{"id":11297,"date":"2011-05-26T02:00:35","date_gmt":"2011-05-26T07:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=11297"},"modified":"2013-10-09T00:16:10","modified_gmt":"2013-10-09T03:16:10","slug":"chaplains-call-for-troop-protections-over-dadt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/26\/chaplains-call-for-troop-protections-over-dadt\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaplains Call for Troop Protections over DADT"},"content":{"rendered":"

The recent controversy over the Navy’s apparent acceptance of homosexual marriages<\/a> in base chapels (quickly reversed<\/a> after Congressional disapproval) spurred a response by Chaplain endorsing agencies representing “over a thousand military chaplains.”\u00a0 The groups wrote a letter<\/a> calling for conscience protections not only for Chaplains — but also for every servicemember:<\/p>\n

When guidance…is forthcoming from senior leadership that implies protected status for those who engage in homosexual behavior and normalizes same-sex unions in base chapels, any outside observer would conclude that both homosexuality and homosexual unions officiated as marriages in base chapels are normative.<\/p>\n

This creates an environment that is increasingly hostile to the many chaplains \u2014 and the service members they serve \u2014 whose faith groups and personal consciences recognize homosexual behavior as immoral and unsafe and do not permit same-sex unions.<\/p>\n

For this reason, and particularly in light of the growing confusion regarding how DADT repeal will play out \u2014 indeed, we were told that issues like same-sex weddings were not a concern because of DOMA just months ago \u2014 we strongly encourage the adoption of broad, clear, and strong protections for conscience. No American, especially those serving in the armed forces, should be forced to abandon their religious beliefs or be marginalized for holding to those beliefs.<\/p>\n

It is not sufficient to posit, as the CRWG report did, that chaplains and service members remain free to exercise their faith in chapel services. Service members should know that chaplains\u2019 ministry and their own rights of conscience remain protected everywhere military necessity has placed them. We hope that you will join us in urging DoD and Congress to adopt such specific and intentional conscience protections…<\/p>\n

In the spirit of cooperation without compromise<\/em>, let us work together, for the good of all, seeking God\u2019s wisdom and guidance for all our brave men and women in uniform.<\/p>\n

For God and Country.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The letter seems to be the first substantial public recognition that troops themselves — not merely Chaplains — will be affected by the changes in guidance surrounding the policy most commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”\u00a0\u00a0 The Alliance Defense Fund, in its press release on the letter<\/a>, was more blunt:<\/p>\n

Why no religious liberty protections for service members, who defend our liberties?<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This premise is not without some foundation; General Benjamin Mixon, recently retired, has publicly stated<\/a> the leadership’s response to his own benign statement supporting the current law<\/em> ‘chilled’ speech:<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter folks saw the reaction to my letter, there was no chance of anyone else speaking up,\u201d [Mixon] said. \u201cIt sent a message.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Palm Center of the University of California, which has advocated for repeal, had a predictable response that missed the point<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, which pushed for the repeal, said the Department of Defense has made it clear that there will be no change in the way chaplains conduct their business once the ban is lifted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Belkin misses the fact the letter addressed issues beyond what may happen to Chaplains.\u00a0 In fact, Belkin’s very next statement epitomizes the issue:<\/p>\n

“This is yet another example of people with traditional and, quite frankly, anti-gay views demanding protection for something that doesn’t need protection,” he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

By this advocate’s point of view, “traditional” views on homosexuality as expressed by the sending agents of over 1,000 military Chaplains — likely representing hundreds of thousands of troops — are “anti-gay.”\u00a0 And, of course, “anti-gay” is unacceptable and must be restricted.\u00a0 Belkin is simultaneously dismissing and validating that about which the Chaplains wrote.<\/p>\n

The letter expressed concern the Navy’s short-lived decision to allow ‘gay marriages’ in military chapels was a “sign of things to come” — a sign, incidentally, potentially contradicting “reassurances” the Defense of Marriage Act made any discussion of such topics moot.\u00a0 (US military training on DADT continues to emphasize that “nothing will change<\/a>.”)\u00a0 In addition, the letter noted the Chaplains had not been consulted<\/a> in the recent controversy, despite their very evident stake in the process.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the letter focuses on a sometime theme of the military Chaplaincy — “cooperation without compromise<\/em>.”\u00a0 In that vein, the letter notably calls only for protecting the religious freedom of US servicemembers, not\u00a0reinstating the law (though such advocacy\u00a0has been supported<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Also noted at the Religion Clause<\/a>, the Washington Post<\/a>, ArmyChaplaincy.com<\/a>, Stars and Stripes<\/a>, the Washington Times<\/a> and the Christian Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The recent controversy over the Navy’s apparent acceptance of homosexual marriages in base chapels (quickly reversed after Congressional disapproval) spurred a response by Chaplain endorsing agencies representing “over a thousand military chaplains.”\u00a0 The groups wrote a letter calling for conscience protections not only for Chaplains — but also for every servicemember: When guidance…is forthcoming from senior leadership that implies protected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1789,437,264,38,5284,78,219,1744,442,36,1788],"class_list":["post-11297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-and-religion","tag-aaron-belkin","tag-adf","tag-benjamin-mixon","tag-chapel","tag-chaplain","tag-congress","tag-dadt","tag-doma","tag-homosexual","tag-navy","tag-palm-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}