Enlisting Faith: How the Military Chaplaincy Shaped Religion and State in Modern America

by Ronit Y. Stahl

A century ago, as the United States prepared to enter World War I, the military chaplaincy included only mainline Protestants and Catholics. Today it counts Jews, Mormons, Muslims, Christian Scientists, Buddhists, Seventh-day Adventists, Hindus, and evangelicals among its ranks. Enlisting Faith traces the uneven processes through which the military struggled with, encouraged, and regulated religious pluralism over the twentieth century.

Moving from the battlefields of Europe to the jungles of Vietnam and between the forests of Civilian Conservation Corps camps and meetings in government offices, Ronit Y. Stahl reveals how the military borrowed from and battled religion. Just as the state relied on religion to sanction war and sanctify death, so too did religious groups seek recognition as American faiths. At times the state used religion to advance imperial goals. But religious citizens pushed back, challenging the state to uphold constitutional promises and moral standards.

Despite the constitutional separation of church and state, the federal government authorized and managed religion in the military. The chaplaincy demonstrates how state leaders scrambled to handle the nation’s deep religious, racial, and political complexities. While officials debated which clergy could serve, what insignia they would wear, and what religions appeared on dog tags, chaplains led worship for a range of faiths, navigated questions of conscience, struggled with discrimination, and confronted untimely death. Enlisting Faith is a vivid portrayal of religious encounters, state regulation, and the trials of faith―in God and country―experienced by the millions of Americans who fought in and with the armed forces.

Genres: History, Religion

324 pages, Hardcover

First published November 6, 2017

Reviews

[Dan Gorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling narrative history of the military chaplaincy, detailing how the institution enabled limited religious pluralism to exist in the military. Accommodating religious, racial, and gender diversity was a challenge for the chaplaincy and the military as a whole.

[David Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent history of the modern US military chaplaincy does a particularly good job of showing how the military chaplaincy in WW1 and WW2 changed the way America conceived of itself as a religious society.

[Steph Hinnershitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! I’ve read others on religion and the military but Stahl’s focus on the chaplaincy is narrow enough for deep research while also touching on major themes of the state’s role in shaping religious practices. Highly recommend.