Description
Book SynopsisReligion in Uniform argues powerfully that Americans must reform their military's chaplaincy. Americans fund this public project to serve all persons in the armed forces, but the chaplaincy currently fails to do so. Waggoner shows that Americans' support for keeping chaplain positions in the military has always rested on a mix of political, military, and religious rationales that continue to evolve. He argues political, military, and theological reasons to eradicate bias, gender discrimination and sexual violence in the chaplain corps and to stop the use of chaplains in strategic roles abroad. Acknowledging that Christian groups are providing the strongest support for the chaplaincy's status quo, Waggoner contests the specific theological claims that underwrite their policies. He launches a new, critical and constructive discussion about US military religion for the twenty-first century.
Trade ReviewThe most controversial issue in the US military chaplaincy today is the refusal of so many chaplains to serve LGBT service members. Edward Waggoner argues effectively that this is legally, militarily, and religiously unacceptable. Anyone who is serious about issues of gender and sexuality, religious diversity, and power in the military chaplaincy will need to consider Waggoner’s arguments. This is a thoroughly documented, scholarly compendium on US military chaplaincy, past and present. A must-read for students, scholars, chaplains, and advocates for religious ministry in the military. -- Paul W. Dodd, Chaplain (Colonel), U.S. Army (Retired)
A work of political theology, Ed Waggoner’s book is a wake-up call to American Christians, imploring us to rethink the rationale for military chaplaincy as it is presently operating in the United States. While the wars of the 20th century prompted extensive theological reflections from America’s leading theologians, Waggoner breaks the current silence by highlighting the complex 21st century roles that chaplains are playing in the most pressing legal and political issues of our day: religious diversity, policies on gender and sexuality, and religion and global politics. Crisp in style, provocative in tone, and ambitious in scope, Religion in Uniform cuts to the core of Christian teachings and examines our collective conscience. -- Shelly Rambo, Boston University School of Theology
The work of chaplains in the United States military affects lives around the world in ways that are unknown to most of us, supporters and critics alike. The multiple conversations begun in this book, engaging historical developments including recent expansions of military chaplaincies in service of “full-spectrum dominance,” provide first steps toward much-needed transformation. -- Joerg Rieger, Distinguished Professor of Theology, Vanderbilt University
This ground-breaking work is a wake-up call to the American public. It offers us deep research and nuanced suggestions for a major overhaul of military chaplaincy so that we can guard the religious freedom of all who serve, offer spiritual care to increasingly diverse generations who enlist, and resist the exploitation of religion as an instrument of the military goal of full-spectrum global dominance. -- Rita Nakashima Brock, co-author of Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury After War, director of the Shay Moral Injury Center at Volunteers of America
Table of ContentsIntroduction US Military Religion Chapter 1 Why the US Military Has Religion Chapter 2 Religious and Moral Diversity Chapter 3 Gender, Sexuality, and Religious Liberty Chapter 4 Religious for Allies, Hosts, and the World Chapter 5 A Theological Critique of US Military Religion Conclusion Toward a Better Future Bibliography About the Author
