I respect that we have a difference of opinion, and I won’t take time to delve into what exactly prepares a soul for “whatever comes”. The issue is the use of tax dollars for religious hirelings. It’s irrelevant if the chaplains are for the military or for Congress.
The government has no business funding religion.
The troops have the right to free exercise of their RELIGION. Therefore, when they are taken to a far-flung land to lay their lives down, they MUST be provided with ALL that their RELIGION entails in order to protect that right. Their religion is FAR MORE than their worship, which is only a small portion of their RELIGION.
So, you have two constitutional requirements in conflict: free exercise and establishment of religion.
The reality is, though, that the chaplaincy is not an attempt to establish a state religion. Why? First, it provides for all forms of religion LIKELY to appear in the ranks of our troops, not just for Catholics, Baptists, or Methodists. The chaplaincy includes Christian, Jewish, Islamic, and even Buddhist chaplains. Oddly enough, I understand the atheists are trying to organize themselves as a religion, so they, too, can qualify for a chaplain.
So, this is NOT an establishment; it is an accommodation.
So, you have a CONSTITUTIONAL requirement to protect free exercise, you have taken them where there is no means to practice their religion, you have asked them to die, and you have said, “Though Sh_t” about their needs.
When a shamen appears in the ranks and tells them “The Horned One has appeared and decreed fighting in this war will send your soul immediately to Hell.”, and some listen, then you have injured your war effort by not accommodating their religion and not providing that as well as their bullets.