Faith and the Will to Fight: A Study of Religion in Secular Militaries
Abstract
Amidst the confluence of cultures brought about by modernization, nations and societies have accelerated secularization efforts as a response to increasing plurality. The militaries that serve these nations are no exception. However, the soldiers of these military forces reflect the wider society in terms of exercising their religious beliefs. Inadvertently, in their attempt to adhere to the secularity of the prevailing governments, secular militaries could overlook the religious needs of their soldiers. The danger of such a scenario is the potential erosion of individual soldiers' will to fight, leading to reduced combat effectiveness overall. In its study Will to Fight: Returning to the Human Fundamentals of War, the RAND Corporation defined will to fight as an essential human factor in war, and identified religion as an important sub-component of it. Thus, the problem facing secular militaries is the challenge of fostering religious practice while remaining secular and pluralistic. To address this problem, this research set out to identify the means through which secular militaries can foster religious practice within the ranks. A case study analysis was performed on four secular militaries the Indian Army, the Israel Defense Forces, the US Army, and the Soviet Army to distill relevant insights from their experiences in creating an enabling religious environment. This research found that religion has a positive impact on will to fight, and that secular militaries can employ organizational, leadership, and policy instruments to harness the positive relationship between religion and will to fight to improve their combat effectiveness.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 10, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1210047
Entities
People
- Koon Leong Joshua Goh
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College