Much of this week's issue of Newsweek is devoted to its cover theme, "
God & War". Articles include:
How Chaplains, Soldiers Keep Faith During War;
Chaplains: The Calm in the Chaos;
One Flag, Many Faiths; and
God, War and the Presidency. The website also
links to a podcast in which Army Chaplain Roger Benimoff discusses Religion in a Time of War. Benimoff, and his struggle to keep his faith in light of his experiences in Iraq, are the subject of the magazine's main story. It focuses on voluminous e-mails and a hand printed journal kept by Benimoff during his two tours of duty in Iraq. Here is an excerpt from the article:
[Benimoff's] experience ... is a tale of a devout young man who begins his time in Iraq brimming with faith and a sense of devotion that carries him into a second tour.... A mixture of adrenaline and devotion keeps Benimoff focused in the theater of war. Yet over time, his spiritual foundation is shaken by the carnage. The demons surface in full once he finds more time for reflection. After joining Walter Reed last June, Benimoff was plagued by questions.... For a brief period early this year, he came to "hate" God, and wanted nothing to do with religion.
And here is a more general summary from the article of soldiers' religious practices:
Many American soldiers in Iraq wear crosses; some carry a pocket-size, camouflage New Testament with an index that lists topics such as Fear, Loneliness and Duty. U.S. troops have conducted baptisms in the Tigris. They often huddle in prayer before they go on patrol. Not everyone is comfortable with this. About 80 percent of soldiers polled in a 2006 Military Times survey said they felt free to practice their religion within the military. But the same poll found that 36 percent of troops found themselves at official gatherings at least once a month that were supposed to be secular but started with a prayer.
