{"id":2748,"date":"2011-06-07T05:10:08","date_gmt":"2011-06-07T11:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2748"},"modified":"2011-06-06T21:19:33","modified_gmt":"2011-06-07T03:19:33","slug":"army-appoints-hindu-chaplain-sort-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2748","title":{"rendered":"Army Appoints Hindu Chaplain (Sort of)"},"content":{"rendered":"

There about 1,000 identified Hindus in the U.S. Army, and now they have a chaplain, Captain Pratima Dharm.<\/a><\/p>\n

Yes, that is probably fewer than the followers of Pagan paths in uniform. The Buddhists have been recognized too, but a qualified Wiccan officer was rejected.<\/a><\/p>\n

But there might be more to this story:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dharm speaks easily of Christian teachings. A unique aspect of her story is that until this year, she wore the cross of a Christian chaplain on her battle fatigues. When she started on active duty in 2006, she was endorsed by the Pentecostal Church of God, based in Joplin, Mo.<\/p>\n

But she\u2019s now sponsored by Chinmaya Mission West, a Hindu religious organization that operates in the United States. A Washington, D.C.-area religious teacher who interviewed her for the organization before giving her an endorsement said her multifaith background is an advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe knows Christian theology, and she has a great grasp of Hindu theology,\u201d said Kuntimaddi Sadananda of Chinmaya Mission\u2019s Washington center. \u201cThis means she can help everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t convert from Christianity to Hinduism, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a Hindu,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s how I was raised and in my heart of hearts, that\u2019s who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

But \u2014 and perhaps it is hard for some Western Christians to understand \u2014 she hasn\u2019t rejected Christianity either.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Hinduism, the boundaries are not that strict,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is to base your life on the Vedantic traditions, and you can be a Christian and follow the Vedantic traditions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I understand it, the Vedanta schools of Hinduism tend toward a sort of intellectual monotheism and reject all that colorful gods-and-goddesses stuff except when interpreted allegorically. So she has blended it with Christianity?<\/p>\n

Chinmaya Mission West <\/a>is an Advaita Vedenta<\/a> organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There about 1,000 identified Hindus in the U.S. Army, and now they have a chaplain, Captain Pratima Dharm. Yes, that is probably fewer than the followers of Pagan paths in uniform. The Buddhists have been recognized too, but a qualified Wiccan officer was rejected. But there might be more to this story: Dharm speaks easily […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,49],"class_list":["post-2748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-religion","tag-military"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-Ik","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1311,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1311","url_meta":{"origin":2748,"position":0},"title":"BeliefNet Article Looks at Wiccan Chaplain’s Lawsuit","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"As mentioned here previously and at The Wild Hunt, Patrick McCollum, volunteer Wiccan prison chaplain in California, has sued the state to overturn a policy of hiring paid chaplains only from certain religions. A new article at BeliefNet summarizes the case. Excerpts:Supported by interfaith scholars and church-state separationists, the Rev.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"California\"","block_context":{"text":"California","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=california"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5265,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5265","url_meta":{"origin":2748,"position":1},"title":"Appeals Court Grants Partial Victory in California Chaplain Case","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ninth Circuit Court has partly upheld the Wiccan challenge (headed by volunteer prison chaplain Patrick McCollum) to California's \"Five Faiths\" policy for who gets paid prison chaplains and who does not. Read this helpful blog post from FindLaw and ponder the question, was there a Jewish crime wave in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3468,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3468","url_meta":{"origin":2748,"position":2},"title":"A Pagan Chaplain at Broadmoor?","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"And maybe a Rasta too. The BBC reports that the famous high-security psychiatric hospital is \"responding to requests.\" A hospital spokesperson said: \"Spirituality and religious worship are an important element in supporting recovery from mental health problems.\" Colorado readers of this blog, I apologize if the headline puzzled you. Not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"England\"","block_context":{"text":"England","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=england"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":649,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=649","url_meta":{"origin":2748,"position":3},"title":"Pagans and the Dalai LamaSome\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Pagans and the Dalai LamaSome California Pagan friends attended this event with the Dalai Lama. Yes, the headline says that it was about the image of Islam, but apparently the 500 \"scholars and religious leaders\" included some Pagans, including the Pagan chaplain of the state prison system.One of them, M.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1238,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1238","url_meta":{"origin":2748,"position":4},"title":"Colorado Pagans and News Media Coverage","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I noticed a couple of instances in the past month where Colorado Pagans seem to be getting fairer coverage in the news. One was the item about the Pagan Student Alliance at the University of Colorado-Boulder.(But as a former university professor, I have seen clubs come and go. Only clubs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Colorado\"","block_context":{"text":"Colorado","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=colorado"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3367,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3367","url_meta":{"origin":2748,"position":5},"title":"Wiccan Green Burials Make Headlines","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Chicago Tribune's Pagans-at-Halloween story focuses on formaldehyde-free \"green burials\" at Circle Sanctuary in Wisconsin. \"The thought of getting filled up with formaldehyde and being placed in a sealed, laminated casket and put into a cement box in the ground is not in keeping with preserving Mother Earth,\" said [Ana]\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2748"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2750,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748\/revisions\/2750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}