Juan Albion
Chicken Sniffer 3rd Class
You obviously didn't understand a word I said if you think that was a diatribe.
Let's take a look at this thread. You started it and immediately knocked the very idea of having a chaplain and belittled the beliefs that I and many others hold. If that doesn't make you an arrogant bigot, then it sure makes you sound like one. If you think 'turning the other cheek' means not responding to comments such as that, you are even more ignorant than I thought.
You didn't just disagree with our beliefs, you started a thread simply to ridicule them and belittle them. Perhaps you now realize what a prat you were because now you come crawling back saying "I have no problem with people exploring their spiritual side". Maybe not, but you made it perfectly clear what you thought of them. It's a bit late to try the old "I'm not really intolerant" line because you have shown everyone that you are. Next I expect you'll try the "I was only joking" routine.
You think the concentration comment was "gratuitous" but it was not, nor was it flippant. I was quite serious. People wonder how decent human beings like regular German people can turn into such animals. It starts with attitudes such as yours that are completely dismissive of the beliefs of others. You look at what you wrote and you were treating us as stupid and somehow lesser than you. That is where it all starts, with a lack of respect for others. Given the right circumstances it leads to concentration camps, or ghettos, or apartheid.
As for your pathetic comment about chaplains being replaced by 1300 nurses, that argument could be made about ANY non-nursing employees in the NHS. Think how many nurses you could hire if you got rid of the cleaners. Clearly they are all there for a reason - or they wouldn't be there. Does it not occur to you that the problem you have got is your ignorance of what chaplains do? Maybe instead of starting a thread that is a direct insult to people like me, you should use this internet thingy to ask what they do instead.
For many people, a chaplain is a valuable part of their treatment. It is something I do myself from time to time, and I am regarded as a member of staff and the treatment team at two hospitals, although I am not employed or paid by them. I attend people who request it and they will often tell you the chaplain was helpful in their recovery. And of course, it is often the chaplains that are left to help people through grief or tragedy, which it may surprise you to know isn't uncommon in hospitals. Would you fancy that job?
It would be the same at a football club. It would not be imposed on anyone, but would be a service available to those who would like it. I imagine this could be a service that wouldn't even cost the club anything, depending on the arrangement. Yes, they could go outside the club, but you could say that for just about anything the club does for its players. Chaplains also act as sources of information when they know they aren't the right person to handle an issue. For example, if the club had a chaplain who was a Christian, and the player was a Hindu with a spiritual crisis, a modern chaplain would likely have enough knowledge to talk about a basic issue, but if further help were needed, he would know who to contact in the Hindu faith. Given the transitional lifestyle of footballers, they often don't have the chance to gather that kind of knowledge for themselves.
To sum up, you ridicule the idea of a chaplain because a) you don't know what they do, and b) you show tendencies towards bigotry. Both are not that rare these days, but by starting a thread about it, you deserve a response.
BTW, you probably should spend some time researching industrial chaplains as well. You obviously haven't heard of them either.
Oh, and BTW, contrary to your little dig about employment, the situation here is a national SHORTAGE of clergy. Plenty of jobs if you want to endure the 7 or 8 years of training.
that is 
.........
