FRC Releases Latest Religious Liberty Report

The Family Research Council released an updated version of its “Clear and Present Danger” (PDF) (previously discussed in January). There are a variety of new issues added, including the removal of the POW table at Patrick AFB over the presence of a Bible, the Navy Gideon Bible kerfuffle, Col Marquinez’s banned article, Chaplain Joe Lawhorn’s punishment, Mikey Weinstein’s “Blessed Day,” Chaplain Wes Modder, Maj Gen Craig Olson, and court-martialed US Marine Monifa Sterling.

One of the more interesting ones was actually an “old” case recently added [emphasis added]:

Soon after the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy was repealed, an Army chaplain of Lieutenant Colonel rank received an e-mail copy of a published article presenting some thoughtful points about the whole DADT debate, from a senior chaplain who was a Colonel. The Lieutenant Colonel chaplain thought it was a good article and sent it to his subordinate chaplains.

It was intercepted by his chaplain Colonel supervisor who indicated she was very angry and intimated that the Lieutenant Colonel’s decision to share the article was somehow improper. She then told him his just-decided assignment to Germany was cancelled because he “needed an assignment with more supervision.”

Thus, this Lieutenant Colonel chaplain became the first chaplain after the DADT repeal to be punitively managed as a result of his religious views about homosexual behavior. Subsequently, the female Colonel chaplain retired from the Army and married her lesbian partner.

The source for the information on this incident is retired Chaplain (BrigGen) Doug Lee, who was the endorser of the LtCol chaplain.

Around the time of the repeal of DADT, one frequently mentioned concern was how to prevent service members who objected to homosexuality (ie, religious troops/Christians) from discriminating against homosexuals, or how to protect homosexuals once they did. That “concern” even drove the recent elevation of sexuality to the status of a “protected class.”

Interestingly, however, while there are several high-profile cases of “discrimination” over homosexuality, the “victim,” for lack of a better term, has been the objector — not the homosexual. Chaplain Wes Modder, SMSgt Phillip Monk, and the anonymous chaplain described above are only the more obvious (and public) examples.

The DoD changed the status of sexuality with regard to Equal Opportunity — and ended the discussion. Congress — the arm of government constitutionally-empowered to “raise an army” — passed a law trying to protect religious expression, and the “discussion” about how the military has (or has not) implemented the law is still ongoing.

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