Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1954, Page 60

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60 Proceedings of the Forty-Third Convention,

Duties Imposed on the Chaplain Are in Violation of the Divine Call

What is far worse, military regulations governing those called
as chaplains do not only pertain to external arrangements, but
also in certain instances reach into the heart and core of the work
and, as the 1941 Wisconsin Synod resolution says, specify “duties
to the chaplain which are in direct violation of the divine call of
a Lutheran pastor.” This point is especially to be emphasized in
the matter of the chaplaincy and the call.

A R 660-10, 7 Dec. 1951, requires that the chaplain “will strive
to promote religion, morality, patriotism, good morale, and the
principles of the character-guidance program and will co-operate
fully with commanders in the accomplishment of this purpose.”
The character-guidance program is an important part of the Army’s
total program instituted by the Secretary of War in 1947 and given.
permanence in the life of the Army by A R 15-120, 30 Jan. 1951.
Much of the program deals with patriotism and morality, but its
underlying principles are false religion. The publication Character
Guidance says: “The basic idea in the Character Guidance Program

. is that man is a moral being... . His character is , ». what
he makes of himself through the exercise of his free will... .
The exercise of . . . rights is held in delicate balance by the
observance of . . . obligations, or the keeping of the Moral Law.
Man possesses free will, and therefore he actually can violate the
Moral Law, renounce his obligation. But to the extent that he
does this, he jeopardizes the essential liberty which he has from
God. Freedom therefore is weighted with a sense of responsibility
and the necessity of self-discipline, which will promote the cultiva-
tion and positive practice of virtues.” We will recognize the basic
idea of the character-guidance program as the old false doctrine
that man has full free will and is of himself willing and able to
keep the Law. The principles of this program chaplains are re-
quired to promote. This is a duty which is “in direct violation
of the divine call of a Lutheran pastor.”

At this point it may be well to state that we are aware and
appreciative of the numerous statements in regulations that permit
and, in fact, require chaplains to abide by their convictions and
the rules of their denominations. “No chaplain is required to con-
duct any service or rite contrary to the regulations of his denom-
ination” (Manual, p.3) is just one of many similar stipulations.
Concerning them the Wisconsin Synod Committee Report of 1951
says: “The strenuous efforts of the military in protecting the con-
sciences and convictions of the individual chaplains are commend-
able, noteworthy and, in view of the normal rigidity of military
regulations, remarkable” (Wisconsin Proceedings, 1951, p.69). But
when the very regulations which contain these safeguards stipulate
duties which conflict with cherished convictions and Scriptural
practices, then one would scarcely have the right to accept appoint-
ment with the reservation that convictions are safeguarded. Then
the honorable course would be, on the basis of the guarantees, to
have all such objectionable duties eliminated from the assignment
before accepting it.

here are other objectionable duties specified in the regula-
tions. “The Chaplain is morally obligated to provide for the religious
needs of the entire command” (Manual, p.2), also of those who
are not of his denomination, performing certain duties, such as