The Atheist Chaplain

I'd be happy to see more sermons like this, but we won't ever see them from military chaplains, even if the military ever allows atheist chaplains

Was one of the 213 things Skippy was not allowed to do in the U.S. Army.

http://skippyslist.com/list/

TlalocW

There are a few real life atheist chaplains I’m sure. My own flavour is atheistic Pentecostal.

Fred Middel

Gotta love it. :rofl:

Great article in the WSJ (of all places).

The chaplain is a Navy lieutenant and a serious god-botherer. The Chaplain's Assistant is a Navy enlisted man and hardcore atheist.

Interesting to me - the atheist spent his teen years in Greenville, SC - about 50 miles from where I grew up, and the home of Bob Jones University.

Note that the Gunnery Sergeant quoted in the article is an agnostic. When I was in the Marines, I knew quite a few non-believers in the ranks. The USMC overall isn't too big on theology. Unless you count useful inspirational proverbs like: "A sucking chest wound is Nature's way of saying 'you fucked up.'"

A Chaplain and an Atheist Go to War

Navy Chaplain Terry Moran is steeped in the Bible and believes all of it. His assistant, Religious Programs Specialist 2nd Class Philip Chute, is steeped in the Bible and having none of it.

"He trusts God to keep him safe," says RP2 Chute. "And I'm here just in case that doesn't work out."

:rofl:

Lt. Moran takes the Bible at its word, rejects the evolution of species and believes the Earth to be 6,000 years old. He carries a large Bible with him into the combat zone, while RP2 Chute totes writings of Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and fierce critic of the notion that God designed the universe...

At first the chaplain got the sense RP2 Chute was agnostic. "I can work with that," Lt. Moran recalls thinking.

But a few days later RP2 Chute dropped the A bomb: He was an atheist.

Appalled, Lt. Moran contacted his fellow chaplains. He says he was simply seeking counsel about whether atheists can really be chaplain's assistants. RP2 Chute is convinced Lt. Moran was trying to trade him in for a believer.

RP2 Chute was senior among Lt. Moran's possible assistants. More importantly, he already had two combat tours under his belt, while Lt. Moran hadn't yet seen a bullet fly. In the end, Lt. Moran says, he chose experience over faith.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467004575463833265055248.html

He was a Navy Second Class Petty Officer. RP2 is a rating designator, in this case, RP = Religious Program and 2 = Second Class Petty Officer.

Just clearing that part up. (FWIW, I spent 21 years in the Navy and retired a Chief Petty Officer.)

That was embarassing. To be corrected by a former member of the junior Naval Service...:P

On edit: I was so embarassed, I corrected the original post. And I will now go and do 100 bends-and-thrusts. Well, fifty...or so. And put myself on firewatch for the night...

"junior Naval Service"?

:patriot:

My dad was a lieutenant, stationed in Iceland and Norway during the late 60's/early 70's listening for Soviet subs. He has lots of good memories from his time in the service. How was your experience IYDMMA?

Wouldn't trade the experiences for anything.