The Establishment of Religion

*sigh* The Washington Post has a story about an Army chaplain who converted from Christianity to Wicca in large part because his inner voice convinced him that he ought to be a universalist and led him in that direction. As someone who has been both Christian and Neopagan, I know how hard it can be to struggle with the feeling that a different path is calling. (Calling? Heh. Sometimes, it felt like the only solid ground for miles seemed to be on that path.)

Feeling deeply convinced that he needed to follow that path, he applied to become the first Wiccan chaplain and was denied. As shown by the recent flap over a grave marker, there are Wiccans and other Neopagans in the armed services, and as of the present moment, they are all pretty much not served by the chaplaincy. His superior in the chaplain corps believes a grave injustice has been done, and I agree.

This is not about converting all soldiers to Wicca. For mercy's sake, it would be one chaplain (and hopefully a few more later) serving soldiers who have not had a chaplain to speak to their concerns. He specifically converted in part because he doesn't believe in the exclusivity of Truth. He jokes about being diagnosed with "Multiple Religions Disorder" (Hmm. I never really saw it as a disorder, but...)

Given that chaplains are expected to serve all soldiers, regardless of religious belief, I would think that another universalist would be a good thing, but then again, I'm not big on clergy, so what do I know?