tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3222586767675455749.post3879497087519216375..comments2018-05-23T00:25:00.824-05:00Comments on More Opinions than Assholes: On the ChaplaincySteven Alleynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16008639148560742179noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3222586767675455749.post-56611198043568282282009-09-15T20:25:31.772-05:002009-09-15T20:25:31.772-05:00The trick, I believe, lies in the "state-spon...<i>The trick, I believe, lies in the "state-sponsored" bit.<br /><br />Soldiers who want spiritual guidance should be given the same choice as people all over Canada and the United States: pay the Tithe. The military could cut funding to the chaplaincy entirely, paying only for their transportation, while the soldiers themselves pay the tithe from their salaries to keep their regiments stocked with all that's required to satisfy their spiritual needs.</i><br /><br />That's what I meant when I said I addressed it. As far as the democratizing power of secularism, I actually do believe in it - look at the early and continued successes of the United States (whose founders, if the texts about and letters from them I've read are anything to go by, went to great pains to ensure that church and state maintained as much separation as was possible in the culture of their time).<br /><br />To your three points:<br /><br />i. Yes, a religious provision DOES signify a deeper religious bias. It also lets our enemies point to our armed forces and recruit new fighters based on the notion that these are religious wars.<br /><br />ii. Secularist ideology isn't about freeing us from bias, it's about a) showing the world that our interests do not lie in promoting religion and b) making all citizens equal before the law and before our culture, regardless of religion. Secularism isn't about enforcing an atheistic government, it's about ignoring religion in judicial, legislative or executive matters.<br /><br />iii. Yes, the troops wants must take a second priority to the interests of the state. The armed forces exist to maintain, promote, defend those interests and compromising them for their peace of mind is self-defeating.<br /><br />I hope that clears things up.Steven Alleynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16008639148560742179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3222586767675455749.post-12860269903895641612009-09-15T06:44:00.781-05:002009-09-15T06:44:00.781-05:00You didn't address it though.
There was a ref...You didn't address it though.<br /><br />There was a reference to the alleged democratising power of secularism (which ex Soviet Bloc people might take issue with, and which I certainly do), and then there was:<br /><br />"<i>...the separation between the church and the people's sovereign institutions of governance is imperative to those same institutions' impartiality before all citizens...</i>"<br /><br />Which is confused in a few different ways.<br /><br />i. It suggests that religious provision necessarily involves deeper religious bias.<br />ii. It suggests that a secularist ideology is any freer of bias than a religious one.<br />iii. And it suggests that the services the troops want should be given a priority below that of institutional 'secular purity' - for want of a better term.<br /><br />You're free to focus on exactly what you want, of course. Just as I'm free to illuminate what I see as flaws.Invictus_88https://www.blogger.com/profile/03446202385252763436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3222586767675455749.post-19381099813372381062009-09-14T22:36:15.201-05:002009-09-14T22:36:15.201-05:00Actually, I believe I addressed that. Whether or n...Actually, I believe I addressed that. Whether or not you believe I did is your own problem - unless you'd like to explain how you can reconcile the chaplaincy with the church & state thing, then there isn't much you've said that changes things.<br /><br />Oh, and for the record, my blog will focus on whatever I damn well please. That's usually the way it works.Steven Alleynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16008639148560742179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3222586767675455749.post-608625736745211592009-09-14T18:48:39.629-05:002009-09-14T18:48:39.629-05:00The majority of soldiers want the chaplaincy to be...The majority of soldiers want the chaplaincy to be provided.<br /><br />In light of which, your blog entry should probably focus more on expressing what would be gained by depriving the soldiers of this free service.Invictus_88https://www.blogger.com/profile/03446202385252763436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3222586767675455749.post-22663276811164779522009-07-20T21:31:22.634-05:002009-07-20T21:31:22.634-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com