When you think of a Civil War battlefield or soldiers marching into the jaws of death, you hardly ever envision a chaplain or preacher roaming the battlefield doctoring the wounded, giving last rights, absolution, or even picking up a musket to fire at the enemy. However, chaplains were a constant on Civil War battlefields and an integral part to soldiers' lives. Although some soldiers hated having someone to tell them not to drink or gamble within their ranks, chaplains also provided a form of comfort to soldiers engaged in a long bloody war. In this video, we learn about some of the more colorful chaplains, who nursed the wounded and even fired on the enemy when needed.
VIDEO HERE (11 minutes)
There is a long and rich tradition of this in western civilization. From periods such as this, going back to the Paladins, as well as my favorite - The Knights Templar. This is something western civilization DESPERATELY needs right now! We have waaaaayyyyy too much of "turn the other cheek" and nowhere near enough of "straighten your ass up, or you'll get a mouthful of broken teeth". I am a big fan of the Latin Mass and one of the priests there in my youth was like that. He could go from very calm and serene one moment, to "Don't make me come over there." when we got out of line (which was quite often during our teenage years) the next. As was the custom of the archdiocese back in the late 80's, priests such as this were cycled out and we got very wishy-washy ones instead who had no sense of humor and being "old school" - in terms of teaching the gospels and shaping us to be worthy inheritors of our fathers traditions, as well as western civilization in general - were no longer part of the curriculum. Instead we got this hippy-Jesus shit and a great many of us went looking for other parishes.
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