For God and Country: Religion and the U.S. Military
Fr. Richard Erikson, U.S. Air Force
Jonathan Ebel, University of Illinois
惭辞诲别谤补迟辞谤:听贰rik Owens, Boston College
Date:听February 9, 2012
Abstract
What does it mean to fight for God and country?听For at least the past hundred years,听Americans have invested the American soldier with a deep religious significance connected to heroism, purity of听sacrifice and devotion to the nation. But soldiers themselves have not always seen things the same way. From听Charles Whittlesey听in the Great War听to Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, military servicemen and women have frequently听reconfigured or contested the religious perspectives cast upon them by civilians, even as they struggled to make sense of their own experience in religious terms. The Boisi Center is pleased to bring together two people with unique scholarly, military and religious experiences to wrestle with these broad and important themes.
Speaker Bios
Rev. Richard Erikson听Fr. Richard Erikson听is a chaplain and colonel in the United States Air Force (USAF) Reserve, and mobilization assistant to the Deputy听Chief of Chaplains in the USAF. From 2006-2011 he served as听Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. He has served听in the USAF Reserve for听29听years, including seven years as an听active duty chaplain, with a tour in Iraq in 2004. From 1992-1999 Fr. Erikson was Chair of the Social Science Department at St. John's听Seminary in Brighton. He holds an M.A. in Theology from听St. John's Seminary, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology听from the University of Southern California.
Jonathan Ebel听is Assistant Professor of Religion at the听University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and former听Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve.听His research focuses on religion and war, religion and听violence, and lay theologies of economic hardship. Professor听Ebel is author of听Faith in the Fight: Religion and the American听Soldier in the Great War听(Princeton, 2010). He received an A.B. from Harvard University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the听University of Chicago.
Event Photos
The audience in Devlin 101 on Feb. 9, 2012.
Jonathan Ebel speaking on February 9, 2012.