February 2009

Red, White and UU

BY CYNTHIA KANE, LIEUTENANT, CHAPLAIN CORPS, UNITED STATES NAVY

As a member of the military, I tell you from experience—both professionally and personally—it is not so easy to be at home in our movement. This is why during divinity school I kept my intentions to go into the Navy Chaplaincy quiet. At the graduation ceremony, our future plans were announced, and it was there and then my intentions were disclosed. I was outed! My colleagues and classmates were confrontational and condemning. “You’re going into the military? What a waste of a Harvard degree. How can you be both, a UU and in the military?” they would ask. “I’ll let you know once I find out,” I would reply.

This is a position into which I did not go easily, or directly. Though I didn’t act on it for nine years, my call to Naval Chaplaincy came twenty years ago during my sophomore year of college. A calling I kept quiet, for I did not understand it.

Nor did it make sense to me, for a variety of reasons.

First and foremost, I am a pacifist. There are assorted pacifist individual and group schools of thought: some object to international war, though advocate revolution for suppressed nationalities; others object to offensive, not defensive war; and still others object to all war, though support maintaining a police force. I was among the camp that objected to all coercive and disciplinary force.

The goal of pacifism is total, enduring peace. And I maintained then (as I still do today) that violence only begets violence. So I wondered how I could be a part of an institution whose mission seems counter to
pacifism.

The other, equally challenging, issue I had was a matter of faith. Ours is a faith that, in the words of A. Powell Davies, “is opposed to barriers of exclusiveness” and “battles prejudice and false opinion.” As Unitarian Universalists, we are devoted to diversity and dismantling oppressions. So, I wondered, how could I be a part of an institution whose policies are counter to our Unitarian Universalist faith that affirms and promotes the inherent worth and dignity of every person? How could I willingly affiliate with an institution that maintains discriminating policies? An institution that prohibits women from serving in certain arenas, and prohibits gay men and lesbians from serving openly.

All institutions have their flaws. All institutions have a spotted history, parts of which we might like to ignore, if not omit. And part of the military’s questionable past has been discriminating policies—policies enacted by our Congress and embraced by our military. My concerns about the military and its policies were—and are—significant. And yet, that call to military chaplaincy remained.

The oath that I took—and all American military personnel take—upon entering the service is similar to that taken by our presidents, other government officials, and those becoming United States citizens: to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States” and to “bear true faith and allegiance to the same.” Each of us volunteered to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves, to uphold and protect the ideals in our Constitution.

Our Constitution—as many Americans recall from our studies during seventh grade civics class—is a document full of wise practical detail, embodying the famous principle of the “separation of powers”: federal authority divided equally between an executive, legislative, and judicial branch; each one keeping the other in check and in balance. The first ten amendments—the Bill of Rights—guarantee individual civil liberties. The first of these is:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

This Amendment insures the right for people to maintain their religious belief and practice, for people to hold their own thoughts and opinions, for people to express their convictions. These “Four Freedoms”—the freedom of religion, speech, the press, and assembly—are the very principles we as Unitarian Universalists hold sacred. Which is no great wonder, since some of the most prominent apostles of free religious inquiry whom we count among our spiritual ancestors—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson—greatly influenced the formation of our Constitution.

So for me, there is perfect integrity in being a Unitarian Universalist and serving in the military: the institution whose sole purpose is to support, defend, and bear allegiance to the U.S. Constitution. For me, it is just like supporting, defending, and bearing allegiance to our Principles and Purposes. Likewise, I believe that any patriotic American of the United States is able to find a home in Unitarian Universalism, for the principles of our faith are embedded within the very foundation of our nation and its ideals.

There is, however, a schism between being a member of the military and a Unitarian Universalist. Twenty-one days after my commissioning came the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. That September, I shook my fist at an impassive heaven, protesting to God, “You said nothing about a war!”

Meanwhile, the same colleagues who earlier criticized me began protesting the prospects of war, yet sought me out to shake my hand and say, “Thank God there’s one of us in there.”

As the tension in our world increased, so too did the tension felt by our Unitarian Universalist military personnel. For a time while I was the sole UU minister serving on active duty, I received many emails from members of our faith expressing their concerns. This excerpt is written by a Navy Commander—who, along with his wife, had been an active member of his congregation—wondering what to do about this tension and opposition:

I have…trouble dealing with the UUA’s position that, essentially, it has no position…while all information the UUA puts out is clearly opposed to this war and to any other use of the U.S. armed forces, in war or peace, under any circumstances. [Therefore] I have a lot of trouble doing anything that would remotely support the UUA. I say this with considerable discomfort, because I think [our movement] should have a strong denominational voice…and because I take what I see as our religious principles very seriously…

I have been very disturbed to see the UUA’s token effort to care for service members turned into an attack on them. That has happened to me.

In 2007 the Rev. Dr. Lisa Presley, minister currently serving as interim in our congregation in Marin, California, wrote her doctoral thesis on Unitarian Universalist attitudes toward the military and police. Many individuals in the study thought that Unitarian Universalist clergy were ideally suited to be chaplains in these communities (police and military) because of the welcoming, multi-faith aspect of Unitarian Universalism. Our clergy who do this work, however, face derision in our congregations.

Lisa found that—and I quote—“although we say that we welcome all to our congregations, the perception is that there is a very solid wall keeping those with our values and who happen to choose to be in the military, out of our congregational life.” She continues, “No one will say it outright, but the sense that they have made a stupid choice, or that they are consorting with the enemy, comes through loud and clear in unconscious ways.”
Such an attitude is particularly troublesome and problematic when we learn that, according to Veterans Affairs’ studies, 60% of service members in the battlefield experience a loss of faith, and 75% of service members have difficulty reconciling their faith with combat experiences; 62.1% of these people average 24 years of age.

Returning from this divisive war are people—especially young people—with a crisis of faith, hurting and wounded to the core. For many of the service members, all they thought they believed about God and goodness is destroyed; they are looking for a way to make sense of their experiences and their lives.

The question for UU congregations is this: will we be the communities that can open our arms to these hurting people? Can we model how to move beyond assumptions about military members and their reasons for serving, and reach out to souls searching for another way of thinking, another way of being in the world?

I believe we can.

I believe we have the sensitivity; sensitivity and open-mindedness—especially to people with differing views and practices. After all, is this not the essence of Unitarian Universalism? Freedom, reason, and tolerance. Is not our commitment, as Davies says, “to fair play, to patience…to neighborliness”?

I believe we have the awareness; awareness of our own struggles and our own biases. Most of all, I believe we have the understanding; understanding that we who have made the choice to serve in the military have done so for our own particular reasons. Though initially my call to Navy Chaplaincy did not make sense to me, it does now. Since conflict and fighting have been a part of human history since the beginning of time, then for me to do the work of peace is more than just practicing peace, I must understand the making of war.

So I am doing what I feel called to do: affirm and promote the goal of world community, with peace, liberty, and justice for all. So too are we, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Our commitment is to “a way of life now and a faith, a vision of the future”

“The future will depend upon…what takes place in heart and conscience,” concludes A. Powell Davies. “A nation, like an individual, must have a soul.” We—you and I—we are a part of our nations’ souls. We, too, are patriots who cherish the rights and privileges of our countries. And we, too, support and defend our countries’ ideals through the very practice of our faith. Our countries need us. And we, in the military, need you. 

Since World War II, the CLF has provided a spiritual home by mail to UUs in the military far away from home. It makes sense, then, for the CLF to begin a new, electronic relationship with UUs in the military in 2009. Senior minister, Jane Rzepka and executive director Lorraine Dennis met with UU military chaplains, chaplain candidates, and volunteers at the 2008 UUA General Assembly to discuss the ways that the CLF could provide more spiritual and emotional support for UU military families.

Our first project is to work with some of these UU military leaders to create a military ministry web page on CLF. The chaplains and chaplain candidates will find community there and can contribute sermons and articles, worship resources for congregations, and a special welcome for military families. There will be opportunities for community in online discussion groups, and resources for individuals and families in the military and for congregations welcoming military families.

The CLF Board of Directors enthusiastically endorsed plans to expand our programs for military families. So, watch for an announcement soon about the new website and, please, let us know if you are in the military and would like to contribute your ideas as we expand our military ministry. Contact Lorraine in the CLF office at 617-948-6166 or ldennis@clfuu.org.