The cost well worth having a chaplain in Congress

Steven Knudsen, Morgantown
John Crisp makes the appealing argument that religion and government don’t mix (DP-Tuesday May 1) and therefore Congress shouldn’t even have a chaplain.
He references Jesus, who condemned the Pharisees for their ostentatious public prayers. However, Jesus was condemning the motives of the Pharisees, not public prayer in general.
There are two key values to a chaplain. First is to provide spiritual sustenance in time of need, such as when congressional representatives are making decisions or face personal crises. The second is to slow down decision making so that congressional representatives can get perspective on what they are thinking and doing.
The TV show “M*A*S*H’s” Father Mulcahy was an example of this. His obituary stated that in his TV role he struggled “to bring spiritual comfort to an anarchic surgical unit during the Korean War” and he never pushed his faith.
There is a role for religious activity in government as long as it is advisory, and it is well worth the budget for congress to have a chaplain.