Mention of God, Bible readings and prayers have been banned by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) from all official events.
A new directive from Military Personnel Command instructs all CAF members not to use “religious specific language” if called upon “to deliver a spiritual reflection in the military setting”.
The policy applies to all events connected to official Government business and military ceremonies, including graduation parades, ship commissioning, mess dinners and Remembrance Day.
Boundaries
Under the directive, spiritual reflections in military settings are defined as “inclusive public addresses to a group of individuals that nurture resilience by fostering meaning, purpose, and spiritual well-being”.
The policy’s stated intention is “to define the boundaries of appropriate language, actions, and symbols during military ceremonies and gatherings” in order to “respect freedom of religion and religious neutrality”.
Chaplains are instructed to “adhere” to the policy “during public military ceremonies where chaplains act as representatives of the CAF” and to provide “advice to the crafting of spiritual reflections” in their absence.
‘Secular uniformity’
In a statement, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada said that “rather than taking a non-preferential and pluralistic approach, the spiritual reflection required by the new policy favours and mandates one view of spirituality and religion to the exclusion of others”.
Writing in the National Post, Canadian think tank president Brian Dijkema commented: “A spiritual reflection that applies to all ultimately applies to none. Trying to appease everyone actually makes no one happy.”
He added: “What the government calls inclusion, in this case, is an effort to achieve neutrality that instead turns into secular uniformity, which is not the same thing.”