Rabbi discusses place of religion in war

Brown talks about the role of chaplains in the military

January 31, 2014
Margaret-Rose Roazzi

Binghamton University students welcomed Rabbi Barry Brown to campus to speak about his involvement as a chaplain in the U.S. military as well as the place of religion in war throughout American history.

Brown explained that chaplains in the military are both religious leaders as well as counselors who organize services and holiday ceremonies. Chaplains will advise on both the internal issues of individual soldiers, like marital issues and sexual harassment, as well as external issues with military activity itself.

Rabbi Brown also spoke about Muslim religious extremism in the Middle East, and what he perceived as a lack of proper attention paid at first to extremist activities that eventually lead to the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

“Going back to the 1990s, there was reason to pay attention to a sort of destructive religious rhetoric,” Brown said. “Everybody wrote those people off as kooks until they crashed a few planes into buildings and suddenly this was more serious business.”

http://www.bupipedream.com/news/28631/religion-and-the-military/