Quotes About Chaplains

By definition, chaplains minister to the spiritual needs of our men and women in armed services, a vital function that an individual without any inclination toward spirituality would not be able to perform.

chaplains are here to serve the needs of servicemembers who ask for assistance—persons struggling with personal, professional, or philosophical problems they want addressed from a religious viewpoint. They are not hired to be roving missionaries to all persons with whom they come in contact.

Beware those who claim to know the mind of God and who are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware those who cannot tell God's will from their own. Temple police are always a bad sign. When chaplains start wearing guns and hanging out at the sheriff's office, watch out. Someone is about to have no king but Caesar.

some of those who crafted the Constitution had serious doubts about tax-supported clergy. James Madison, for example, wrote that such employment was a "palpable violation of equal rights as well as Constitutional principles" and a "national establishment" of religion.10 He suggested that if Congress wanted chaplains to discharge religious duties, members should pay for them from their own pockets. "How just would it be in its principle!" he proclaimed.

Hospice deploys nurses, doctors, chaplains, and social workers to help people with a fatal illness have the fullest possible lives right now—much as nursing home reformers deploy staff to help people with severe disabilities. In terminal illness that means focusing on objectives like freedom from pain and discomfort, or maintaining mental awareness for as long as feasible, or getting out with family once in a while—

We need French chaplains and imams, French-speaking, who learn French, who love France. And who adhere to its values. And also French financing.

With vision only, you get no follow-through. With enforcers only, the vision is realized but leaves a lot of wreckage. Good chaplains pick up the pieces and put everything together again.