The strength of my stream-of-consciousness thinking is that I am able to write everday. The weakness is that my thinking sometimes lacks precision or clarity. So, to sharpen a dull point...
Basic concern: A tendency to blur the lines between Church and state and muddy the distinct purposes of each in the providence of God.
Biblical basis: In the New Testament, the Church and state are both given distinct roles and prerogatives in a broken world. The Church's fundamental mission to proclaim the Gospel through Word and sacrament (Rom. 10; Acts 2; 1 Cor. 11, etc.). It's primary ethic is that of mercy (Matt. 5). The state's fundamental mission and ethic is that of justice (Rom. 13).
When the two are confused, chaos ensues. This is shown in Nebuchadnezzar's spirituality of the state in Daniel 3, where believers are cast into the flames for not abiding by a worldly lord of the conscience. The state, when charged with promotion of any religion (including Christianity), will inevitably become bloody and tyrannical. One can coerce behavior, not the conscience. Christendom was largely in itself one horrible example of this unacceptable merger and the ensuing bloodshed.
The confusion of the two is also devastating to the spirituality of the Church and the clarity of the truth she proclaims. Much of the anger directed against Jesus (aside from hatred of God) was directed because of His refusal to conform to the civic-political messiah expected by a blinded Judaism. He would not take a horse into Jerusalem, but a humble colt. He would not bear a crown of worldly glory (though offered Him by Satan), but bore a crown of thorns before assuming His throne in heaven. There is no other Gospel but that of Christ crucified for sinners--neither circumcision, the law, cultural renewal, or political reforms have any place within this divine message (though each of these certainly have their use!).
Bringing this to bear on a particular issue: Be careful what you wish for when identifying the cross with the uniform of the U.S. soldier.
The greatest danger to the chaplaincy, and in particular, the fidelity of Christian chaplains to the cross, is not found in the ramblings of rhetorical grenade-throwers with conspiritorial dilusions (like Mikey Weinstein). It is the pressure exerted by a country and a military that wants the benefits of the chaplaincy (morals, morale, etc.) without the particular claims of a given faith.
The great fundamentalist, William Jennings Bryan, foolishly turned the Church into a means to an end--restoring "Christian America" (by which he meant a moral society--nothing redemptive). Many fundamentalists thus ultimately fell into the same trap of the religion of Liberalism, which sought to make the Church an incubator for utopianism built on innate human goodness. Both of these movements were incredibly destructive to the Church, though the former at least believed the Gospel.
In the chaplaincy, Pro Deo et Patria (for God and country) will always tend toward Deo pro Patria (God for country). My uniform does not represent my faith, but the culture in which I bring my faith to bear, by God's grace. When I wear the uniform, I represent my Commander in Chief, our Constitution, and our ideals. But within the military context, identified with its culture, I share the Gospel of Jesus Christ--not man's sacrifice for country, but God's sacrifice for man and a better country that awaits those who believe in Jesus.
