An Air Force article highlighted the services of the chaplains who serve in the Craig Joint Theater Hospital at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan:
Chaplain (Capt.) Gary Willeford, a member of the hospital RSTs. “Issues of faith may come up with the traumas that they have experienced. We come alongside of our patients and remind them that God has not forgotten Read more
In a Unitarian Universalist article entitled “End of DOMA brings new openness for military chaplains,” a chaplain and his endorser recently spoke about the ability to be “more open” now that DADT has been repealed:
[Unitarian Universalist] chaplains are now able to more easily support soldiers who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual and to help provide services for them and their families…
“The big difference is in my ability to be much more open myself about what my stance is,” said Chaplain (Captain) George Tyger, an active duty UU military chaplain. “As a UU minister, I represent the Unitarian Universalist Association in the military. Before DADT went down, I had to tiptoe around the issue, and now I don’t. I can say, ‘This is how I feel; I’m 100 percent affirming.’”
It’s an interesting highlight in an era in which most people seem to assume military chaplains universally have a problem with homosexuality.
By the same token, its no small irony that while a “100% affirming” military chaplain now has the confidence to boldly proclaim his support for homosexuality, non-affirming chaplains have reportedly had their confidence Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation believes the 2014 NDAA language requiring the US military to accommodate religious expression — not just religious belief — is “a good thing.”
Simultaneously, Weinstein’s MRFF also believes the language is “a blank check for bullies.”
Awkwardly, Weinstein and his “special research assistant” Chris Rodda issued opposing MRFF statements on precisely the same subject.
In mid-December, Rodda, speaking for Weinstein’s “charity,” said this in a little-noticed MRFF posting [emphasis added]: Read more
As repeal of the policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell” was occurring “uneventfully,” critics of repeal repeatedly noted that the other shoe had yet to drop on certain points of controversy.
For example, how would the military handle the potential of homosexuals wanting to attend marriage seminars or retreats — when the chaplains who lead them may not affirm a homosexual lifestyle, and the troops who attend them may theologically disagree with homosexuality?
It would seem the shoe finally dropped — and homosexual advocates have claimed “discrimination.”
For its part, the Air Force appears to have been the first service to publish explicit guidance on how to handle such situations:
When you advertise a [Marriage Care] retreat, announce the chaplain who will be leading the event and the chaplain’s endorser. If the chaplain is permitted to train same-gender couples in a MC event, then you may register all eligible married couples. However, if the chaplain is not permitted to train same-gender couples in a MC event, be prepared to offer…a MC event at another base or at a later date to a same-gender married couple.
If a same-gender married couple will be attending a MC event, make this known to the other couples as they register. If those couples choose not to register for this event, be prepared to offer them…a MC event at another base or at a later date.
As was discussed at the time, the Air Force has recognized Read more
In a local North Carolina paper repeated at the Stars and Stripes, Navy Chaplain (Lt) Michael Tomlinson discusses the role of the chaplaincy — and the importance of serving all sailors:
“A person may not always be a person of faith but that doesn’t mean I can’t really listen to their problems, give them direction and help them…”
Whether it is marital issues, the holiday blues or suicidal ideations, chaplains are there to help, he said, and will never betray the trust of those who confide in them.
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In the continuing search for eventful news about the “non-event” of homosexuality in the US military, a few news outlets were quick to ping Hill Air Force Base after Utah’s ban on homosexual “marriage” was overturned:
With same-sex marriage legal in Utah, Hill Air Force Base has become one of the few U.S. military installations where such unions can be performed.
It would seem the press was steps ahead even of those who were interested:
As of Thursday, no same-sex marriages had occurred at Hill, said base spokesman Richard Essary…
The base may yet see a whiplash, as the entire Read more
The US Air Force Academy recently reminded its cadets and staff that they have access to free, confidential counseling virtually anytime they want it through the Military Family Life Consultants:
The four Academy MFLCs can meet with service members, their families, Defense Department civilians, or cadets on- or off-base to provide situational, problem-solving counseling support and Read more
Mark Mueller of the Star-Ledger has an interesting piece on the Rev Ray Leonard — the contract Catholic priest and military chaplain who sued for access to his congregation during the government “shutdown.” It turns out Chaplain Leonard served for 10 years as a priest in China:
During a decade spent teaching and helping the needy in some of China’s most impoverished and oppressed regions, the New Jersey priest learned what it was like to live in a land without religious freedom.
It kindled a greater appreciation for his liberties at home.
That may have played a role in how he reacted to the US government forbidding him from serving his parish: Read more