Marvel not that having been made acquainted with the young sailor's essential innocence (an irruption of heretic thought hard to suppress) the worthy man lifted not a finger to avert the doom of such a martyr to martial discipline. So to do would not only have been as idle as invoking the desert, but would also have been an audacious transgression of the bounds of his function, one as exactly prescribed to him by military law as that of the boatswain or any other naval officer. Bluntly put, a chaplain is the minister of the Prince of Peace serving in the host of the God of War-Mars. As such, he is as incongruous as a musket would be on the altar at Christmas. Why then is he there? Because he indirectly subserves the purpose attested by the cannon; because too he lends the sanction of the religion of the meek to that which practically is the abrogation of everything but brute Force.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Melville critiques the role of a chaplain in war, noting the contradiction between preaching peace and serving in a military force. He argues the chaplain indirectly supports violence by lending religious sanction to it.
- In plain terms
- A military chaplain is a contradiction who uses religion to support war instead of peace.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize how institutions can co-opt moral or religious figures to justify force.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How can religion justify violence?
- What is the moral role of clergy in war?
Another view
This view overlooks chaplains who genuinely seek to reduce suffering even within the military.
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