US Army Post Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, posted an interesting article coinciding with the DoD’s “celebration” of gay pride this month. US Army Chaplain (Capt) Aaron Oliver explains that he believes his faith and his homosexuality are “consistent”:

Some argue faith and being a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community are at odds with one another, however for one Fort Sill chaplain the two are not incompatible.

“Some see the two, being gay and faith, as an inconsistency,” said Chap. (Capt.) Aaron Oliver. “For me it never really was.”

Publishing this story is an interesting, if potentially problematic, step for the Army to take.

There is some value in it. Published on the Fort Sill homepage, it lets Soldiers at Fort Sill who support his theological position know they have a chaplain who shares their values. That’s certainly encouraging to the Soldiers who share his viewpoint, and, speaking to the military’s responsibility to support religious liberty, that’s a good thing.

It also lets Soldiers at Fort Sill who don’t support his theological position know where he stands, so they can make informed decisions about seeking (or avoiding) his theological teaching or counsel. That’s also a good thing.

The problem with the article about Chaplain Oliver, though, is that it is the only side of this “theological issue” the Army officially talks about.

It’s not uncommon for the military to publish articles about or even by chaplains, many of which may discuss their theological beliefs. It’s relatively easy to find articles about Muslim chaplains, Jewish chaplains, Catholic chaplains, and Protestant chaplains (ie, everybody else), some of which have them detailing some of their specific belief tenets. The breadth allows US troops (and US citizens) to understand that the military protects the religious rights of all believers. That provides balance and it supports religious freedom — and that’s a good thing.

That said, have you ever seen the Army publish an official article about a chaplain explaining how faith and homosexuality are “inconsistent?” They haven’t, and it is unlikely they ever would, even if a chaplain sent such an article to Public Affairs for publication.

This follows a wider trend of military reporting in which Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines are paraded through the official military news talking about how they’re ‘gay and ok,’ or how they came to know how they liked to have sex (some of which were mentioned here). Every now and then, one of those official articles will make a dig at those who don’t affirm the homosexual lifestyle, or it may even belittle or attack people of faith — which includes other members of the military.

Same question: When was the last time you saw the military publish an article in which an Airman, Soldier, Sailor, or Marine explains why he doesn’t support the homosexual lifestyle? It would be an awkward article, likely, since most people consider sex a private topic, but it would at least present the appearance of balance given how much talk there’s been on those same official military channels about homosexuality.

Not only has that not happened, the US military has, at times, gone further: Do you believe homosexuality is a sin? One troop found out you better not post that on Facebook, if you’re in the US military. Then there’s the case of US Navy Chaplain Wes Modder, who answered direct questions with honest answers about his theological position on homosexuality, and his commander’s response was to attempt to throw him out of the Navy.  So much for the Navy’s tolerance and support for diversity.

One possible conclusion from these data points — which, with others, form a trend — is that there is only one officially-acceptable point of view in the US military, and that is the affirmation of homosexuality. Expression of opposition to homosexuality is not only unacceptable, it may be punishable — protections in the US Constitution for religious freedom notwithstanding.

Perhaps that perception is incorrect. If so, where is the encouragement for those who believe in a more mainstream Christian theology?

Let’s see if the US Army will publish an article by a chaplain who explains how he came to understand that being gay is inconsistent with the Christian faith.

Just like Chaplain Oliver, troops who support or disagree with his theological position would know where their chaplain stood. Just like with Chaplain Oliver, that would be encouraging to the troops who shared his values and theology — and, just like Chaplain Oliver, that would be a good thing.

That would be “equality,” right?

Think equality will happen?

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Update: The second and concluding article on Chaplain Oliver was posted here.

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