In the pastoral counselling of the military we can find that men too have a soul, which is worth no end of appreciation and care. In the shared life situations of the forces men can discover one another, which means a lot more than merely knowing a person s name or face. It means finding a companion with whom to share the life situation and also finding something that is beyond the normal sphere of experience. Disagreement is allowed While working as an army chaplain for the peacekeeping force at Golan, Kangas found that as long as mutual trust between people existed, the differences and disagreements among the peacekeepers were an advantage in his work rather than a problem. Communality in a military parish means that disagreement is allowed.
Nobody is absolutely right.
Everyone has to argue his point, but it is all based on the brotherhood of arms and trust. It requires very little to agree with somebody, but to disagree and survive it and still have mutual trust is an entirely different thing. Consensus is not demanding, but trust in one s right to disagree takes a lot. An important factor in the conservation of trust was the special role of the army chaplain, which broke with the traditional military hierarchy. The army chaplain does not follow the hierarchy but has the right to meet with everyone directly.