If you hear the phrase “chaplain,” you in all probability consider a priest or an Imam or another sort of conventional clergyperson — that’s what springs to my thoughts in any case. Which is why I used to be stunned after I stumbled upon an article within the New York Instances journal from earlier this yr about an “atheist chaplain” engaged on demise row in an Oklahoma jail.
The piece is a couple of convicted killer, Phillip Hancock, who didn’t imagine in God however wished a religious adviser with him as he approached his execution. The chaplain is a person named Devin Moss, who spent a yr in each day dialog with Hancock and ultimately traveled from Brooklyn to Oklahoma to be with him in his closing hours.
The entire notion of an atheist chaplain is fascinating, after all, however much more fascinating are the deeper questions right here about what religious care appears like with out faith and what it means to confront our demise with out God or a perception within the afterlife.
I wouldn’t name myself a spiritual particular person, however I do take the religious life severely and, whether or not you’re a believer or a non-believer, it appears vital to know what faith gives to individuals and what it will imply to supply one thing comparable in a secular context.
Which is why I invited Moss onto The Grey Space to speak about what being a humanist chaplain (he prefers that time period over “atheist”) means to him and what his expertise on demise row taught him about faith and the common wrestle to face demise with dignity.
Under is an excerpt of our dialog, edited for size and readability. As all the time, there’s far more within the full podcast, so take heed to and comply with The Grey Space on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you discover podcasts. New episodes drop each Monday.
Sean Illing
You probably did your residency as a chaplain at Bellevue Hospital in New York Metropolis throughout the pandemic. What was that like?
Devin Moss
It was intense and full of individuals in acute moments of disaster, at that hospital specifically. However I can not think about a greater place to be taught what it means to be religious. As a result of I got here into this extremely insecure about spirituality generally and how much religious care I can present to individuals after I’m a non-theist. How can I do that with out God? It was scary as hell and it was profound as hell on the identical time.
Sean Illing
Have been you a special particular person popping out of that?
Devin Moss
Completely. And even every day, my shift hours have been from 2 to eight or 9, and round 1 I’d be like, Ugh, I can’t imagine I bought to return and do that right now, however after I’d go away at evening, I’d be like, Wow, I might by no means have imagined that will occur right now, I realized a lot! I felt like a special particular person leaving at evening than after I bought there within the morning and that was a repetitive cycle over and over.
Sean Illing
We’re speaking as a result of I occurred upon this text about your expertise on demise row. I suppose I’m curious the way you discovered your self there within the first place. How does a humanist chaplain from Brooklyn find yourself on demise row in Oklahoma?
Devin Moss
Quickly after I completed my residency at Bellevue, the American Humanist Affiliation despatched me an e-mail saying that there are some attorneys that signify this man on demise row named Phillip Hancock in Oklahoma, and he’s searching for a non-theist chaplain and so they wished to know if I used to be . I mentioned I used to be completely . And on reflection, to be candid, I felt referred to as to try this from a religious care perspective, however I additionally was very a lot intrigued by the story.
So I wrote Phil a letter, launched myself, left my cellphone quantity in it and mentioned, In case you discover that I’m the proper particular person to signify you or be by your aspect in such a vital time, I might love to take action, after which we talked and hit it off and began a journey of virtually a yr.
Sean Illing
Did you could have robust emotions in regards to the demise penalty earlier than you went to Oklahoma? Did the expertise change your views come what may?
Devin Moss
I didn’t have robust opinions. I’d describe my views going on this means: If there was an opportunity for anyone harmless to be executed, then I’m not for it.
And but, figuring out that there are monsters amongst us, I nonetheless had this hypothetical state of affairs in my head, and it’s the one that everyone who’s pro-capital punishment will use: If it was your daughter (and it’s all the time the daughter, nobody says if it have been your son), and she or he was murdered and raped, that needs to be the litmus check of how we consider capital punishment. That’s the argument that the state legislators in Oklahoma use and I don’t know the place I bought it, however that was additionally in my head previous to working with Phil. And within the case of such a heinous violent crime, then yeah, I might be okay with capital punishment. That’s how I got here into it.
These are actual emotions. If a dad or mum needed to undergo that horrible, horrible state of affairs, they’ve each proper to really feel that. And I’m not advocating that anyone can’t really feel these very robust and actual feelings however what I didn’t notice till I used to be truly within the soup is that there are quite a lot of externalities. The ripples of who it impacts, they’re vital.
The legislators make the legal guidelines, the judicial department of the state does the sentencing, however guess who does the executions? None of them are doing the executions, not one of the household of the victims are doing the executions, it’s on a regular basis individuals. It’s individuals like me, it’s the corrections officers within the small cities the place that is greater than possible the one employment alternative they’ve and we’re those which are doing this.
I spoke with a person named Adam Luck, who was the previous chair of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board earlier than the execution, and he mentioned, All people that has a hand in doing the execution itself, a part of them dies in a roundabout way. Though that feels like a dramatic assertion, it’s completely one hundred pc true. The warden isn’t for it, the corrections officers aren’t for it, and so with all the externalities and all of the ache, it creates a karmic ripple that’s multigenerational.
Sean Illing
The final phrases Phillip heard have been yours — what did you say?
Devin Moss
The entire thing was surreal. The entire day was surreal. Even that morning, the morning of the execution, the governor nonetheless hadn’t decided whether or not to grant clemency. The execution was scheduled for 10 am, so it was postponed an hour and a half and Phil is strapped to the gurney for an additional hour-plus, which is horrible to consider. And the evening earlier than, they tousled his final meal, I can’t even specific to at the present time how offended that makes me and I can think about what it does to the spirit of somebody that simply can not get any demonstration of humanity on any degree.
Usually, the religious care adviser typically will get 30 to 45 minutes with the individual that’s going to be executed, however as a result of the governor had delayed, the press corps had already made it via safety, and I used to be simply making an attempt to keep up my poise and never get frazzled. And we went via this maze the place the top chaplain then left me on this sally port and the corrections officers escorted me as much as the entrance door of the execution chamber.
It was there that the masked corrections officer who can be within the room with us greeted me as a result of the corrections officers which are within the room should be nameless. After which I might see in his face that he was nervous and that he was scared and that he was additionally affected by this second. It was in that second that I noticed that a part of my position is simply to deliver as a lot calmness and peace into that area as I probably might.
Earlier that morning, I had written an invocation, a prayer of kinds, that I knew wanted to be mentioned and I did it instantly as a result of I wished to say that area for Phil in order that we might make it sacred and never let any time go by with out ensuring that he felt that this was his time.
Sean Illing
Do you bear in mind the prayer that you simply wrote?
Devin Moss
Once I initially wrote it, I wrote one thing about “I name into the area the spirit of the divine” after which I crossed that out and as an alternative I simply wrote “I name into the area the spirit of our humanity” as a result of it was very clear to me that this was a human downside and never a theological problem. And I had the reply to the Philippians riddle, Present me one thing actual, inform me one thing true. I seeded that inside the prayer, I wished him to know that he was liked and that I used to be a conduit to that love and that he was not alone. After which I additionally invoked the spirit of grace, of power, of give up, and, apparently, I ended it with an amen simply because it felt proper.
I additionally understood too that there have been different individuals in that room, in addition to Phil and I, that I believe wanted to listen to these phrases and so I claimed that area for him. After which I adopted it up with telling him how our relationship affected me and what it meant to me and that he’s a liked human. He died properly, with grace. I made certain that he knew that he was liked and he was not alone. And so, on this bizarre second of an execution, which is bizarre to say, there was peace.
Sean Illing
A part of what pursuits me about your story is that this query about whether or not we’d like faith, or one thing like faith. The truth that you felt referred to as to do that work speaks to this. Do you’re feeling like there’s a God-shaped gap within the fashionable world that must be crammed by one thing even when that’s one thing isn’t supernaturalism or faith in a traditional sense?
Devin Moss
I do imagine that. I do imagine that there’s a God-shaped gap in all of us and I don’t really feel that it must be crammed with dogma. The query that I get requested rather a lot on this regard is, “How do you put together somebody who’s dying, who doesn’t imagine that there’s one thing subsequent?” The reply is within the reframing of the query.
If there’s something subsequent and if that’s what you imagine, fantastic. And if we’re mistaken, then nice. However what’s extra vital is every part that you simply’re doing earlier than that second — that’s an important, not after. What occurs after is after, however it’s the transition that’s vital and the way you get there and all these micro-steps monitoring again all through your life.
So do we’d like spirituality as people? Sure, I believe so. And I might additionally say, as a tradition, whether or not it’s a collective consciousness or a resonance that connects us to one another and connects us out to one thing larger, there’s one thing actual there and we’d like to ensure these factors are linked.
Sean Illing
I’ve actually come to be irritated with a sure sort of atheist that may solely strategy faith as a set of epistemological claims, as if scanning the Bible for bogus claims about biology or historical past will quantity to some demise blow for faith. And I perceive the place that comes from. This has all the time been difficult for me as a result of I do suppose faith has finished immense injury on this planet. I believe it has precipitated quite a lot of unnecessary struggling on this planet. I believe it nonetheless causes quite a lot of unnecessary struggling on this planet.
There are individuals on this nation who wish to create a theocracy right here, who wish to chain girls to their reproductive cycles due to their non secular beliefs, and people persons are enemies of liberal democracy for my part. It’s vital to say all of that. However it’s additionally vital to acknowledge that faith, at its greatest, is a near-universal expression of this human want for connection and ritual and which means and it’s a mistake to not grapple severely with the implications of that, particularly if you happen to’re a non-believer.
Devin Moss
I see spirituality and theology as two utterly totally different animals. I see faith as an expression of the spiritualities. As a result of the way in which it really works now’s that spirituality is an expression of faith, however I say flip it. I’m an enormous proponent of rites of passage rituals, I’m an enormous proponent of even making rituals all through your day and you may develop them for your self, you may be as syncretic as it is advisable be simply to ensure that it’s bringing intention all through your day.
The expression of spirituality may be your lived faith and we are able to see what that appears like. Even when it’s Sunday mornings, we’re going to comb up the sidewalks in Brooklyn and have espresso and cake, that’s an vital religious expression and may be thought-about faith with out the pomp and the historical past and all of these issues.
Sean Illing
A humanist chaplain could not be capable of provide the solace that comes with perception within the afterlife, however what sort of solace are you able to provide somebody as they strategy the tip?
Devin Moss
Demise is difficult for everyone and it’s arduous as a result of we keep away from it personally and we most positively keep away from it as a tradition. How a tradition dies is a direct reflection of how they dwell and we don’t die properly in fashionable America. I might in all probability take out the border between religion and non-faith relating to methods to die properly and I might simply say that dying properly requires work that’s to be finished when you’re nonetheless very a lot alive, whether or not you place confidence in a supernatural energy or not.
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