It appears as if military chaplains are under attack if they refuse to preform same-sex marriages. Nancy Pelosi stated last week that she, along with the Barry and Crew, opposed a provision, Section 536 of the National Defense Authorization Act, that reads:
No member of the armed forces may “direct,
order, or require a chaplain to perform any duty, rite, ritual,
ceremony, service, or function that is contrary to the conscience, moral
principles, or religious beliefs of the chaplain, or contrary to the
moral principles and religious beliefs of the endorsing faith group of
the chaplain.”
Pelosi denies that any chaplain has been forced to preform any ceremony against their beliefs. Yet, that's not the word on the military-chaplian street. The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is not so convinced that this administration has their religious freedom in mind. Go HERE to read the entire article.
The takeaway is this:
“If it is a threat, then this is essential to preserving freedom of religion in our armed forces,” Knight said. “Given the administration’s heavy hand against Catholic hospitals over the contraceptive, abortifacient, sterilization issue, why should anyone trust them not to go after the chaplains and do things against their conscience?”
Trust Barry and Crew to do the right thing? Never.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
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2 comments:
I have a very good friend who is a Navy Chaplain serving with the Marine Corps, and he had some interesting insights on this issue, particularly as it pertained to the repeal of DADT. Basically, Chaplains have to be sponsored by a particular faith group as well as being a commissioned officer. If one or the other of those agencies revokes its endorsement, then the chaplain can no longer serve in his/her capacity as a military chaplain. If a chaplain is directed by the military to act contrary to the doctrine of his endorsing denomination, then that denomination will revoke its support for the military - meaning that, for example, the Navy would no longer receive Baptist chaplains if they were directed to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies in a base chapel. In my buddy's opinion, this is just one more step toward doing away with the military chaplaincy as a whole. Non-faith-based organizations such as Marine Corps Community Services have already encroached heavily upon areas such as counseling and family support, and if allowed to continue, our chaplains will be reduced to token status only.
jake: thanks for the info. it's disheartening to see this in play, especially since chaplains play such an encouraging/comforting roll within the military.
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