The designation NRP (No Religious Preference) by a Soldier doesn’t equate to being an atheist. Update to this story.
Via Military Times
More than one in five service members do not identify with a particular religion, according to Defense Department statistics. To better serve them, an organization is working to expand the Chaplain Corps to include clergy who don’t believe in a god.
The American Humanist Association held a briefing Tuesday on Capitol Hill attended by congressional staffers and others as part of an effort to convince lawmakers that the armed services should officially recognize humanism within the chaplaincy.
Their message: Secular chaplains can be just as qualified for and capable of ministering to troops who believe in a god as theistic chaplains who work with service members of different religious backgrounds on a regular basis.
“Humanist chaplains would be expected to have Bibles, to have prayer books, to have the ability to guide others in prayer, according to the beliefs of their tradition,” said Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers.
Further, the panelists said, the current Chaplain Corps either lacks awareness or willingness to minister properly to humanist troops.
Humanism is “a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity,” the AHA states.