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Rabbi: 'Religion At Least Gives Us Faith That Better Times Are
Yet To Come' |
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Retired Navy chaplain discusses religion in military |
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New London — The Department of Defense has the responsibility not to force
religion on anyone, Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff explained Friday to the
gathering at Congregation Beth El, but rather to allow military personnel to
exercise their rights. “One of the dangers we
face today,” he said, “is that religion is looked at as the problem, not the
solution.” In the discussion
titled, “Faith and Foxholes: Religion in the Military,” Resnicoff addressed
the difficulties of separating “church and state” while maintaining freedom
of religion in the military. Resnicoff offered some
examples showing how religion and military can coexist. The presentation was
the first in a three-day lecture series about religion in the military.
Resnicoff will conclude the series today at 2 p.m. with a talk about
interfaith relations. The discussion is open to the public. “I always enjoy the
anecdotes he has. They are always instructive,” said Congregation Beth El
Rabbi Carl Astor. “He's a real credit to this country, military and the
Jewish community.” Resnicoff is a
consultant on interfaith values and interfaith affairs. He is a retired Navy
chaplain who was at one time assigned to the Naval Submarine Base in Groton. Resnicoff said from
the point of view of a chaplain, his job has three roles in the military:
helping individuals practice religion, modeling faith and working together
with others, and addressing the issue of faith. “Religion at least
gives us faith that better times are yet to come, and with that is hope,”
Resnicoff said. Resnicoff, who now
lives in Washington, D.C., served as a chaplain at the Submarine Base from
1994 to 1997. He also attended the Naval Submarine School in Groton when he
enlisted in the Reserve and later took a course in submarine intelligence. He has also served as
a national director of inter-religious affairs for the American Jewish
Committee and as a special assistant to the U.S. Air Force secretary and
chief of staff. He was part of a group
of Vietnam veterans who worked to create the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and
he delivered the closing prayer at the dedication. Resnicoff reminded the
congregation about the anniversary of the Oct. 23, 1983, suicide truck
bombing of Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, where 241 American service
members were killed. Resnicoff was in Beirut at the time, where he led a
memorial service the day before the attacks. He described the day
of the explosion. He said he was brushing his teeth when the explosions
happened outside his building. The building shook, and he fell to the ground.
He went outside with some others and saw the horrific scene. “I never knew the
expression, 'I can't believe my eyes,' until that day,” Resnicoff said. Until emergency
personnel could arrive, Resnicoff helped out where he could, wiping blood off
one soldier's face with his yarmulke and then leaving it on the soldier.
Resnicoff said a Christian chaplain standing by his side had never seen him
without his yarmulke on, and so he ripped a piece off his clothing and put
the piece of fabric on Resnicoff's head. “Christian and Jewish
chaplains, side by side,” Resnicoff said. Resnicoff wrote a
report about the attack and the rescue effort for the White House, where he
described his first time in a foxhole in Beirut. President Ronald Reagan read
the report as his keynote address to the Baptist Fundamentalism Annual
Convention in 1984. “One of the first
times I was in a foxhole, I looked around and made a simple statement that we
as Americans must have the only interfaith foxholes,” Resnicoff said. “Maybe
if the world had more interfaith foxholes, there might be less of a need for
foxholes altogether.”
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