Description
How does religion affect the lives of professional soldiers? How does religion shape militaries, their organization, procedures, and performance? This volume is the first to address these questions by comparing religious symbols and practices in nine countries: Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Israel, Iran, India, the United States, and Turkey. The contributors explore how and why soldiers pray, the role of religious rituals prior to battle, the functions that chaplains perform, the effects of religion on recruitment and unit formation, and how militaries grapple with ensuing constitutional dilemmas.
Chapter
Part I Rituals, Beliefs, and Practices
Introduction: (Ir)religious? The Japanese Self-Defense Force’s Relationship with Religion
(In)separable: The State, Shinto, and the Military – Prewar and Postwar
The SDF, Yasukuni, and Nation-Protecting Shrines
Other SDF-Shinto Interactions
(In)tolerant, and If So, Who? The SDF and Buddhism, Christianity, and Other Religions
Religious Demographics in the Canadian Forces
Practice: Diffuse Religion, Individualism, Personal Experience
Clerics: Religious Leadership as a Moral Resource
Religion, Values, and Understanding the Theater of Operations
Impact on the Conduct of War
Religion in the Great War
Religion in British Military Law and Tradition
Military Chapels, Cemeteries, and Ceremonies
Chaplains in the British Armed Forces
Christianity by Other Means
The Faith of Individual Service Members
Changes and Challenges Facing the British Armed Forces
Part II Religious Demographics in the Armed Forces
The Islamization of Pakistan?
Islamization and the Pakistani Army
Army Recruitment: A District-Level Assessment
Data and Methods: A Brief Overview
The Changing Demographics of Religion in the IDF
Institutional Innovations
Reactions to Cultural Adaptations
The Political Implications
Part III Religion and Military Operations
The Islamic Revolution and the Structure of the Military
The Iran-Iraq War and the Armed Forces
Religion, Ideology, and Culture
Organization and Leadership
The Iranian Military Today
Religion in the Indian Military
Two Competing Authorities
Four Institutional Mechanisms
Institutionalization of Interfaith Respect
An Apolitical Organization
Selection of Ethnicity as an Organizational Principle
Operation Blue Star and the Indian Army’s Accommodation of Faith
Operation Blue Star: Managing the Sikh Mutiny
Part IV Constitutional Challenges
The Need for Civic Education
Transgressions and Discipline
Three Theoretical Frameworks
The Birth of the Turkish Republic
Confrontation in the 1990s
The Officer Purge of 1997
The Contemporary Status Quo
Conclusion Promising Themes, Future Approaches
Key Themes in This Volume
Religion in the Ranks Mirrors Society at Large
The Role of Civil Religion in Military Culture
A Role for Religious Professionals
Ideological versus Classical Militaries
Balancing Religion in the Ranks
Avenues for Future Research
Religion in the Military Worldwide
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