Lt. Col. Khallid Shabazz is set to become the Army's first Muslim divisional chaplain when he's promoted this summer. Shabazz is doubtlessly an excellent officer and man of the highest integrity but why is he being made a divisional chaplain?
Because the 14,000 men under his spiritual guidance are mostly Muslim? Because he's going to be chaplain to America's famous "Fighting Prophets"? Our notoriously aggressive Islamic strike force? No, America doesn't have a Muslim division and there is no Mohammedan unit called the Fighting Prophets and Shabazz's division is mostly made up of Christians.
So how is a Muslim, who categorically denies the central tenets of the faith of his men, going to minister to them spiritually? For that matter, might there be a conflict of interest when fighting your coreligionists in, say, Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria? Shabazz, to his credit, hints at the dissonance:
“In combat, it was tough. You’re trying to establish Muslim service and you’re in a Muslim country fighting against Muslims. The young Muslim soldiers could come in and do jumaa (prayers) and be assured that somebody is listening to them. You hold guys in your arms and they’re crying and saying, ‘Thank you.’”
I'm sure Shabazz, who was called Michael Barnes before he became a Muslim, is a great chaplain, but how can a Muslim effectively minister to the spiritual needs of Christians whose faith he denies? Perhaps in Armyland all religions are the same and Islam is a religion of peace.
Or, roughly translated, the US Army goes full dhimmwit.
There are apparently 6000 Muslims in the Army. What could possibly go wrong.
ISIS laughs,
LSP
