Military chaplain shortage addressed

[jfko6]

Catholic News Service

[Ruleryak]

I wonder what Father Mulcahy would have to say about all this. I know in general the percentage of Americans that consider themselves members of an organized religion have been on the decline for decades, but I haven't seen numbers in the US for the military specifically. In the UK for example they're noticing a more than 5% decline per year in troops that identify as Christian (source). I just haven't seen any similar studies conducted on US troops. It would stand to reason though, that as the number of troops identifying as religious declines there would be a corresponding decline in the number of chaplains volunteering. Technology can be applied to help with some of it (think telecast sermons) but skyping a priest for confession may be a bit less appropriate than being able to talk to a man or woman of the cloth in person.

Thanks for the link!

[jfko6]

I wonder what Father Mulcahy would have to say about all this. I know in general the percentage of Americans that consider themselves members of an organized religion have been on the decline for decades, but I haven't seen numbers in the US for the military specifically. In the UK for example they're noticing a more than 5% decline per year in troops that identify as Christian (source). I just haven't seen any similar studies conducted on US troops. It would stand to reason though, that as the number of troops identifying as religious declines there would be a corresponding decline in the number of chaplains volunteering. Technology can be applied to help with some of it (think telecast sermons) but skyping a priest for confession may be a bit less appropriate than being able to talk to a man or woman of the cloth in person.

Thanks for the link!

I know in general the percentage of Americans that consider themselves members of an organized religion have been on the decline for decades,...

Having heard this time and again I can say that the data which pertains to this may not be as accurate as some would think. Another poll says people who identify with a least the belief in a Supreme Being is on the rise. Since the USA, traditionally, has a strong Christian heritage at root; that would mean, a belief in a religious system, probably of a christian denomination is more likely. Bill Maher seems to be interested greatly in this topic so I got a lot of info from him.

Never heard of rules pertaining to technology and the sacrament of reconciliation. The church usually lags behind especially since within the next 20 years we'll have a man on Mars.

[Ruleryak]

Anything sociological has to be taken with a grain of salt, although some sociologists will argue that the basic models for extrapolating your results against the population at large are fairly accurate. I tend to think that anything sensitive has too much potential for a bias in answering so you could be right that the numbers don't represent reality. This Business Insider article cites polls conducted by Gallop, Pew Research Center, and the US Census Bureau annually from (in one case) as far back as 1973. Whether construction spending by religious organizations or faith in the leadership of the organizations themselves is a great indicator or not though I'm not sure.

[elandil]

I wonder what Father Mulcahy would have to say about all this. I know in general the percentage of Americans that consider themselves members of an organized religion have been on the decline for decades, but I haven't seen numbers in the US for the military specifically. In the UK for example they're noticing a more than 5% decline per year in troops that identify as Christian (source). I just haven't seen any similar studies conducted on US troops. It would stand to reason though, that as the number of troops identifying as religious declines there would be a corresponding decline in the number of chaplains volunteering. Technology can be applied to help with some of it (think telecast sermons) but skyping a priest for confession may be a bit less appropriate than being able to talk to a man or woman of the cloth in person.

Thanks for the link!

I know in general the percentage of Americans that consider themselves members of an organized religion have been on the decline for decades,...

Having heard this time and again I can say that the data which pertains to this may not be as accurate as some would think. Another poll says people who identify with a least the belief in a Supreme Being is on the rise. Since the USA, traditionally, has a strong Christian heritage at root; that would mean, a belief in a religious system, probably of a christian denomination is more likely. Bill Maher seems to be interested greatly in this topic so I got a lot of info from him.

Never heard of rules pertaining to technology and the sacrament of reconciliation. The church usually lags behind especially since within the next 20 years we'll have a man on Mars.

Ok, ya'll using a bunch of them $2 and $3 words here...I try to keep things simple.

Personal observations....

I've seen a lot of people moving away from the church as a whole, but I've seen a lot of people who are self expressed Spiritual. The problem is the Church, and organized religion, is undergoing changes like it always has. So it does appear that people may be moving away, but in actuality, people are moving to find a place to belong. It'll straighten itself out...it always does.