"What is a 'chaplaincy' in the first place, where does it even come from? The word, it comes from the Latin word which means a sanctuary or place of worship. And atheist ... (pauses) ... place of worship? Or a military chaplain, someone who is advising someone in their spirituality? ... [If an atheist] is being paid as a chaplain, then our country is saying, 'We are not willing to stand up for what we believe to be a very good thing for our soldiers, and that is the development of spirituality.' ... It's degrading the military chaplaincy saying 'You know, it doesn't matter whether you believe or not believe'..."On the face of it, an atheist chaplain does seem a bit odd. But the truth is that chaplains provide a wide array of spiritual, emotional, philosophical, psychological and social services to our men and women in arms. The military is a place where men and women are taken from normal society, taught how to shoot guns and drop bombs, and then sent off to foreign countries to kill and injure other human beings. They're separated from parents, sisters and brothers, husbands and wives and even their own newborn babies. These soldiers, some still teenagers, are ill-equipped to handle the moral, psychological and social traumas that they'll face while serving our country.
The Chaplains in our military are the first and best resource that these young soldiers turn to for help when faced with the awful reality of war. Yet Father Jonathan Morris seems to think that atheist and agnostic soldiers don't deserve the critical services of a chaplain.
It's obvious what's really going on here, and it's too bad Father Morris doesn't just admit it. He wants to use the military to force religion on everyone, and to deny social, psychological, moral and philosophical support to atheists, agnostics and humanists. If a soldier is dying on the battlefield and doesn't believe in the Christian God, too bad ... no comfort from a chaplain. If an atheist soldier's spouse gets tired of waiting and has an extramarital affair, too bad. If an atheist soldier has moral qualms about killing, he can just suffer in silence. If in the heat of battle an atheist soldier kills an innocent civilian, he can just deal with it ... Father Jonathan Morris isn't interested in helping that soldier.
Except that Father Morris probably would welcome the chance to comfort that soldier, because it would give him a chance to push his faith on the atheist.
Father Jonathan Morris should be ashamed of himself. If he was truly interested in the welfare of our men and women in arms, and truly sworn to uphold the United States Constitution – all of it – then he would welcome anyone of any faith or no faith who wanted to join the chaplaincy and help serve the social, spiritual, moral and psychological needs of those who serve our country. Father Morris doesn't understand the true meaning of service.