I haven't read World magezine in months, but just decided to see what was in it this week... I was surprised to read an article about a fellow PHC alumnus, written by current PHC student!
Military: Fade to gray
Proposed military guidelines could muzzle evangelical officers and chaplains
by Les Sillars, Stefanie Hausner
Shortly after Kevin Radman arrived at the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Va., last summer, his sergeant instructor ensured that each member of the unit had access to a chapel service. "He did not ask how many people were religious, he asked what sort of religion you were," recalls Mr. Radman, now a second lieutenant. The sergeant needled the lone candidate who said he was an atheist. He'd better find God, he said, because "you need to find something to hold on to."
OCS is not exactly Bible camp. But for 2nd Lt. Radman, who expected and found a fair bit of "drinking, womanizing, and swearing," he also discovered "good people" at OCS. "They firmly believe in helping people," he said. "Integrity and honesty are huge. They're very aware of those virtues." He figures that the Marine Corps "wants you to have religion because they're asking you to kill people and so they want you to have moral principles," he says. "They recognize that people need an internal [compass], something to help them through this stuff."
Five of 35 classmates, 2nd Lt. Radman estimates, attend a Bible study and "talk about God on the weekdays." There is no hard line between official business and personal interaction, he says, but clearly "you can't be proselytizing [subordinates] here. This is your job. But if you're just a genuine guy trying to share what you believe, then that's OK. Between peers you can say whatever you want."
Traditionally an American military officer can make three kinds of statements about faith and religion: "I believe" is acceptable and "you will" is not, particularly to subordinates.
In the huge gray area in the middle are things that imply "you should." This gray area is important because, since Vietnam, religion has become a widely accepted part of everyday military life and conversation. This shift is partly the result of increasing numbers of evangelical Christian chaplains and officers who see talking about their faith as both a central part of who they are and a right protected by the Constitution.
But the gray area could be shrinking. In the wake of a lawsuit over alleged religious intolerance at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, the Air Force is now considering new guidelines for public prayer and "sharing of faith" that some worry could be construed in ways that would muzzle outspoken evangelical chaplains and officers.
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