A Third Way for the Chaplain Corps: Resisting Secular Spirituality and Religious Nationalism

We are going to make the Chaplain Corps great again." 1 I suspect all religious affairs personnel in the armed forces experienced an emotional response to this announcement.Many of us became excited about the prospect of a new era for the Chaplain Corps, as we believe religious liberty in the armed forces to be threatened and feel limited in our ability to minister.Others of us fear that decades of advocating for justice will be tossed aside, and we feel compelled to stand up for those who identify with less prevalent religious traditions or no tradition at all.Both reactions are valid and their seeming opposition might obscure how they each reveal deep uncertainty about what it means to be a military chaplain today.Secularity presents unique challenges to religion and spirituality associated with military ministry.2 Now is the time to reevaluate our sense of identity and purpose as a Corps.The Chaplain Corps and numerous chaplains-perhaps inadvertently through the acceptance of holistic health frameworks or in pursuit of institutional relevance-have gradually embraced secular spirituality rather than accepting the challenges of secularity.This move puts at risk the foundation of religious affairs, which is to "enable and support free expression of religion" and "guard against religious discrimination of any kind."3 The Chaplain Corps also faces an emerging phenomenon in response to secularity in the form of religious nationalism.This is not unique to religion in the United States but rather is an emerging global trend with which we must contend.Military chaplains desperately need clarity regarding the challenges associated with secularity as we seek to faithfully provide for the free exercise of religion.In the face of secularity, the Chaplain Corps faces two challenges: it must resist reducing religious traditions to a category of holistic health and resist the fusion of religion and nationalism.