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The ALPB is looking for contributors to our quarterly theological journal - Lutheran Forum and our monthly Forum Letter.
Topics should be in keeping within the broad evangelical and catholic scope of the ALPB mission:
https://alpb.org/about-us/
To inquire about submitting an article, you can reach out directly to me or any of our editorial staff:
https://alpb.org/contact-us/
Pr. Sauer, are editors/board looking for particular topics, practical or academic, research or opinion pieces?
Off and on I've caught glimpses of Ukrainian chaplains without any explanation. They are dressed in uniform with a broad, bright Orthodox stole over. Anybody know more?
Peace, JOHN
The corresponding bill 4626 "On the Service of Military Chaplaincy" at a meeting on Tuesday in the second reading was supported by 291 people's deputies.
This is reported by Ukrinform.
"This law regulates relations in the field of realization of the constitutional right to freedom of outlook and religion of servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine, other military formations formed in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, as well as determines the legal and organizational principles and principles of the Military Chaplaincy Service," the document says.
The service of military chaplaincy is formed as a separate structure within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, other military formations formed in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the type of which depends on the scope, nature and complexity of measures to meet the spiritual and religious needs of their military administration body, uniting, military unit, military educational institution, institution and organization. In a military unit at the level of a separate battalion, the functions of the Military Chaplaincy Service can be performed by one military chaplain.
The relevant military chaplaincy services are subordinated directly to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine, the heads of other military formations formed in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, the Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
The maximum number of the Military Chaplaincy Service may not be less than 0.15% of the maximum number, respectively, of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, other military formations formed in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service.
A military chaplain can be a citizen of Ukraine who is a cleric of a religious organization registered in Ukraine and received a mandate from the governing center (management) of the relevant religious organization for the right to carry out military chaplaincy activities.
A mandatory requirement for the position of military chaplain is the presence of higher theological education (this norm begins to operate 5 years after the entry into force of the law).
A person who is restricted by law in connections, military units and units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, to other military formations formed in accordance with the laws of Ukraine and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine cannot be a military chaplain.
Information about a person who became known to the military chaplain during the implementation of military chaplaincy is confidential.
The military chaplain has the right not to answer questions about the facts and circumstances that became known to him during the confession.
In order to properly organize the satisfaction of the spiritual and religious needs of the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, other military formations formed in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, the introduction of appropriate quotas of confessional representation is envisaged.
It is planned to create as advisory bodies interfaith councils on military chaplaincy under the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
It is now D+21, three weeks. Some professional military analysts say that the Russian forces have reached their culminating point, that is where they can go no farther. It seems likely to me. That for lack of re-supply (food, fuel, ammo) and the morale of soldiers. Reportedly the Chinese have been asked for MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). If true it's a sign of being way behind the plan as well as poor planning in general. Internal Russian government corruption may be a factor too. There are reports of Russian soldiers deserting their vehicles. Ukrainian forces are commandeering or otherwise capturing them. Putin then joins all the friends of Ukraine in contributing security assistance (weapons).
It is unfortunate that a major counterattack cannot be mounted. This would be the time. Hit'em when they're down. The no fly zone is not a good idea. Technically it's questionable if the Polish fighters are compatible with existing Ukrainian ground equipment (electronics). Furthermore, the enormous atrocities are coming mostly from ground based artillery or rockets and not from planes. Then the primary restraint is fear of escalation into WW III and Russia introducing weapons of mass destruction.
We must avoid that. Eventually the collapse of the ground forces might bring some kind of cease fire and negotiation toward settlement. I would hope that it is one that can be agreeable to Ukraine.
In the meantime, pray for the soldiers on both sides and for the leadership of Ukraine.
Peace, JOHN
Early this morning, on my Facebook page, I posted the below review of Randy Boyagoda's 2015 biography of Richard John Neuhaus. Observations about the ALPB are included.
* * *
Neuhaus edited the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau’s Forum Letter for years until he became Roman Catholic. The New York City area-based ALPB is a lackluster pan-Lutheran group that can barely if at all articulate why it continues to exist. The ALPB is pretty lukewarm doctrinally (AND IT'S NOT GOOD TO BE LUKEWARM – Revelation 3:16). Several other ALPB leaders joined Neuhaus in becoming Roman Catholic. Like Neuhaus and First Things, ALPB can have its moments, but not very often. It’s barely hanging on. Membership in churches can increase or decrease for good or bad reasons, but the member numbers of ALPB-influenced Lutheran churches have been dropping like a rock and figure to continue to do so.
And the theological import or input of or for all of this is….?
(Now laughing at how, not so long ago, when the discussion got contentious, a thread deemed “political” was shut down.)
One possible explanation is that General Officers in today’s military not only need to lead they need to be nimble politicians as well. There were unilateral decisions made at the executive level that went against the advice of our intelligence services and some of our GO. I haven’t heard of many who favored pulling out of Afghanistan in the strategic way that it was done. Their reasons for not speaking more clearly or forcefully about their concerns remain their own and charity prevents me (though not a number of my Soldiers) from assigning motive.
Having served as a Flag Officer I have seen the pressure that is placed on senior military leadership. They will give honest advice to the civilian authorities behind closed doors. But because the President is the Commander-in-Chief and the Pentagon civilians appointed by him represent the President, they cannot and will not be insubordinate privately or publicly. Do not expect the GOs and FOs to speak contrary to the elected President. You will not hear their own thoughts and opinions that they may have told the President.
The military of the United States has been and will be under the control of those elected by the people of the United States.
Fair enough. But it remains true that most Americans really only have access to information by which to form an opinion based on media accounts. And as recently as few weeks ago experts were saying this wouldn’t happen. The expert class might have their reasons for being disingenuous, but the general populace is rational, sane, and responsible to assume they’re listening to propaganda. Yet many persist in seeing such people as crackpots, loonies, and dangerous extremists.
I agree with the assessment that an army trained to operate with air superiority cannot be expected to survive for any length of time without it. But the problem is that what you are saying here in the part I've bolded goes squarely against the word of the generals, state department personnel, and the administration, all of which have expressed being terribly surprised by how quickly the Afghan army collapsed. How do we explain all the confident assurances that this wouldn't happen and all the expressions of shock and dismay that it did?
I also bristle at criticism of the Afghani national forces. As I mentioned, they lost over 40,000 Soldiers in the last half-decade while fighting on behalf of their nation. It was not as if they all of a sudden became cowards. One of the great under-reported stories of this debacle is that the US not only pulled out our troops, we pulled out our civilian contractors. The Afghans who had been fighting with us for the last 20 years and leading the fight the last 7 had relied heavily on US superior air support, as they had been trained. With the removal of our contractors, many of whom whose job it was to keep the aircraft flying, we removed both the strategic air advantage the the Afghani's had over the Taliban, and left them to fight in a way that they had not trained. Given those factors the quickness of their collapse is not terribly surprising.
