The black-and-white celluloid image of the priest chaplain hearing the last confession of a fallen GI is an overly dramatic rendering of what army chaplains do. Celebration of rituals is an obligatory task, but not one that consumes most working hours. Today there is much counseling going on about family woes, girl-friend problems, substance abuse and the like. Paper-work for getting families united, getting children into schools, filing for benefits, etc. also takes big bites out of the daily schedule.

While I would bet that earth religion chaplains could be every bit as versed in the nuances of clinical psychology as any other chaplain, I’m not sure they would see their counseling role as one independent of worship rituals. Supposing that counseling would be conducted with rituals of reading shells, animal entrails and the like, I am unsure of respect from military authorities.

The real test for chaplains of earth religions would probably come in the exercise of interfaith solidarity that is often practiced among chaplains. In praying for peace, for protection in battle and the like, it is not uncommon for the triad of Protestant, Catholic and Jew to join hands in directing prayers to heaven. Muslim chaplains usually prove equally cooperative partners. At times, they even substitute for each other in responding to a soldier’s crisis. I suspect that a warlock or santero chaplain would provide some uneasy moments for officialdom looking for religious cooperation among chaplains.

When all is said and done, however, appointing "pagans" as chaplains is a political decision. While Bush-Cheney run the show, it don’t anticipate changes.