Should the American military provide chaplains for atheists?

Opinion

It seems the the United States Navy floating the idea of Atheist Chaplains. 

I floated this article under the noses of the members of RallyPoint, a blog for those who serve/served in America’s Armed Forces, and the responses were pretty much what you might expect.

• “That sounds like a crock of shit and stupid to me”
• “Waste of time!”
• “We've lost our bearing and with it common sense.”

Some of the responses I expected but didn’t see should have come from the atheist members of the blog. Inasmuch as I am a believer, though not an observant member of any organized religion, I suspect that the atheists and the other believers might be surprised by my response.

Why not?

Why not indeed! I believe that atheism is as much a belief system as any religion as my atheist friends remind me every time they have doubts. (Oh, I can hear them screaming now, “We don’t have doubts!”) They do. Why else would they attack the beliefs of others with such vigor? All beliefs are tenuous at best and the faithful congregate to share their beliefs while protecting themselves from the beliefs of others.

The simple fact is that atheism is based on belief just as firmly as any religious belief. They, of course, will argue that this isn’t true. Their belief is based on rational thought, objective evidence, and scientific proof. However, the simple fact is that they can no more prove the absence of a divine being than religious believers can prove its existence. They argue that they have no burden to prove the absence of God. True enough. Just as true, believers have no burden to prove their belief.

Where does that leave us? It leaves us with a question: What happens when our beliefs are tested? 

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“Everyone is influenced and persuaded daily in various ways,” writes the late Margaret Singer, “but the vulnerability to influence varies. The ability to fend off persuaders is reduced when one is rushed, stressed, uncertain, lonely, indifferent, uninformed, distracted, or fatigued…. Also affecting vulnerability are the status and power of the persuader….”

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Nowhere do these forces come into play more powerfully than when we go in harm’s way. The military has long recognized the need to provide its members, especially its younger members with spiritual guidance.

There’s a long accepted aphorism that “There are no atheists in foxholes”. Few would argue that their faith is tested under the stress of battle, whatever that faith may be. Thus, if we accept my premise that atheism is a matter of faith, it too will be tested.

The real problem is that if that faith is found wanting, regardless of what that faith may be, individuals will turn to other faiths, and that may lead to trouble if they turn to a faith that is opposed to American culture or the good order of the military service. Indeed, this is why many who lack a firm grounding in a faith, any faith, are vulnerable to the siren song of cults, including death cults such as radical Islam.

Need I argue that it would be dangerous to have the person next to you in the foxhole converting to the faith of terrorism?
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Who is the most vulnerable to assimilation, conversion to popular beliefs?

Jews have long dealt with this problem. During the diaspora, when Jews were cast out of Judea, they pondered their situation. History showed that every other population that had ever been conquered was assimilated. Thus, the elders met and collected their story in a book, the Torah, so that Jews could carry their religion, their culture, and their identity with them wherever they wandered. They also codified rules that would allow Jews to retain their identity while living among people of other beliefs, other cultures. For example, the dietary laws, known as Kosher, prevented Jews from eating with non-Jews, thus creating an impediment to socialization and acculturation. By and large, it worked. However, the young were often tempted to stray. For example, in America today, there is not one Jewish family descended from those who lived here in Colonial times, nor those that participated in the American Revolution. Each and every one of their descendants were assimilated. In more recent times, following the Holocaust, Jews hid their identity and their children became victims of the purveyors of cults.

The popular religions, especially Christianity, today are losing adherents in modern America. These children too are being lured into cults, especially when they attend college. Some are simply putting religious beliefs out of mind while others are abandoning them to declare themselves atheists. Then, when placed under great stress, as on the battlefield, they rediscover their faith, thus giving rise to the aforementioned aphorism, “There are no atheists in the foxhole”.
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Ultimately, it appears that spirituality is as much a human condition as the physical and the intellectual, and that humans will wish to fulfill their spiritual needs with some belief system, be it theism, agnosticism, or atheism, and that spiritual guidance is needed. As the Jewish text advises, everyone should seek and find a rabbi, a teacher, a spiritual guide, even atheists.