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Commanders definitely have more of an eye toward the pastoral skills of the chaplain than they do toward the strictly religious ministry.

The issue when it came down to it in federal court decades ago was the right of soldiers fully to practice their faith when placed by their nation in dangerous and/or separated locations. The court actually ruled that the chaplaincy was the best answer to the problem despite any areas where there might be an appearance of conflict between church and state.

If it is a responsibility to provide those soldiers with “beans and bullets,” so that they won’t die, then it’s also a responsibility to provide what they consider a critical need about life after death, should such occur.

My experience and my reading of history says that on the battlefield with death staring them in the face, believers are adamant about fully practicing their faith. I’m not just talking about “let us pray.” They want the full range: worship, prayer, minister, sacraments, funerals, fellowship, bible, teaching, preaching, and even Sunday School.

The person who becomes that religious leader occupies a very powerful position in the minds of those soldiers. It behooves any commander to have the confidence of any religious leader who rises to prominence among warriors. And THEY will have a religious leader, whether officially or unofficially.

A coalition of atheists and agnostics wants the new White House to protect young military members from what they see as rampant religious discrimination in the services.

Xzins, make no mistake what these people want. They want to undermine the military and the country with their beliefs in self over God. This country was founded on the quest of religious freedoms, not a quest from religious freedom. If they would like a religion free country, maybe they should find a new territory, and stake a claim.

Their agenda is not dissimilar to the homosexual agenda which tries to tag along with civil rights issues using discrimination as their battle cry. Radical atheists/agnostics try to tag along with the religious freedom issue and claim discrimination, again, as their battle cry.

Atheists/agnostics believe in no God. How are they being discriminated against? Noone has stopped them from believing in nothing. They want to stop Christians and others from believing in something because it offends them.

The radicals among the bunch will continue to fight for their rights over yours using this country's rules - the Constitution. This is right out of Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, rule #4 (I believe) - paraphrased - use your enemy's rules against them. Radicals have no rules, except the quest for power through revolution.

It is man’s nature to rely less on God when things are going well and draw closer to Him in times of difficulty. I believe that this is a natural response even to those who claim to be atheists. The phrase, “there are no atheists in foxholes,” sprang from experience.

I cannot imagine how the military would operate without chaplains and I cannot begin to express my gratitude for what you and all of the other chaplains throughout history have done. Not only do you have all of the ministerial duties that other clergymen do, you have the incredible duty of counseling young men and women who are dealing with the guilt of taking human life even though it is justified.