Spiritual Dormancy: the Strategic Effect of the Depravation of God - Army Chaplains, Philosophical, Theological and Religious Underpinnings, Spiritual Conflict, Keeping Religion in the Military

Professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction, this unique book explores the strategic effect the Army is achieving by removing God and religion from its doctrines of Soldier or leader development and the unintended negative impacts this will have on soldier conduct. Spirituality is a component of soldier fitness but there is no direct reference to God or religion in the Army's latest capstone document the Army Doctrine Publication 1: The Army. The lack of consideration of religion, a fundamental construct of our Nation and Army, could cause dilemmas for soldiers and leaders to maintain their moral bearing as they support and defend our Constitution. When soldiers and leaders long to have a better sense of who they are and what they are accomplishing, ignoring the importance of God dehumanizes and demoralizes soldiers and lends itself to breakdowns in discipline and actions that go against good order and discipline. If the influence of God is ignored, we lose sight of life's value and view it as a consumable resource creating a values conflict between the soldier and Army.

The reader should understand that this paper is not going to espouse one religion over the other nor will it defend any specific confessional view. However, regardless of one's religious background or confession, religion as a sociological construct and spirituality as a central means of its practices are central to any relationship with God regardless of how we define God. To marginalize the importance of religion in the Army could marginalize how we see ourselves as people and lose sight of the moral sanctity of life which underlies personal and, by extrapolation, organizational health. The Army is allowing an erosion of the acknowledgement of religion which we contend will have negative impacts on how soldiers and their leaders act and perform and the strategic effectiveness of the Army in the joint force.

On the one hand, the Army acknowledges the need for spiritual fitness but on the other hand, in spite of historic precedent, it is removing spirituality as a construct of organizational thought. This dichotomy could fundamentally alter how a soldier views himself as a person. Our supposition is that every human being is a spirit of God. To deny the spiritual connection we feel existing with God does nothing but marginalize the strength in God on which a soldier can draw in both peace and war. It is a dangerous proposition to consider a soldier's value as relative only to the Army. What such a supposition suggests is that the only intrinsic value a soldier has is to the Army and not to self, society, nation, or God. However, we contend that we as persons have a connection with something beyond our physical selves. If we remove the concept of God, then we cease to value life as a gift but inchoately see it as a resource to be consumed. Without an acknowledgment of God, a soldier is even unintentionally reduced to a trained, consumable resource as opposed to a person with talents, conscience, heart and worth beyond herself.