“As you prepare for battle, the priest shall come forward to address the army gathered before him, saying: Hear O Israel, today you are going to battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid, for the Lord God will go before you to give you victory.” (Deut. 20:1-4)
This verse from the Old Testament is the earliest in depicting the clergy’s role of spiritual support in preparing military personnel for armed conflict. Further, the priesthood has always been an indispensable part of the battlefield landscape, as demonstrated by the fact that Abraham, Melchizedek, Moses, and Joshua, as well as King David himself, all fought wars with a priest by their side. While serving as religious advocates as well as spiritual intercessors, both tradition and history agree that the chaplaincy has played a significant role in regard to the military from its very beginning, with clergy not only having a central role during times of conflict, but in times of peace as well.
The term chaplain, as applied to military clergy, did not come into widespread use until sometime during the fourth century, when Martin of Tours offered his cloak to a roadside beggar, only to see that same cloak later worn by Jesus in a dream he had. From that time onward the religious cloak, or stole, if you will, not only signified a call to selfless service, but an object of veneration in its own right. Accordingly, the cappa, as it was then called, taken from the French word for Chapel, or Chappele, lead to the priest being called a Chappelain, or chaplain. During the Council of Ratisbon in 742 AD, and due to primarily to the advocacy of St. Boniface, the role of the chaplaincy in the military was formally established. And while Boniface was adamant that the servant of God should in every respect be prohibited from bearing arms, ordained clergy were still considered part of the military unit and therefore required to participate in all aspects of military training as a matter of course, while serving through deployment whenever the need arose. Providing for religious services, as well as the customary sacraments, benedictions and confessions, chaplains were also authorized to met out the proper penance as a means of maintaining the mental health and spiritual wellness of fellow combatants.
Yet in contrast, during the American colonial period, it would have been nearly impossible to contextualize the Revolutionary War apart from the presence and influence of religious clergy. In fact, it was seen as a virtual necessity for the fact that clergy were required to serve in a double capacity, both fighting and preaching, as the very freedoms they were fighting for could only be won through armed conflict and help from an Almighty God. This was deemed critically important, as General Washington himself recognized. The spiritual need of assigning chaplains to individual regiments may have been essential, but the compounding effect of its practical application among the enlisted was even more so. The fact being that most of the clergy had grown up on the frontier, with a flintlock in one hand and a hatchet in the other; defending their farms and families throughout the week, while preaching to their respective congregations on the Sabbath.
While “freedom of religion” continues to be a hallmark of American democracy, it remains especially true within the ranks of the US Military. The fact that they were the first to standardize the chaplaincy led to them operating under the same historical onus or calling, with many serving in deployment, or at the least wishing to do so. And although a chaplain remains a representative of his particular denomination, his singular forte continues to be “the ministry of presence.” Standing alongside those in the enlisted ranks, while enduring the same hardships, the role of a chaplain is a calling of the relational rather than the sacramental. And due to his being “in the trenches” so to speak, it can result in an uncommon camaraderie, with the chaplain serving as spiritual advisor and intercessor, as well as a confessor. As a matter of course then, confidentially becomes a sacrament in its own right, one that is earned while defending, providing the chaplain with a rather unique perspective, a vested-interest in the continuing spiritual welfare of his fellow compatriots.
And with that in mind, it many be worth revisiting the non-combatant status of chaplains within the US military today, as situations can often arise in combat where one may be justified in taking a life, “to save a life.” And regardless of the fact that his non-combatant status may serve a political role in “winning hearts and minds” in theater, it may do little in regard to unit cohesiveness and even less for mutual trust–”I got your six!” In addition, this dual role of chaplains can also reveal a conflict of interest, as political expediency is often counterintuitive when it comes to just cause and moral accountability. The question then arises, how can a chaplain, as a spiritual representative, be asked to stand aside at a time of mortal crisis, couching his council in deference to political expediency, while deigning to defend the lives of his own companions?
While most Christian religious expressions readily acknowledge the prohibition for taking a a human life, there is an interpretative precedent within the Torah called pikuach nefesh, or “saving a life.” This concept, as referenced in (Lev. 8:5), reads: “You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live,” not die! as Rabbi Akiva observed. It follows then that “Whoever saves a life is considered to have saved the entire world.” (Sanhedrin 37e) In the same token, “If it is clear that observance to a mitzvah will spell certain death for others, then clearly in that instance God would not want us to fulfill that particular law…. Violating a mitzvah, when not doing so could mean certain death for others, is therefore no longer an option, but a duty.” (Rabbi Benjamin Biech)
Interestingly, this issue has become central to the debate going on within the military chaplaincy today. And, although there must come a point in the development of humanity where spiritual and temporal perspectives align, we are not there yet. And while both can be seen as essential to social development and the continued existence of the human species itself, the dictates of human experience argue that until such a complementary convergence arises, conflict will only increase, and exponentially, due to the net effect of globalization, technology and AI. Yet, in spite of that or because of it, chaplains increasingly find themselves at a crossroads of conscience, arguing on behalf of the spiritual, while forced to grapple with the exigencies of life and death. A dilemma which begs the question, as the apostle said: “Where does war come from if not from the battle that rages within, which in turn is driven by our own competing lusts…?” (James 4:1)
CoupStick Chaplain 