Pete Hegseth announced on September 30 the establishment of a spiritual Office at the Pentagon, straight subordinate to the Secretary of War. The office is to support chaplains and the spiritual readiness of soldiers. The defence of spiritual freedom itself is needed, but in practice, subjecting the religion of the state's logic to the war device threatens to instrumentalize it.
Faith returns to the Pentagon
American Secretary of War Pete Hegseth presented the Bureau of spiritual Affairs during a speech on the state of the armed forces. The fresh cell is to be subject straight to him, represent the interests of chaplains and strengthen spiritual care at the highest level of the resort. Hegseth justified the decision by believing that there was a spiritual conflict alongside physical combat.
This language is vulnerable. After years of aggressive secularism, the negation of Christian signs and the treatment of religion as a private hobby of many conservatives takes any change of direction with relief. In the army, chaplain is not a decoration. He is accompanied by a man who faces death, work for the lives of others, separation from his household and the burden of his own decisions. The state has a work to give soldiers a real chance to practice religion.
Hegseth had already changed the rules on chaplains. In March, the Ministry informed that The number of spiritual affiliation codes has been reduced from more than 200 to 31And on chaplain uniforms, the rank marking was to yield to the spiritual symbol. According to the same communication, 82% of soldiers declared religious. This shows that the request for pastoral care is concrete, not invented by political strategists.
State Chapter does not mean God’s exile
Tomasz P. Terlikowski in Virtual Poland considered the establishment of an office to be contrary to the separation of the state and religion and to the Christian knowing of political autonomy. The first part of this assessment goes besides far. The chapter of the Church and State does not mean that a public institution is to pretend that citizens and soldiers have no soul, conscience, or spiritual beliefs. Neutrality cannot be code name for authoritative atheism.
Religious freedom is only real if it can be utilized in barracks, on ships and on abroad missions. This includes Christians and another religions, as well as unbelievers. The chaplain is to service a man in uniform according to the rules of his service. The commander should neither block this ministry nor take control of it spiritually.
A conservative does not gotta accept a liberal dogma according to which religion becomes suspicious erstwhile he crosses the threshold of the house. The past of the West, its law and the knowing of dignity of persons grew out of Christianity. Removing this fact from public life does not make neutral emptiness. The place of religion rapidly occupies ideology, usually more insistent and little inclined to admit that it itself is based on moral assumptions.
In this sense, the Hegseth movement can be a correction after the era of political correctness. The American secretary openly rejects the model of an army raising soldiers according to subsequent cultural fashions. His decisions besides substance to Warsaw, due to the fact that Poland maintains close military relations with the Pentagon, and the ideological direction chosen by American command affects the full North Atlantic Alliance.
The border runs with instrumentalization
The problem begins where the state does not halt with the protection of freedom of conscience, but itself begins to find the spiritual condition of the soldier. An office straight subordinate to a politician can strengthen chaplains and remove bureaucratic obstacles. It can besides become a tool for building political loyalty in spiritual packaging. His assessment will be determined by the practice, competence and treatment of different religions.
Christianity does not give power to a moral blank. On the contrary, she reminds her of boundaries. The state has coercion, money and the military. The Church is besides to proclaim the fact erstwhile it is uncomfortable for the rulers. erstwhile a politician quotes Scripture, he does not become a spiritual guide to the nation, nor does he receive spiritual sanctions for all military decision.
The expression of spiritual warfare takes place in the life of a Christian, but it is easy to pervert it in the mouth of a man leading a powerful army. The spiritual enemy is not the same as the geopolitical opponent. The state war is subject to moral and legal assessment. It is not to be portrayed as a simple confrontation between good and evil simply due to the fact that specified language mobilizes public opinion.
This is where the real hazard of regression lies. It is not that at the Pentagon individual dared to talk of God. The regression would be to reduce Christianity to fuel for state mobilization, and chaplains to officers improving combat performance. religion measures power with a moral measure. If power begins to measurement and manage faith, order is reversed.
Lesson for the Polish Right
The Polish debate knows both extremes. On the 1 hand, the left would like to put religion in sacristy, to snatch it out of education, culture and national memory. On the another hand, there is simply a temptation to view the Christian symbol as a comfortable organization seal. Both approaches weaken the community. The first 1 cuts the nation from its roots. The another uses holiness for an immediate fight.
National realism requires something more difficult: defending Christian order without making the Church a state department of administration. Poland needs chaplains in the army, the right to publically profess religion and politicians who are not ashamed of civilizational heritage. At the same time, he needs a Church capable of saying no to the state erstwhile the interest of the apparatus of power collides with God's law and the good of the nation.
American experience must so be observed without liberal panic and naive admiration. A dispute over the explanation of Felix Koneczne civilization recalls that the sustainability of the community is determined by the order of rules, not by an effective message at the platform. Hegseth's office will be worth defending if it protects the conscience of the soldiers. If he begins to submit to the religion of politics, he will betray the goal that is officially to be pursued.
The stakes for Poland are clear. Our safety is based on an alliance with the US, but we should not inadvertently copy all American pattern. A strong state respects faith, household and national tradition. He won't have them. This right-wing line must be able to bet due to the fact that it takes Christianity seriously.
Source: Virtual Poland, “Theological and Civilization regressions”
Source: WP News
