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Letters: Praying the feds see the light about Armed Forces chaplains

Readers comment on a government bid to restrict prayers by military chaplains; a controversial flypast; wildfire smoke; and much more

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‘Directive … privileges lack of belief over belief’

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Re: Forcing religious neutrality on CAF chaplains robs troops of support — Brian Dijkema, Aug. 5

Letters: Praying the feds see the light about Armed Forces chaplains Back to video

The latest directive for Canadian Armed Forces chaplains privileges lack of belief over belief, even though both are equally protected and affirmed under the Charter. As much as CAF is correctly concerned about language that excludes non-believers, language that suppresses believers and belief must also be of concern.

My colleagues on both sides of the border are deeply committed to the men and women we serve. We are also deeply committed to our personal theologies. Requiring chaplains to sacrifice one in order to serve the other forces weighing our military training against our theological training.

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I have offered dozens of prayers at retirements, changes of command, memorial services, prayer breakfasts, and while underway. At every turn, I have been both a rabbi and a United States Navy chaplain. My commanders, my Sailors, and my Marines did not call me to deliver an innocuous spiritual reflection. They called me because of the connections we developed. They called me because I held to a spiritual grounding. They called me because I was “the Chaps.”

Rav Sean Gorman, Toronto, LCDR, CHC, USN (Retired)

P.S. In accordance with my training, prayers always began with “please join me in MY prayer.” It was my prayer, not the command’s prayer. That language gave people a way not to participate. It freed people not to say amen.

Flypast for U.S. ambassador was a mistake

Re: Canadian military says it didn’t initiate July 4 flypast — U.S. ambassador requested it — David Pugliese, Aug. 6

Having two Canadian F-18 fighter jets fly with two American F-35s over the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Ottawa on the Fourth of July, after all the insults hurled at Canada by the U.S. administration and after the U.S. Ambassador to Canada’s frequent clumsy and ill-informed attempts at diplomacy, only reinforced that the United States can do whatever it wants in relation to Canada,........

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