"By the lifelong trust he had placed in the wisdom and justice of the immortal, omnipotent, omniscienct, humane, universal, anthropomorphic, English-speaking, Anglo-Saxon, pro-American God, which had begun to waver."
pg. 285
There are so many things that can be said about this quote. First off, it contradicts itself; the God in the Chaplain's mind is universal, Anglo-Saxon, and pro-American. It seems that by being the latter two things, the God in his mind is no longer universal. I think the author is pointing out something that many humans think; God is universal, but the God they picture is on their side, always. Even if that somehow means he is against someone else. However, I think it is logical for people to picture God as one of their own race, because then we identify with him better.
Secondly, this quote captures a reoccuring theme in Catch 22; God isn't present in war. There are many quotes to back this theme;
"And don't tell me God works in mysterious ways... there's nothing so mysterious about it. He's not working at all."
"Tell Him it ain't right for people to die when they're young." pg. 185
Whether the author actually believes that God isn't present in war (or at all, even) or whether he is pointing out that many soldiers lose their faith because of war, I'm not sure. Really, I think this theme just plays into the larger one, that war is stupid.
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