Religion on the Battlefield

Religion on the Battlefield
Author: Ron E. Hassner
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2016-05-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1501703692

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How does religion shape the modern battlefield? Ron E. Hassner proposes that religion acts as a force multiplier, both enabling and constraining military operations. This is true not only for religiously radicalized fighters but also for professional soldiers. In the last century, religion has influenced modern militaries in the timing of attacks, the selection of targets for assault, the zeal with which units execute their mission, and the ability of individual soldiers to face the challenge of war. Religious ideas have not provided the reasons why conventional militaries fight, but religious practices have influenced their ability to do so effectively. In Religion on the Battlefield, Hassner focuses on the everyday practice of religion in a military context: the prayers, rituals, fasts, and feasts of the religious practitioners who make up the bulk of the adversaries in, bystanders to, and observers of armed conflicts. To show that religious practices have influenced battlefield decision making, Hassner draws most of his examples from major wars involving Western militaries. They include British soldiers in the trenches of World War I, U.S. pilots in World War II, and U.S. Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hassner shows that even modern, rational, and bureaucratized military organizations have taken—and must take—religious practice into account in the conduct of war.

Change and Conflict in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps Since 1945

Change and Conflict in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps Since 1945
Author: Anne Loveland
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2014-03-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1621900126

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Army chaplains have long played an integral part in America’s armed forces. In addition to conducting chapel activities on military installations and providing moral and spiritual support on the battlefield, they conduct memorial services for fallen soldiers, minister to survivors, offer counsel on everything from troubled marriages to military bureaucracy, and serve as families’ points of contact for wounded or deceased soldiers—all while risking the dangers of combat alongside their troops. In this thoughtful study, Anne C. Loveland examines the role of the army chaplain since World War II, revealing how the corps has evolved in the wake of cultural and religious upheaval in American society and momentous changes in U.S. strategic relations, warfare, and weaponry. From 1945 to the present, Loveland shows, army chaplains faced several crises that reshaped their roles over time. She chronicles the chaplains’ initiation of the Character Guidance program as a remedy for the soaring rate of venereal disease among soldiers in occupied Europe and Japan after World War II, as well as chaplains’ response to the challenge of increasing secularism and religious pluralism during the “culture wars” of the Vietnam Era.“Religious accommodation,” evangelism and proselytizing, public prayer, and “spiritual fitness”provoked heated controversy among chaplains as well as civilians in the ensuing decades. Then, early in the twenty-first century, chaplains themselves experienced two crisis situations: one the result of the Vietnam-era antichaplain critique, the other a consequence of increasing religious pluralism, secularization, and sectarianism within the Chaplain Corps, as well as in the army and the civilian religious community. By focusing on army chaplains’ evolving, sometimes conflict-ridden relations with military leaders and soldiers on the one hand and the civilian religious community on the other, Loveland reveals how religious trends over the past six decades have impacted the corps and, in turn, helped shape American military culture.

The Chaplain as Religious Liaison in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).

The Chaplain as Religious Liaison in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 23
Release: 2006
Genre:
ISBN:

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Joint doctrine identifies the chaplain as a potential liaison with foreign religious officials. Many of these religious officials carry authority beyond that of church doctrine as they often wield power essential to stabilizing a given region. Chaplains need to understand this liaison role and train to it to make their expertise available to the Operational Commanders in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). In this way, chaplains can minimize inter-religious friction while maximizing intercultural understanding during conflict and post-conflict operations. Chaplains in this liaison role can be a factor in removing the issue of "religion" from insurgents while caring for the needs of the indigenous population through local religious leaders and nongovernmental agencies (NGOs). Chaplains can, and must be used to assist the Operational Commander in stabilizing a region where military forces are currently employed without violating the chaplain's unique role as a noncombatant.

The Chaplain as Religious Liaison in the Global War on Terror (GWOT).

The Chaplain as Religious Liaison in the Global War on Terror (GWOT).
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 23
Release: 2006
Genre:
ISBN:

Download The Chaplain as Religious Liaison in the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Joint doctrine identifies the chaplain as a potential liaison with foreign religious officials. Many of these religious officials carry authority beyond that of church doctrine as they often wield power essential to stabilizing a given region. Chaplains need to understand this liaison role and train to it to make their expertise available to the Operational Commanders in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). In this way, chaplains can minimize inter-religious friction while maximizing intercultural understanding during conflict and post-conflict operations. Chaplains in this liaison role can be a factor in removing the issue of "religion" from insurgents while caring for the needs of the indigenous population through local religious leaders and nongovernmental agencies (NGOs). Chaplains can, and must be used to assist the Operational Commander in stabilizing a region where military forces are currently employed without violating the chaplain's unique role as a noncombatant.

Religion in Uniform

Religion in Uniform
Author: Edward Waggoner
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2019-10-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498596169

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The first scholarly evaluation of the contemporary US military chaplain corps, and the first to offer not only political and military but also theological analysis, Religion in Uniform shows why the military’s chaplaincy is a failing public project, and what Americans can do about it.

Military Chaplains in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Beyond

Military Chaplains in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Beyond
Author: Eric Patterson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2014-08-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1442235403

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The role of military chaplains has changed over the past decade as Western militaries have deployed to highly religious environments such as East Africa, Afghanistan, and Iraq. U.S. military chaplains, who are by definition non-combatants, have been called upon by their war-fighting commanders to take on new roles beyond providing religious services to the troops. Chaplains are now also required to engage the local citizenry and provide their commanders with assessments of the religious and cultural landscape outside the base and reach out to local civilian clerics in hostile territory in pursuit of peace and understanding. In this edited volume, practitioners and scholars chronicle the changes that have happened in the field in the twenty-first century. Using concrete examples, this volume takes a critical look at the rapidly changing role of the military chaplain, and raises issues critical to U.S. foreign and national security policy and diplomacy.

The Air Force Chaplain as a Religious Liaison

The Air Force Chaplain as a Religious Liaison
Author: John P. Kenyon
Publisher:
Total Pages: 46
Release: 2008
Genre: Military chaplains
ISBN:

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This paper addresses the debate concerning the place of the chaplain in the role of a religious liaison. This is done by looking at some of the issues concerning religion in world affairs, particularly the marginalization in diplomacy and military operations. It demonstrates how religion does play a part in conflict resolution and how religious leaders are involved. It addresses Air Force, DOD and Joint Publications concerning the chaplain as a religious liaison and the critical issue of noncombatant status of the chaplain. It shows the chaplain's unique position in conflict situations within the realm of religion and calls for an expanded doctrine and formalized training in the area of religious liaison.

Military Review

Military Review
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 648
Release: 2012
Genre: Military art and science
ISBN:

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