Scenes from a Chapel

On Sunday I took my children to CCD (when I was growing up it was Catechism, then for my eldest daughter it was called PRE - but in reality it is what is commonly known as "Sunday School").  The room they use (on our local army base) is the same room the Protestant children use for their Sunday School classes, the same room where Alcoholics Anonymous meets, next door to the room the Wiccans use twice a week for their meetings, and three doors down from the room where the Sikh Guru Granth Sahib rests under a canopy inside a closet and is taken out for meetings.

After CCD, we walked past the Muslim worship area, with it's framed poster of Mecca on the correct wall, it's rugs artfully arranged on the floor, and a beautifully done portrait of the profession of faith.  Right next door to that we passed the Jewish worship area, with it's mezuzah on the door and a door connecting it to the special kitchen with it's dishes and area set up to prepare kosher food.

Finally we came to the room where my second daughter needed to change into her altar serving outfit, which is kept in the same room as the choir robes for the Gospel service.  After changing, we waited at the door to the chapel while the Protestant service ended.  As the attendees filed out, we all greeted each other, shaking hands and having some small talk.  We see each other every Sunday, you see, and consider ourselves quite good friends.  Since the service ran a little long, some of the people at the end of the line leaving the Protestant service obligingly opened the little boxes on the wall which contain the Stations of the Cross.  They are closed unless we are celebrating the Catholic Mass.

This somewhat describes our routine every week, and indeed each week-day when we have business to attend to at the chapel we attend.  It's always been this way, as our family has nearly always chosen to attend base chapel rather than attending church off base.  Part of that is because it is just more comforting to be surrounded by people who know exactly what we're going through and the vast spiritual crises that can occur.  Just speaking for myself, I find myself more comfortable asking the Jewish or LDS chaplain on base for help in a military situation, Catholic though I may be, than I do trying to explain the situation to someone in a civilian Catholic church.   Also, I got sick of "church shopping" every time we moved.

I have to admit that earlier when I read about the removal of the trees from SeaTac airport, I blinked in confusion.  After all, the current display in front of our chapel includes a Menorah and a Manger Scene, not merely some trees doo-dahed up with pretty lights and bows.  To be sure, there aren't any Buddhist decorations in front of the chapel right now, but that's because at the moment there is no huge Buddhist celebration going on. 

Celebration or lack thereof notwithstanding, the entrance to our chapel building has literature and displays for each and every group that has requested worship time in the building and which has a military group that attends.  There is a Buddhist display, as well as free copies of the Bhagavad Gita for Hindu servicemembers (that one is a new addition - and they were placed out as soon as a servicemember requested them).  There is a Protestant display, a Catholic display, camouflage copies of the Koran and Muslim literature, and notices that servicemembers needing specially designed Tefellin for worship in the field should contact the Jewish Chaplain.

Obviously, there are still issues with religion on base and we aren't coexisting in some Utopian paradise of love and hugs with choirs of angels singing as we walk down paths of gold.  In fact, one of the first sights I was treated to upon reaching this base was an argument between the leaders of two different religious services about a parking space and it's being used by someone else when it isn't the holy day of the religion it belongs to.  And official policy still has a ways to go to catch up with the actual religious make-up of the military.

But lets be honest, who can you come in contact with nearly every day and NOT argue with?  It happens, since we're all human and none of us perfect.  There will always be work to be done.   No one would say that there is a perfect harmony of religions in the military; and I hate to be the one to break this to the world, but there never will be.  Anywhere.  All we can do  is our best to make everyone feel welcome and thanked for their service and try to address those situations where bad things occur.

But as I watched the situation at SeaTac unfold, I couldn't help but think that in this situation civilians could take a very big cue from the military - on how to be respectful.  Maybe the SeaTac officials should visit our base to see how it is possible to coexist - even with disagreements arising - without taking a page from the Grinch and banning all displays of religion.

Comments

[Amy - An Army Wife and Chaplain Candidate.]

Great Post. Thanks.

[Molly Pitcher]

An excellent post--although I think there is a big difference between the two situations. At the chapel, members of various religions are putting up displays of their celebrations at seasonally appropriate times. At Seatac, they were trying to avoid a lawsuit over a display put up by a non-religious entity. If they had not backed down, they would have to pay for lawyers to fight the lawsuit. If they had backed down and included menorahs, they might have to identify all the possible religions they might have to honor, locate an expert or religious official to identify the appropriate holidays and displays, and then put these up themselves. It is unfortunate society is so litigious, but I don't think that Seatac was necessarily the Grinch in this story.

[Molly Pitcher]

I forgot my more on-topic response...

I have found that the military community is incredibly tolerant of racial, ethnic, and religious differences. It has been a really wonderful experience!!!

[airforcewife]

Actually, Molly, I think that it really does relate (and re-reading this I'll add that I'm saying this conversationally since much gets lost without verbal nuance in typing :). Last year, I can't remember which holiday it was, we had attended a Buddhist celebration at the Chapel because it looked interesting.

They did not try to include the Buddhist celebration at the same time as Christmas and Hannukah just to throw it in there for "equal representation", but instead celebrated this large event on the correct day. And no one in any of the other denominations represented on base tried to make a fuss that something of theirs had to be included RIGHT THEN in order to be equal.

Which is, I think, why the melding of so many different creeds in one chapel building works as well as it has thus far - we celebrate when it is our time to celebrate, and not just because someone else is celebrating and we want a party in our name, too.

In such a case, it is a lesson SeaTac might want to try to learn from the base chapels - how to manage different cultures and backgrounds without hiring a cultural anthropologist by using the term "appropriate".

[Molly Pitcher]

I guess what I was saying is that in your instance, you have BUDDHISTS putting up the Buddhist displays.

In the other, you have an airport (a non-religious private or government entity) that is putting up holiday displays.

I really don't have a problem with them putting up a Christmas tree (or not, either way), but I think it would be difficult for a government or corporate entity to put up religious displays FOR all religions.

The base chapel isn't MANAGING different cultures and backgrounds. It is ALLOWING people from these cultures and backgrounds to express themselves. If someone is a member of the community, they are allowed to express their religious customs at the chapel.

SeaTac, on the other hand, is an institution. Most likely not all the religions of the people who come through SeaTac are represented among the SeaTac employees. If there is no Buddhists at SeaTac, who would put up the display? They would have to identify that they need a Buddhist and then hire or invite a Buddhist consultant to create appropriate displays every year at appropriate times.

[Deltasierra]

I have to agree with the idea that SeaTac was only doing what was fiscally and temporally appropriate at the time. Next year they'll probably have all the displays, but this year they just didn't have the time or money to make sure everyone was represented (and they certainly didn't have the money to say "No dice, dude!", because the rabbi was proposing a lawsuit if they didn't comply with his wishes). It's not a huge airport, but it's still pretty extensive, and there has been a LOT of money put into remodelling and security lately. Decorations, alone, are an extra expense.

They would have benefitted from using non-religious symbols (snow scenes, for instance), but evergreens are a major environmental presence up here. It's hard to decorate for a Pacific Northwest "Winter Season" without evergreens. And, since the evergreens are being put in the buildings, why not decorate them . . . ?

The rabbi was being unfair in demanding they expend the money and time THIS YEAR to put up a big menorah, upon pain of being sued. He would have had a better chance of his requests being respected if he could have either approached the Port of Seattle earlier in the year to ask them to budget for it, or requested that they consider it for next year.

The Port of Seattle had little choice but to say, "Look, if we can't play nice, we'll just take it all down and try again next year." It's not their job to make everyone happy. But it is their job to make the airport welcoming to their customers.

[airforcewife]

Actually, Chabad Lubavitch was offering to donate the Menorah, and only
asking for one. So the monetary outlay for SeaTac would have been
nonexistant. Chabad Lubavitch also donates Menorahs to military
installations and naval ships.

Airports often have displays that other organizations pay for and put up as
educational and artistic, which was another reason why I didn't see it as
any different from the displays community members are allowed to put up at
the chapel. The airport could have easily allowed the organization - or
others represented in the community - to put up an artistic/educational
display. The airport wins - they get free decorations and don't have to
worry about hiring cultural anthropologists because the religious groups
have to offer and put up the display themselves.

It becomes win-win. That's really how I see it relating to the base
experience.

[Molly Pitcher]

I probably should have just sent an e-mail, because I don't want your larger point to be lost. But I still see this situation as very different from the SeaTac one.

Regardless, it inspired you to write a great post about the tolerance and understanding you have witnessed in the military. I really enjoyed your post!!!

[wordsmith]

But lets be honest, who can you come in contact with nearly every day and NOT argue with? It happens, since we're all human and none of us perfect.

That stood out for me, because today I had two little adopted Chinese girls in the gym, arguing because one claimed the other cut in front of her, during the obstacle course. I guess when they grow up, such petty arguments will still arise and you'll find adults behaving as children.

As for the SeaTac situation, to echo what airforcewife said earlier, I like the way Tammy Bruce put it in regards to the multiculturalism argument aspect of it:

"It really is narcissism run amok; there's a point where we don't need to see ourselves in every single thing- and real multiculturalism, frankly, is being able to enjoy another representation without necessarily seeing yourself in it."

As for the menorah, it wouldn't offend me. Over the decades, Hannukah has arrived into the mainstream, and it's no big deal to me. Such traditions shouldn't be forced upon a society, however, in the name of multiculturalism; it should just grow upon us naturally. If a certain culture has something with worthwhile appeal to mainstream society, over time and at a natural pace, it will be absorbed into American tradition.

The rabbi wasn't calling for less religious expression; but more.