Religion in the British Army

1. Religion in the Army
2. Padres and the Chaplaincy Department
3. Church Parades: Religious Coercion in the British Army
4. The Reaction to the Salvation Army's Choice to Stop Selling Lads Mags
5. UK & European Law: Reasonable Accommodation
6. Conclusions

1. Religion in the Army

• Most squaddies are either completely indifferent to religion, or actively opposed to it. Nearly all are ignorant of religion, at every level in the hierarchy.

• Administrators and the staff hierarchy have a historical tendency to put 'Church of England' if a person has no religion or no denominational preference.

• Approximately half of those who put a form of Christianity as their religion do not actually believe in God.

• Most people put down a religion because they think they're supposed to, and they don't realize your religion should reflect your actual beliefs, and not your family history.

• One padre in 2006 said that only 5% to 10% of Army 'Christians' are active Christians₈.

The RAChD Rev. Keith Barry was talking about his regular weekly service in Iraq during Op Telic 6, and said, "Many have never received holy communion before, but here, in proximate danger of death, I invite all who are baptised in the name of the Holy Trinity to receive"₂.

Compared to Britain as a whole (72% Christian), the Army is more homogenous and much less diverse. However, this is part illusion as the entry for religion on Army profiles has until recently been restricted to a list of about 30 religions and denominations. This means that any diversity is hidden by simple Army beaurocracy. Despite this, I suspect that there are few non-mainstream religious minorities in the Army.

Trends

All mainstream Christian groups are declining in numbers. Fundamentalist Christian groups are seeing a rise - the same as in civilian Britain. All other religions are witnessing an increase in numbers. The religion that is declining the fastest in real terms, is the Church of England. The religious category that is growing most quickly is 'atheist'_DASA. A second trend is that non-denominational Christians are rising in numbers.

2. Padres and the Chaplaincy Department

All Padres and Religious Advisors in the British Army work under the Royal Army Chaplaincy Department (RAChD). This has fallen under the administration of the Adjutant General's Corps since 1992₄. The RAChD is not limited to a clerical role, and part of a Chaplain's job is "religious and welfare support/advice"₅. Chaplains also deal with secular welfare issues such as relationship problems, family problems, counselling and helping with cases of bullying and complaints.

• One padre approximated that he spent 50% of his time on welfare issues, and the rest was split between Christian ministry and acting as an advisor to Army staff.₈

Recruiting Padres

"All Chaplains are sent into the Army with the authority of their sending Church. All Chaplains are fully ordained into the Church of their denomination before they can be commissioned"₂. A person must have three years experience as a minister before they can join the RAChD. Their website lists the sending churches thusly:

• The Church of England (Incorporating the Anglican Communion)
• The Church of Scotland (With the Presbyterian Church of Ireland)
• The Roman Catholic Church
• The Methodist Church
• The United Board (Incorporating the Baptist Union, The United Reformed Church and the Congregational Church)

In 2004 Dec, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh chaplains were appointed₁, who as well as a tri-service Jewish Rabbi act as 'advisors' to the Armed Forces. The Army is finding it difficult to recruit padres:

“All will be aware that chaplains join the RAChD having already been ordained as priests and ministers and that the churches themselves are finding it very difficult to recruit people. Furthermore, the average age of ordination in the mainstream churches is around 40. Recruiting chaplains is therefore a key challenge for the RAChD as it is fishing in a pool which is getting older and smaller. A number of initiatives are currently being planned to meet our targets which, for the next few years, are: 16 (2005/06), 15 (2006/07) and 15 (2007/08).”₇

3. Church Parades: Religious Coercion in the British Army

Army life, from Basic Training onwards, includes enforced Christianity at almost every level of the institution. Recruits must attend compulsory Church Parades (or stand outside 'in the rain'). Memorial Services, despite being sombre occasions where the dead should be remembered, are in reality occasions when the Padre preaches, everyone must sing Christian hymns and pretend to pray to Jesus and the Christian God. On one occasion the soldiers were told to pray for those who did not have faith in Christ.

My page (the link on the box on the right) goes into more detail on all of these factors of Army life, pointing out that they amount to religious discrimination, and that prejudice based on religious beliefs is specifically banned in the Army Values and Standards literature. Ironically, the Padres who preside over these Christian events are also responsible for combatting prejudice and religious intolerance, yet frequently partake in it.

4. The Reaction to the Salvation Army's Choice to Stop Selling Lads Mags

The Salvation Army's shops on British military camps sell magazines, amongst other things. In 2006 Summer, they chose to stop selling the 'lads mags' that are more formally known as soft porn and related newspapers. The reaction of British Army representatives confirms that the Army is not religious, and is in fact so secular that many cannot even fathom why religious people behave as they do.

The Sixth Sense on 2006 Jul 20 featured a report on this as their headline story. The title read: "Squaddies were up in arms yesterday after their favourite national newspaper, The Sun, was banned from sale at Salvation Army shops in British Forces Germany"₆. All quotes below are from this article.

"Giving the reason for the ban, Salvation Army chief Lieutenant Colonel Vic Poke said 'the content of some items really isn't consistent with the nature of our work and our Christian principles". It is perfectly within the right of a company to sell what it wants, for its own reasons. Mr. Poke explained that The Sun and other "lad's mags" are inconsistent with the religious ethos of The Salvation Army. He has ideological reasons for the ban. Despite this, a long stream of Army soldiers and workers bemoaned the ban and seemed to, to the last man, completely misunderstand the reasons for the ban.

• "Cpl Brown, 29, said: "I read The Sun all the time. Most of the lads don't read other newspapers. This is an out-of-date management decision by people who aren't living in the real world""

• "Tracey Wrote, 38, Catterick Barracks NAAFI manager, said: "I am appalled. We are in 2006 now. The Salvation Army shops are based on camps full of soldiers who want to read The Sun. The decision seems totally outdated and old fashioned""

• SSgt Mark Osbourne said: "The Sun's Page Three has become a national institution. How could they think about banning it?"

• "A Salvation Army shop assistant who asked not to be named said: 'We can't see any sense at all in this decision. We are the ones in the front line who have to deal with customers who are livid that The Sun has been taken off the shelves'"

The Salvation Army has religious reasons for its ban. But the reactions of the people above all show that no-one seems capable of understanding that 'religion' can somehow be a motive for stopping selling The Sun. They appear to think that the Salvation Army did it just to annoy them. Army personell are taught "Moral Courage" as a main Ethos of the British Army: Standing up for moral principles. Yet they seem to hit a mental block when this is applied to religious principles, "how could they think about banning it?", asked SSgt Osbourne.

5. UK & European Law: Reasonable Accommodation

The position of the British Army towards the granting of special rights for religious people, largely reflects the same ideals of European high-brow culture:

“The Employment Equality Directive introduced in 2000 requires all Member States to protect against discrimination on grounds of religion and belief in employment, occupation and vocational training. [...] The complexity of [it] comes from the fact that while Europe is committed to upholding religious freedom, it is equally committed to equality and other fundamental freedoms. At times these rights are complementary, [but] in other respects, the rights are in tension, with religious groups failing to recognise equality rights or the right of those outside the religious group.”

"Religion and Belief Discrimination in Employment - the EU law"
The European Commission (2006)

"A second complication is to do with what is called reasonable accommodation. This means, if a worker makes a specific request to his employer that has something to do with his beliefs, his employer has to consider it. A denial must, if it is to be legal, be for clear practical purposes and not merely theoretical ones"₁₀. The Army cannot use the line of reasoning, "if loads of Muslims joined, we could not feed them all halal food", and therefore limit the employment of Muslims and strict Jews. It can't use this argument because there are not lots of Muslims joining the Army, therefore there is only a theoretical issue and no clear practical problem with their retention.

Religious beliefs are probably only defensible under the Employment Equality Directive in the UK, if they have a certain level of "cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance"₁₁. "Thus, it is the case that the person making the complaint of discrimination must prove their level of commitment to their beliefs, and the employer must prove why he cannot accommodate the specific request. The exact details of how such cases will be worked out is not yet clear"₁₀.

The limitations on religious behaviour in the Army is more profound than in most civilian companies. There are clearer needs for constant identification of male and female soldiers, little scope for a guarantee that a soldier can interrupt work for regular prayer, and many occasions when places of ritual or magical significance (such as areas for worship) cannot be provided. Likewise, the foods, clothes and substances required by some religions are unsuitable for the Army, causing clear practical problems that interfere with the effectiveness of the 'organisation'.

6. Conclusions

1. Although on paper, the Army is 94% Christian, there is compulsory exposure to Christian beliefs and services, most the Army is completely ignorant of Christianity, and there are far more anti-religious, anti-Christians than there are willing Christians. Numbers of Christians are dropping, and numbers of most non-Christian religions are growing. Atheism is the fastest growing religious category in the British Army, with a growth rate over two times higher than any other.

2. Military personell seem to know very little about religion, and do not generally practice the religion that they say they are. They do not understand religious motivations, practices or theology. If opinions on religion can be found, they are generally anti.