May 17, 2012
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Military chaplains and service members opposed to same-sex marriage are coming under attack in the military, according to Republican lawmakers and a chaplain advocacy group.
The Chaplain Alliance For Religious Liberty said there is an effort under way to silence, and in some cases punish, those opposed to gay marriage. The allegations surfaced after the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
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“If you are supportive of same sex marriage, you can speak boldly,” said Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance. “But if you are opposed, you are silenced.”
Crews is one of 19 individuals to write a letter to the House Armed Services Committee urging lawmakers to protect the religious liberties of chaplains and service members.
“Until Congress acts decisively, efforts to silence the voices of our military chaplains of all faiths and backgrounds will likely continue well into the future,” the letter read. “It is time that Congress secures the rights of all chaplains, once and for all, instead of allowing those that do not subscribe to the orthodoxy of the day to be unconstitutionally silenced.”
The Pentagon disputed those assertions. In a statement to Fox News they said chaplains are not required to participate or officiate in any private ceremony that might conflict with their religious or personal beliefs. They also denied any service members have been punished for opposing gay marriage.
“In general, as we have reinforced in training across the force, DADT Repeal is not about changing attitudes but rather about reinforcing behavior that treats everyone with dignity and respect,” the spokesman said.
George Wright, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, said in a statement to Fox News “the religious freedoms of Army chaplains are already well protected in Army policy and regulations.”
Crews said they know of dozens of instances where military personnel have come under fire. He said one chaplain was told that if he could not support DADT he should resign his commission.
“Some of these chaplains have in fact had their careers impacted,” he told Fox News. “They’ve been punished. Right now, if you are opposed to this policy you’re not seen as a team player.
An amendment to the 2013 defense authorization bill could change that. The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), protects religious freedom of military chaplains and service members opposed to same-sex marriage.
Akin said he’s received a number of complaints about people of religious faith concerned about what they perceive to be attacks on Christianity.
“There is a war on religious belief in the military,” Akin told Fox News.
Akin said he was aware of chaplains who’ve come under fire for their opposition.
“That’s the point (of the amendment),” he said. “To prevent further reprisals in the future.”
“It’s frightening,” Crews said. “This is just another example of this administration’s push against religious liberty.”
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Soldiers can't say Merry Xmas? Damn shame. Moving on.
Soldiers can't say Merry Xmas? Damn shame. Moving on.
Bullshit! I have been in the Army for almost 8 years and as someone who is NOT Christian and NOT religious, I am a minority. OUR beliefs get overlooked constantly. I have been forced to participate in prayers, forced to bow my head in prayer. Christianity is ALWAYS at the forefront of EVERY ceremony I have ever taken part of so don't tell me that bullshit.
The only thing that is happening is all these homophobic, ignorant people who are in the military who are attacking homosexuals – which I will tell you is not very many. IN FACT I have seen nothing change since DADT was repealed. In my current unit I have met one lesbian and she doesn't broadcast it, doesn't push her beliefs on others, doesn't sit there and shout gay pride. In fact, the only people TALKING about homosexuals are heterosexuals who are scared of them.
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The A$$hole trolls who have nothing more than to provide FALSE arguments without a shred of proof or any REAL debate about Christianity except for the old tired propaganda shows the brainwashing they have gone through and it shows their zealous hatred for Christians. The Ant-Christian Hatred has become a fundamental religion unto itself. The same arguments that the Liberal proffesors used to use against capitalism and extolled the virtues of Marxism mirrors thie hatred being preached against Christians. Stalin had some great arguments for the extermination of 46 million people , those arguments against Christians start to sound a lot a like. I have not heard any Christians pushing for the extermination of millions , but have listened to the propaganda of HATE by those against Christians. Oh, I do realize that their are a bunch of trolls who are being paid to to make these attacks on Christians as evidenced by articles calling for black women to quit going to church in order to get a man. Some really BS ideaology being pushed as Atheism wghich as it turns out is really just a Anti-Christian Agenda. I wonder who these Anti-Christians really could be representing?
@Lee Stern – No one hates Christianity. I strongly dislike people who say they are Christian but have no concept of their faith, blindly follow it or believe what they are told about it without actually reading the religious texts of it or know it's history. Christians aren't perfect – neither are Jews, Muslims, or any other people of any faith. No one is perfect. But there is no "anti-Christian" hatred. People are just tired of all the people who USE Christianity to further hate. People who are against Christianity are not like Stalin or Hitler or anyone. That's ridiculous. No Christians have ever pushed for the extermination of millions? Crusades? Or I have heard Christians who say kill all Muslims, kill all Jews, kill all non-believers.
Also I know of no one who gets paid to "troll" on the Internet. Where can I get that job? lol. I think you're just overreacting. If YOU believe in Christianity and that is YOUR faith, why does it matter what anyone else thinks about it?
This is part and parcel to the continued push of political correctness. Good people of faith and morality have to stand firm against these purveyors of P.C. or they will continue to use whatever means necessary to silence those that stand opposed to immoral behavior. There is a war going on against Christianity in particular because it is the strongest force against the secular humanist view that any thing and everything is acceptable. To me it seems that good people of faith are losing the battle because they allow themselves to be intimidated when the left calls them judgemental. Damn right you should be judgemental! Otherwise you and your children will continue to be exposed to the corruption of the immoral left. There have to be moral boundaries or we go the route of the ancient Roman empire….into the refuse of history.
Google First Scandal.
Prejudice is wholly rooted in ignorance. If that ignorance is due to a poor education, and a lack of understanding of the close genetic relationship of all humans on the planet, you might believe skin color is a sensible way to classify people. If that ignorance is due to a childhood of indoctrination in the retranslated, illiterate scribblings of bronze-age goat herders, you might believe an imaginary sky daddy with the persona of a malevolent 7 year old voyeur stands an eternal watch obsessed with your junk.
The right of military members to ignorantly believe in what they like is protected, but in neither case should they be allowed to treat fellow service members differently because of their prejudices.
Is not the origin of the establishment of marriage to establish genealogy of the progeny of one woman and one man; a way to avoid the possibility of in-breeding? What consenting adults do or do not do in privacy is of no concern to me. What concerns me is putting it out there in the public domain whether it is heterosexual or homosexual. Two men can comprise a couple, two women can comprise a couple, a man and a woman can comprise a couple. Marriage is a civil agreement however same sex couples will have no need of recording progency through time. We must recognize and accept same sex couples exist.