But any chaplain of any faith is supposed to be available to assist any service member of any faith.
And Waite isn't?
If I need counseling and prayer I would not seek the Muslim or Wiccan Chaplin , how far does a Muslim or Wiccan serviceman have to go, to get with a Chaplin who agrees about basic doctrines of faith?
I can guarantee that a Wiccan Chaplain can better suit you then a Christian Chaplain can suit me, if we had them.
The Muslims have 44 Chaplains. There are more Pagans in the military then Muslims yet we have none. Our people have to be happy with lay folks that hopefully have more training then they do. I have a member in my group who is a Sgt. in the Air Force, she was sent to Iraq..while there joined the Wiccan group. She was the acting Priestess, as she did have some degree training. She dealt with the death of two members and members that were seriously injured.
While many Christian sects have their own Chaplains...we have none. Our folks fight and die the same...and until this past spring they had to lay under a blank headstone. We now are recognized enough to have our emblem of belief, after 10 years of jumping through hoops and proving ourselves.
We have hospital chaplains and prison outreach...we marry folks and minister to our communities needs. You do not want a Wiccan chaplain..why? What really do you know of us?
terra