I've always been kind of fascinated with how the chaplaincy system would survive a rigorous establishment clause evaluation. One thing you have to remember is that the effect of the system on soldiers will be very different out in the field than it is on post (my experience in the Army, but the effect of the system is probably similar in the other services). On large posts or hospitals they'll have several different chaplains providing a variety of possible services, including Jewish, Catholic, nondenominational Protestant, African-American-centric Protestant, and I would imagine at this point - Muslim.
However, out in the field, you're stuck with your Battalion Chaplain, who of course is most likely to be a Christian (usually Protestant, somethings Catholic). This guy is assigned his own vehicle, equipment, and even an assistant. It seems to me that, at least in this setting, the military would have a legitimate - perhaps even compelling - interest in having that Chaplain be someone who provides comfort to ALL soldiers, regardless of religion or lack thereof. So it may very well be appropriate to dismiss, or reassign to a post, somebody who doesn't do that. Sam Ventola Denver, Colorado _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
