Hey, religious leaders — yoo-hoo! Canada’s military multi-faith chaplains, excluding atheists and the one Humanist, are under attack. Where are you?Military chaplains — Christians, Jews, and Muslims — are banned from mentioning, never mind praying to, their higher powers at ceremonies including Remembrance Day.Despite this assault on religious freedom, the silence of non-military faith leaders is deafening.Busy praying about what kind of coffee to order for lattes to serve after service? Tied up writing feel-good sermons that are motivational messages watering down God’s word? Well carry on, you’re no threat. And you don’t have to answer to the snowflake hyenas in uniform going after the chaplains.But if you have any religious symbols like Crosses hanging anywhere, just take them down now and hide them in storage rooms. That’ll save other hyenas, that’ll be emboldened by the Canadian Armed Forces hyenas, the trouble of forcing you to do that.If the CAF successfully forces chaplains not to display religious symbols or pray at ceremonies because they’ll “traumatize” people — someone will make a special visit to find something to be offended about in your house of worship next.Sanctuaries are respected, you say. Really?READ MORE: Liberals and NDP shut down motion to condemn church burningsJust ask the community of Grouard and Kapawe'no First Nation about that. Arsonists burned its St. Bernard Church to the ground in May. It was one of 83 churches torched or vandalized.But on Tuesday Liberals and the NDP shut down a motion by Alberta Conservative MP Arnold Viersen to condemn church burnings. Seven members of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs said they need time to study if it’s a bad thing for arsonists to destroy churches and deny the devastated faithful a place to worship.But the CAF said military ceremonies are no place to worship — unless a chaplain praises trees or nothing at all.READ MORE: Military prayer ban ‘protecting’ diversity an ungodly ruseIn a leaked October 11 memo Chaplain General Brigadier-General Guy Belisle said chaplains would face “disciplinary action” if they mentioned God or wore religious symbols — Crosses, Stars of David, the Crescent — at military ceremonies.Babbling about nature and offering vacant pep talks in spiritual reflections is OK though. Chaplains must also be gender sensitive. Watch the pronouns. If saying Heavenly Father is taboo, does this also apply to Mother Nature? (Just asking.)The twisted logic is that excluding prayer and threatening chaplains with losing their mandates protects diversity and snowflakes from being “traumatized.”Ian Bushfield, executive director of the BC Humanist Association, commended Belisle for kicking God out of ceremonies and “respecting the diversity of beliefs.” But he fretted that chaplains may still be permitted to deliver spiritual reflection at mandatory events.Roman Catholic Bishop Scott McCaig questioned how “diversity is served” by reducing chaplains to “interchangeable generic counsellors or motivational speakers.”READ MORE: A salute to the bishopThe Catholic military ordinary for Canada said the directive violates the Canadian Constitution that “recognizes the supremacy of God” and freedoms listed in the Charter of Rights.Father Timothy Nelligan, a retired military chaplain said Belisle’s directive turned “inclusion into exclusion” in a powerful article in Thursday’s The Catholic Register.“It is shocking to think that the very department of the CAF intended Charter guarantees of freedom of conscience and religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression would so readily enforce denial of those rights,” wrote Nelligan.“How can it be possible for the chaplains to be true to who they are in their own denominational beliefs if they are harnessed and gagged when it comes time for them to exercise their fundamental freedom of religion?”“There is no doubt Canada is becoming an increasingly secularized nation,” said Nelligan.He emailed the president of the Royal Canadian Legion which oversees the National Remembrance Day ceremony honouring the memory of the “vast majority of people of convicted faith who suffered and died for the rights and freedoms we now see trampled on.”Nelligan said the Legion should revoke the Royal Canadian Chaplain Services invitation to participate in the Nov. 11 service. And a Legion chaplain or a retired military chaplain “should be invited to take up the mantle of prayer for our fallen.”“This is about veterans and their service to Crown and country, not some pathetic political pandering.”There! That’s how it’s done.That’s how you stand up to those who disrespect war heroes and think they have the right to crush the freedom to pray.Speaking up now is critical.Perhaps devout non-military religious leaders are praying about this assault on religious freedom.Prayer is powerful. Faith in action helps moves mountains.Speak up — support the military chaplains.This move to silence them is only the beginning.
Hey, religious leaders — yoo-hoo! Canada’s military multi-faith chaplains, excluding atheists and the one Humanist, are under attack. Where are you?Military chaplains — Christians, Jews, and Muslims — are banned from mentioning, never mind praying to, their higher powers at ceremonies including Remembrance Day.Despite this assault on religious freedom, the silence of non-military faith leaders is deafening.Busy praying about what kind of coffee to order for lattes to serve after service? Tied up writing feel-good sermons that are motivational messages watering down God’s word? Well carry on, you’re no threat. And you don’t have to answer to the snowflake hyenas in uniform going after the chaplains.But if you have any religious symbols like Crosses hanging anywhere, just take them down now and hide them in storage rooms. That’ll save other hyenas, that’ll be emboldened by the Canadian Armed Forces hyenas, the trouble of forcing you to do that.If the CAF successfully forces chaplains not to display religious symbols or pray at ceremonies because they’ll “traumatize” people — someone will make a special visit to find something to be offended about in your house of worship next.Sanctuaries are respected, you say. Really?READ MORE: Liberals and NDP shut down motion to condemn church burningsJust ask the community of Grouard and Kapawe'no First Nation about that. Arsonists burned its St. Bernard Church to the ground in May. It was one of 83 churches torched or vandalized.But on Tuesday Liberals and the NDP shut down a motion by Alberta Conservative MP Arnold Viersen to condemn church burnings. Seven members of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs said they need time to study if it’s a bad thing for arsonists to destroy churches and deny the devastated faithful a place to worship.But the CAF said military ceremonies are no place to worship — unless a chaplain praises trees or nothing at all.READ MORE: Military prayer ban ‘protecting’ diversity an ungodly ruseIn a leaked October 11 memo Chaplain General Brigadier-General Guy Belisle said chaplains would face “disciplinary action” if they mentioned God or wore religious symbols — Crosses, Stars of David, the Crescent — at military ceremonies.Babbling about nature and offering vacant pep talks in spiritual reflections is OK though. Chaplains must also be gender sensitive. Watch the pronouns. If saying Heavenly Father is taboo, does this also apply to Mother Nature? (Just asking.)The twisted logic is that excluding prayer and threatening chaplains with losing their mandates protects diversity and snowflakes from being “traumatized.”Ian Bushfield, executive director of the BC Humanist Association, commended Belisle for kicking God out of ceremonies and “respecting the diversity of beliefs.” But he fretted that chaplains may still be permitted to deliver spiritual reflection at mandatory events.Roman Catholic Bishop Scott McCaig questioned how “diversity is served” by reducing chaplains to “interchangeable generic counsellors or motivational speakers.”READ MORE: A salute to the bishopThe Catholic military ordinary for Canada said the directive violates the Canadian Constitution that “recognizes the supremacy of God” and freedoms listed in the Charter of Rights.Father Timothy Nelligan, a retired military chaplain said Belisle’s directive turned “inclusion into exclusion” in a powerful article in Thursday’s The Catholic Register.“It is shocking to think that the very department of the CAF intended Charter guarantees of freedom of conscience and religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression would so readily enforce denial of those rights,” wrote Nelligan.“How can it be possible for the chaplains to be true to who they are in their own denominational beliefs if they are harnessed and gagged when it comes time for them to exercise their fundamental freedom of religion?”“There is no doubt Canada is becoming an increasingly secularized nation,” said Nelligan.He emailed the president of the Royal Canadian Legion which oversees the National Remembrance Day ceremony honouring the memory of the “vast majority of people of convicted faith who suffered and died for the rights and freedoms we now see trampled on.”Nelligan said the Legion should revoke the Royal Canadian Chaplain Services invitation to participate in the Nov. 11 service. And a Legion chaplain or a retired military chaplain “should be invited to take up the mantle of prayer for our fallen.”“This is about veterans and their service to Crown and country, not some pathetic political pandering.”There! That’s how it’s done.That’s how you stand up to those who disrespect war heroes and think they have the right to crush the freedom to pray.Speaking up now is critical.Perhaps devout non-military religious leaders are praying about this assault on religious freedom.Prayer is powerful. Faith in action helps moves mountains.Speak up — support the military chaplains.This move to silence them is only the beginning.
