A year ago, he was a Pentecostal Christian minister at Camp Anaconda, the largest U.S. support base in Iraq. He sent home reports on the number of “decisions” – soldiers committing their lives to Christ – that he inspired in the base’s Freedom Chapel.
But inwardly, he says, he was torn between Christianity’s exclusive claims about salvation and a “universalist streak” in his thinking
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021801396.html?referrer=emailarticleLarsen’s private crisis of faith might have remained just that, but for one other fateful choice. He decided the religion that best matched his universalist vision was Wicca, a blend of witchcraft, feminism and nature worship that has ancient pagan roots.
Probably the same way any convert to any religion does – with lots of soul searching and thought. This is not the sort of change one does lightly.Was this just a whim, or what? How could he have put serious thought into this and made the decision he did?
Unless you believe it’s causing someone self-harm.I think in this situation, Voltaire said it best: “I detest what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” To defend the rights of Wiccans and others is to defend the rights of all of us.
I disagree. I don’t think it’s good for someone to become a Wiccan, but I believe they have the right of freedom of religion. Chaplain Larson has the constitutional right to become Wiccan if he so chooses.Unless you believe it’s causing someone self-harm.
He certainly has a right to be anything he wants, but he can’t expect the U.S. Army to accomodate him and let him keep his rank (presumably he is/was a commissioned officer, as chaplains tend to be) or to be given status as a chaplain.I disagree. I don’t think it’s good for someone to become a Wiccan, but I believe they have the right of freedom of religion. Chaplain Larson has the constitutional right to become Wiccan if he so chooses.
If someone else decides that it’s self-harming to be Catholic, is it OK for them to deny a person the right to become Catholic?
If the rules allow a chaplain for a religion once a certain number of members are in the military, and if Wicca membership in the military has reached that number, than the rule permits them to have a chaplain. Period.He certainly has a right to be anything he wants, but he can’t expect the U.S. Army to accomodate him and let him keep his rank (presumably he is/was a commissioned officer, as chaplains tend to be) or to be given status as a chaplain.
One aspect of this sort of thing that is often overlooked by military outsiders is that people send their children into the miltiary and expect it to be a wholesome environment for them. When people start believing that the military services are catering to covens, homosexuals, and other unsavory lifestyles, then they are going to start dissuading their children from volunteering.
I’m not familiar with the “rules” that apply to the Army chaplaincy (or any of the other services). But, I was in the Army for 21 years, and am very familiar with military culture. I would be flabbergasted, and I say again, FLABBERGASTED if the Army installed a chaplain of this type. I think the firestorm that would attend such an event from the public through Congress would make several military commanders regret that decision deeply.If the rules allow a chaplain for a religion once a certain number of members are in the military, and if Wicca membership in the military has reached that number, than the rule permits them to have a chaplain. Period.