The Chaplain’s Atheist

The Wall Street Journal is running an article online that was a fascinating read. For those who insist there are no atheists in foxholes, they might be shocked to learn that not only are their atheists in the foxholes of Afghanistan, but there’s at least one who’s a chaplain‘s assistant.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

The chaplain was struck both by RP2 Chute’s command of the Book of Revelation, and his refusal to take it seriously. “He’s familiar with the Christian doctrine, but he chooses not to believe it,” says the chaplain, a slender-faced, soft-spoken man with a fringe of gray in his black hair. “That’s what I find puzzling.”

On a visit to Kilo Co., a Marine asked for a biblical ruling on tattoos. Lt. Moran said the Book of Leviticus bans them. RP2 Chute disagreed. Leviticus, he said, says people shouldn’t get tattoos to mourn the dead.

“I don’t believe as Chaplain Moran believes,” RP2 Chute often tells the Marines during these visits.

One of the things that stands out, too, at that link is a graph that the WSJ decided to use to accompany the text which depicts the number of chaplains who died in their duties. Throughout the article, Moran, the chaplain, is quoted as saying he’s not afraid of the enemy, that God will protect him, etc. I couldn’t help but wonder how many of these chaplains killed since the Revolutionary War had the same misplaced conviction.

The shame of it is, they don’t just put themselves at risk, but the lives of sympathetic believers and non-believers who are willing to protect them or attempt to save them.

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