Chaplains Quotes

• A chaplain's biggest gift is to be present and just listen.

  Diane Johnson

  Just Listen

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• What a book a devil's chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering, low, and horribly cruel work of nature!

  Charles Darwin

  Inspirational, Nature, Book

  Letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 July 1856

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• Is the appointment of Chaplains to the two Houses of Congress consistent with the Constitution, and with the pure principle of religious freedom? In strictness the answer on both points must be in the negative. The Constitution of the U. S. forbids everything like an establishment of a national religion. The law appointing Chaplains establishes a religious worship for the national representatives, to be performed by Ministers of religion, elected by a majority of them, and these are to be paid out of the national taxes. Does this not involve the principle of a national establishment ... ?

  James Madison

  Religious, Law, Two

  "Concerned Catholic Paul Ryan Wants Priests to Shut Up About the Poor" by Charles P. Pierce, www.esquire.com. April 27, 2018.

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• There's a Chaplain who never visited the front.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Atheism, Foxholes, Fronts

  Kurt Vonnegut (1997). “Hocus Pocus”, p.128, Penguin

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• The sermon was based on what he claimed was a well-known fact, that there were no Atheists in foxholes. I asked Jack what he thought of the sermon afterwards, and he said, "There's a Chaplain who never visited the front.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Atheist, Religion, Atheism

  Kurt Vonnegut (1997). “Hocus Pocus”, p.128, Penguin

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• He that preaches war is the devil's chaplain.

  John Ray

  War, Devil

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• In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome where it became an institution. Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. And, finally, it moved to America where it became an enterprise.

  Richard Halverson

  Philosophy, Moving, Men

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• Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly mix. Beware those who claim to know the mind of God and who are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware those who cannot tell God's will from their own. Temple police are always a bad sign. When chaplains start wearing guns and hanging out at the sheriff's office, watch out. Someone is about to have no king but Caesar

  Barbara Brown Taylor

  Jesus, Kings, Gun

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• Let vice and immorality of every kind be discouraged as much as possible in your brigade; and, as a chaplain is allowed to each regiment, see that the men regularly attend during worship. Gaming of every kind is expressly forbidden, as being the foundation of evil, and the cause of many a brave and gallant officer's and soldier's ruin.

  George Washington

  Men, Evil, Brave

  George Washington, Jared Sparks (1834). “The Writings of George Washington: Being His Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and Other Papers, Official and Private, Selected and Published from the Original Manuscripts”, p.436

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• The chaplain of the Senate does not pray for the Senate. He watches the Senate and prays for the country.

  Sam Levenson

  Country, Government, Doe

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• Intercession is the truly universal work for the Christian. No place is closed to intercessory prayer: no continent, no nation, no city, no organization, no office. No power on earth can keep intercession out.

  Richard Halverson

  Christian, Spiritual, Religious

  "No Greater Power: Perspective for Days of Pressure".

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• I realized during my time as a chaplain that I didn't want to be a minister.

  John Green

  Want, Ministers, I Realized

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• Most people do not realize that there was a paid chaplain in Congress even before the Revolutionary War ended.

  Francis Schaeffer

  War, Godly, People

  Francis August Schaeffer (1982). “The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the west”

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• The Governor was strong upon
  The Regulation Act:
  The Doctor said that Death was but
  A scientific fact:
  And twice a day the Chaplain called,
  And left a little tract.

  Oscar Wilde

  Strong, Science, Doctors

  'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' (1898) pt. 3, st. 3

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• It is the church's job, as Dr. [Martin Luther] King says, to be the conscience of the state, not the chaplain of the state.

  Shane Claiborne

  Kings, Jobs, Church

  "Plotting goodness together: An interview with Shane Claiborne". Interview with Jonathan Merritt, religionnews.com. May 22, 2013.

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• A chaplain is the minister of the Prince of Peace serving the host of the God of War--Mars. As such, he is as incongruous as a musket would be on the altar at Christmas. Why, then, is he there? Because he indirectly subserves the purpose attested by the cannon; because too he lends the sanction of the religion of the meek to that which practically is the abrogation of everything but brute Force.

  Herman Melville

  War, Would Be, Purpose

  Herman Melville (2006). “Billy Budd, Sailor, and Other Stories”, p.75, Bantam Classics

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• The Concord Coalition in Virginia complained about pork projects and wasteful spending in the federal budget. Consider the Senate chaplain's salary. As occupations go, only mind readers in Los Angeles have fewer things to do all day.

  Argus Hamilton

  Virginia, Mind, Pork

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• You don't have to let yourself be terrorized by other people's expectations of you.

  Sue Thoele

  Inspirational, People, Expectations

  Sue Patton Thoele (2016). “The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem”, p.39, Conari Press

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• An atheist chaplain would be the perfect vehicle for convincing wounded warriors that they should end their lives because there's nothing in the future and there's nothing now, so why not just save money and kill themselves.

  Gordon Klingenschmitt

  Atheist, Warrior, Perfect

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• The Southern Baptist Convention, as you know, decided in the year 2000 that women should not be permitted to be pastors or deacons or chaplains in the military service. Some Southern Baptist seminaries don't even permit women to teach male students. I don't agree with that. But they can go in and quote a few passages of Paul that women should be restricted in their services.

  Jimmy Carter

  Military, Years, Southern

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• The U.S. Army has recently removed the cross from the insignia worn by chaplains. In its place is a sun with its rays, symbolizing the divine in all things.

  Chris Murray

  Christian, Religious, Army

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• The Constitution of the U.S. forbids everything like an establishment of a national religion.

  James Madison

  Constitution, Separation, Founding Fathers Religion

  "Concerned Catholic Paul Ryan Wants Priests to Shut Up About the Poor" by Charles P. Pierce, www.esquire.com. April 27, 2018.

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• It is a Constitution that morphs while you look at it like Plasticman.... That is contrary to our whole tradition, to in God we trust on the coins, to Thanksgiving proclamations, to (Congressional) chaplains, to tax exemption for places of worship, which has always existed in America.

  Antonin Scalia

  America, Scary, Looks

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• For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain. If people need religion, ignore them and maybe they will ignore you, and you can go on with your life. It wasn't until I was beginning to do Star Trek that the subject of religion arose. What brought it up was that people were saying that I would have a chaplain on board the Enterprise. I replied, "No, we don't.

  Gene Roddenberry

  Stars, People, Brain

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• The men who wrote the First Amendment religion clause did not view paid legislative chaplains and opening prayers as a violation of that amendment... the practice of opening sessions with prayer has continued without interruption ever since that early session of Congress. It can hardly be thought that in the same week the members of the first Congress voted to appoint and pay a chaplain for each House and also voted to approve the draft of the First Amendment... (that) they intended to forbid what they had just declared acceptable.

  Warren E. Burger

  Prayer, Men, Views

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