if he spends 50 percent of his time with the troops, is that the 50% of his time that the Army gets for the week? Somehow I doubt it, because I expect there are lots of bureaucratic papers to fill out because that's the federal government for you. So his spiritual duties get short changed, or he has to sort of somehow squeeze them into the 50% of the time he's spending them with the troops, but his church would be suffering, and his church is presumably also base members.
***
Now in part 12. "Relationship to Other Chaplains.""b. Where there are several chaplains assigned to a headquarters, there is only one staff chaplain, usually the senior in rank." (p. 4)
The rest of the chapter explains how the junior chaplains report to the senior one, etc. I just wanted to note that sometimes there are more than one chaplain working together at one place, so that would complicate things even more. The chaplain with the junior rank I think might have less leeway as to how to express his faith, although they must discuss things together I presume.
***
Anyway, that's it for this post and we'll move on to the next section in the next post. I have to run to physical therapy now.