Tom Carpenter of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy previously took issue with the Southern Baptist Convention’s stance on homosexuality as it pertained to their military chaplains. In short, Carpenter said it essentially eliminated their ability to be military chaplains.

Next, Carpenter took a quiet but dramatic step by trying to persuade the Secretary of Defense of the error of the SBC’s ways:  Carpenter wrote a letter trying to get the DoD to “ask” the SBC to “revisit” the guidance they issued to their chaplains. Fortunately, the DoD was unfazed, for now. The DoD responded to Carpenter saying 

In regards to your concerns of equal treatment, nothing has changed…All [Religious Ministry Professionals], including those endorsed by the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board, continue to directly or indirectly support the free exercise of religion by all authorized persons with dignity and respect. If concerns arise, commanders of the unit involved handle each incident on a case-by-case basis.

It is no small irony that Carpenter is blind to his own hypocrisy. Carpenter is asking for a conflict of “church and state” — the “separation” of which he ostensibly supports, at least when its convenient to his cause.

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