Do You Have a Religion?

by Sotto

A bit of a character piece on Father Mulcahy. It's antireligious, so if you have problems with that, DO NOT read it... I'm not in the mood to get flamed. One shot, no slash. Rated T for the simple fact I'm clueless on the rating system.

AN: I do not have anything against the Catholic Church… This is just an idea that got into my head one night.

Disclaimer: I do not own MASH. If I owned MASH, I would be rubbing how I owned the super coolio-est TV show ever in your face.

"Do you have a religion, Hawkeye?"

It was a simple question, yet so much weighed on it. I'd asked everyone in camp the same one, and the answers were not the ones I looked for. "Yes, I'm Protestant," or "Yes, I'm Jewish," or my least favorite, "Yes, I'm Catholic… Just like you, father." Just like you… If only they knew the truth. I'm not religious, or I'm not anymore. War had turned me atheist, just like it had turned others Christian. No, I'm not Catholic. I'm a priest, yet I have no religion… Too many wars… Too much suffering had been caused by such simple words as, "I believe." I didn't understand it until I came here. This was why I waited until last to ask the man standing in front of me. He seemed like the only one who would… could understand, but I knew it was impossible for him to. A priest should believe, a priest should have faith, but I believe I'm more of a psychiatrist that a man of the cloth. I looked up into the other man's eyes once I realized I had dropped my gaze. He was smiling… Something I found rather odd for the situation.

"No, Johnny… I'm a pacifist." I found myself grinning, too. It appeared someone did understand.

AN: As for the "Johnny" at the end, I'm going by the first episodes name for Father Mulcahy. Hawkeye using his first name is more of a signal that he understands what the priest feels than any type of disrespect.