John Robson: Military Chaplains Must Not Be Christian, Advisory Panel’s Recommendation Says in Effect

Father Guy Chapdelaine, then-Chaplain General of the Canadian Armed Forces, greets a veteran at the Remembrance Day ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Nov. 11, 2016. (Art Babych/Shutterstock)

Commentary

If you’re doing your bit as a Canadian by following the lumbering Conservative leadership race and the looming Ontario election, I can’t blame you for missing other stories because you are sound asleep. But there is one about how our military chaplains must not be Christian that might wake you up thinking a hardcover copy of George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” just fell on your head.

I am not making it up. Including that Section 6 of Part III of the “Minister of National Defence Advisory Panel on Systemic Racism and Discrimination – Final Report – January 2022”… Aaargh. You nodded off again. I don’t say they bore you into a coma on purpose; I firmly reject conspiracy theories. But the way they conduct themselves is soporific.

Still, if you manage to stay alert you encounter remarkable beliefs hidden in plain sight, most notably that uniformity is diversity and vice versa. For instance this passage, drawn to my attention by the good folks at Cardus: “[S]ome chaplains represent or are affiliated with organized religions whose beliefs are not synonymous with those of a diverse and inclusive workplace. Some of the affiliated religions of these chaplains do not subscribe to an open attitude and the promotion of diversity. For example, some churches’ exclusion of women from their priesthoods violates principles of equality and social justice, as do sexist notions embedded in their religious dogmas. In addition, certain faiths have strict tenets requiring conversion of those they deem to be ‘pagan,’ or who belong to polytheistic religions.”

So no stinking Papists need apply. Though to be fair this “diversity” also targets Orthodox Jews and Muslims, if slightly more subtly. Catholics famously don’t allow female priests. But many Islamic sects don’t have female imams, and Orthodox Judaism doesn’t really permit female rabbis even if Wikipedia claims, “The status of women rabbis in contemporary Orthodox Judaism began to change in the mid-1990s and early 2000s.” Heresy being orthodoxy.

As for “sexist notions embedded in their religious dogmas,” there’s a well with no bottom into which to throw evangelical Protestants. And without wanting to trigger a religious war inside the military or outside, many Muslims mistake Christianity for polytheism based on a misunderstanding of the Trinity.

The panel by contrast mistakes hate for non-judgementality. It “has observed that there are varying degrees of misogyny, sexism and discrimination woven into the philosophies and beliefs of some mainstream religions currently represented in the cadre of chaplains in the CAF. This Advisory Panel does not seek to evaluate or categorize these religions in this report.” Heck no. It’s just “pointing out that the Defence Team cannot consider itself supportive of inclusivity when it employs as chaplains members of organizations whose values are not consistent with National Defence’s ethics and values—even if those members express non-adherence to the policies of their chosen religion.”

So not even heretical Catholic priests can stay. Since Recommendation 6.3 is “Review the selection process for chaplains to ensure that, in addition to listening skills, empathy and emotional intelligence, there is an intrinsic appreciation for diversity and a willingness to challenge one’s beliefs” just possibly they’d let a priest in who’s willing to be re-educated into not being a priest. But probably not.

Shamans, on the other hand, are welcome: “Select chaplains representative of many faiths including forms of spirituality beyond the Abrahamic faiths. … Find ways to grant educational equivalencies, for example to knowledge keepers, rather than strictly adhering to the prerequisite that all chaplains must have a master’s degree.” So if you tell the chaplain you’re struggling with your Christian beliefs, they’ll say good, your religion stinks, get rid of it. Talk about inclusion that excludes, among others, a great many potential recruits. As I warned recently in another publication, wokism is hollowing out our military.

The reason I had “Nineteen Eighty-Four” fall on your head above is that it’s spectacular doublethink to demand that all chaplains hold the same woke beliefs in the name of “a diverse and inclusive workplace.” Exclusivity being inclusivity, you see. And if you’re wondering how the Tory leadership race fell into this witches’ brew, Pierre Poilievre says he wants Canada to be the “freest country in the world,” though just in case he also supports agricultural marketing boards and other restrictive laws. So will any of these pretenders really stand for outmoded documents like Magna Carta, the American and English bills of rights, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that put freedom of religion front and centre, when today you get freedom from religion?

Since war is peace, you also get armed forces who can’t fight. Since hate is love, you launch an inclusive crusade to crush heretics. And since ignorance is strength, you don’t know religious liberty from an Inquisition.

In which case, um, slavery is freedom. There. Awake now?

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.