Religion and the Military: A Growing Ethical Dilemma

Abstract

Ethical dilemmas over the issue of freedom of personal religious expression and fair treatment for all faith groups are creating conflicts within the military, both inside and outside the chaplaincies. A lawsuit filed by a group of Navy chaplains alleging discrimination by the Chaplain Corps on the basis of their religion is currently making its way through the courts. Recently, a few senior officers at the Air Force Academy were accused of using their position to inappropriately propagate Christian views. Given the fact that non-Judeo-Christian religious groups are proliferating in the military, it is likely that such conflicts will continue to occur absent an intentional strategy to address this issue. This Strategy Research Project will review the history of this growing dilemma and recommend ways to address it in a way that is not only fair to all concerned, but that also upholds the American tradition of tolerance toward all religious groups and contributes to a positive command climate.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 23, 2006
Accession Number
ADA448671

Entities

People

  • Lawrence P. Greenslit

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Chaplains
  • Christianity
  • Churches
  • Department Of Defense
  • Education
  • Governments
  • Military Personnel
  • National Security
  • Psychological Phenomena And Processes
  • Psychology
  • Religion
  • Schools
  • Students
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Criminal Law
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.