Sandy helps illustrate my point. There are some soldiers, like Sandy, who do not wish chaplains to try to save them. They believe they are just fine the way they are thanks. But there are other soldiers, perhaps like I once was, who are searching for God and for salvation and want chaplains to show them the way.
Perhaps we need both kinds of chaplains in the armed services, but we should not allow one kind of soldier to have a heckler's veto over chaplains who might be meeting the needs of other kinds of soldiers. Nor should the EC be interpreted to allow the military to serve as a board of acceptable theology for chaplains.
There are literally millions of Christians, like me, who bless the day some one--often a stranger--explained the doctrine of salvation by faith to them. Thank God for all the busybodies who took the time to throw a lifeline to wretches like me! If I were a soldier whisked away from my home town and perhaps facing death beyond the next turn in the road, I would want a chaplain who would not hesitate to preach Christ and salvation to me.
Rick
Sanford Levinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Sanford Levinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Rick writes:If I were on a road heading for a cliff, I would want to be told that the road I was on was bad and that another road was good. The same is true of the spiritual roads I travel. If I were heading for Hell, I would not want a chaplain to comfort me and tell me that everything was fine and dandy. I would want him to help me get off the wrong road and on the right road.*********************************I confess that I think that Rick is right. In an essay published in Wrestling With Diversity, I note my own childhood in Hendersonville, NC, where some of my friends did indeed try to "help me" in the way that Rick suggests. I obviously didn't accept the help, but I did not in fact resent the effort, since I had no doubt about its motivation (and, as a matter of fact, they didn't press the point once it was clear that I was not going to convert). That being said, I still resent similar efforts coming from those who are not my friends, especially when if they occur in "official" settings.sandy_______________________________________________
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Rick Duncan
Welpton Professor of Law
University of Nebraska College of Law
Lincoln, NE 68583-0902
Red State Lawblog: www.redstatelaw.blogspot.com
"When the Round Table is broken every man must follow either Galahad or Mordred: middle things are gone." C.S.Lewis, Grand Miracle
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or nu! mbered." --The Prisoner
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