Many voices supporting the “repeal” of the policy and laws collectively referred to as “don’t ask, don’t tell” have dismissed claims from religious groups and military Chaplains about impingement on religious liberty.  The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, which supports the repeal, disagrees.  They not only believe the repeal will result in the restriction of religious freedom, they welcome it: 

[Military Chaplains who oppose repeal] fear their opposition to homosexuality will be labeled as “rank bigotry comparable to racism.”  They fear they will not be able to label homosexuality as “sinful and harmful” and that they will not be able to avoid working with homosexual service members.   They fear that in…family support programs such as Strong Bonds, chaplains will not be able to evangelize their faith.

MAAF President Jason Torpy blatantly misrepresents two points.  As noted by the lack of quotation marks, the letter to which Torpy refers says nothing about a fear of “working with” homosexuals.  What it does say is Chaplains may be required to fill ministry positions (that is, sectarian support of the Chaplaincy) with persons who express a homosexual preference, despite the fact such a preference is inconsistent with the theology of the Chaplain and/or the congregation it serves.

Torpy also says, without quotation or support, that Chaplains want to use Strong Bonds to “evangelize their faith.”  What the letter does say is persons who express a homosexual preference may ultimately attend the Strong Bonds program; Chaplains who cannot morally support such a lifestyle choice would either have to abdicate their theological beliefs or face punishment if they made statements that were “discriminatory” toward what they viewed as the immorality of homosexuality.

Torpy’s pejorative simplifications notwithstanding, his main point is most important:

MAAF affirms that all of these are likely outcomes of open service for gay and lesbian service members. MAAF wholeheartedly supports these restrictions on the opportunity to discriminate… (emphasis added)

Torpy openly calls for the restriction of the human liberty to religious freedom — despite the fact it benefits “atheists and free thinkers” and is protected by the US Constitution.

Torpy gives insight as to his reasoning with this statement:

This personal/professional separation in military duties is the same skill that allows chaplains to minister daily to a military society that is pluralistic in belief and action.

Unfortunately, Torpy commits a fairly common error — one made more common when someone outside of a religious worldview attempts to tell those inside it what they believe.

With some notable exceptions, the majority of world religions support the concept of religious choice.  That is, because theology is a belief, it cannot be forced (as, for example, could a behavior).  Even mutually exclusive religions (in most places) support the freedoms of the other religions to both exist and evangelize because they trust in the ultimate truth of their own to prevail; they generally believe they do not require the suppression of another religion for the success of their own.

Therefore, a Chaplain who ministers “daily to a [pluralistic] military society” does not contravene his faith when he does so.  With specific reference to the Christian faith, which is the only faith Torpy addresses, Christianity actually supports religious freedom, because it is in this freedom that Christians believe others can freely come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Thus, Torpy’s attempt to morally equate religious pluralism with “sexual pluralism” is in error.

Torpy and his MAAF are not the first to assert that the normalization of homosexual conduct in the military would be ‘business as usual.’  The Alliance Defense Fund has disagreed, saying if homosexuals are allowed to openly serve, the military will

for the first time in history espouse a military policy that is completely at odds with the morality expressed by many of its Chaplains.

With respect to the impact to religious freedom, at least, it seems Torpy and the ADF agree.