Army chaplain quits because of drones

[G_j]

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2016/05/army_chaplain_quits_because_of.html

By Jarvis DeBerry, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

on May 14, 2016 at 8:15 AM

An Army chaplain has offered his resignation to the military because he can no longer support our country's drone program, a report at Military.com says. According to that report, the Rev. Christopher John Antal, a Unitarian Universalist minister, wrote President Barack Obama a letter last month decrying the administration's claim that it has "the right to kill anyone, anywhere on the earth, at any time, for secret reasons, based on secret evidence, in a secret process, undertaken by unidentified officials."

Antal also stands in opposition to the United States equipping placing nuclear warheads on air-launched cruise missiles. As of Thursday, according to Military.com, Antal was still officially in the Army, but an Army spokesman did confirm that his resignation is being processed.

Antal isn't only troubled by what our fighters are doing. He's also expressed concern over what he sees as a changing expectation for Army chaplains. The expectation had been that chaplains "expected to speak with a prophetic voice and must confront the issues of religious accommodation, the obstruction of free exercise of religion, and moral turpitude in conflict with the Army values."

Recently the language governing chaplains was changed so that now they're expected to "speak with candor as an advocate to confront and support resolution to challenges and issues of the command."

... More..

[JohnyCanuck]

1. I was a bit surpised......

to learn there were Unitarian Universalists serving as chaplains in the armed forces in the first place. The half dozen or so UUers I have known were all passionate anti-war types who I could never imagine donning a military uniform and signing up to be an army chaplain, although I do understand the UU faith encompasses a very wide range of beliefs and has no set creed.

[Ghost Dog]

2. Morally correct,

imho.