U.S. Army threatens to court-martial chaplains who speak against homosexuality

The U.S. Army has officially threatened military chaplains they must either embrace the new openly homosexual military, resign from service, or face court-martial for their "religious, conscience" objections. The Pray In Jesus Name Project has obtained leaked copies (unintended for media disclosure) of a private briefing given to chaplains, threatening them with court-martial unless they compromise their Christian message.

Christian Chaplains who speak out against homosexual sin can be accused of "harassment" by homosexuals and face disciplinary action simply for voicing their religious views outside the "context" of their religious ministry.

[Chaps' interpretation: The phrase "vocational reflection" is not-so-subtle code language meaning "reconcile with homosexuality or find another line of work." The phrase "do NOT tolerate harassment" is code language for "don't speak against sin, for ANY reason, or you the Chaplain will be disciplined for quoting the Bible, and the homosexual protected."] More fine print from the text from the Army's presentation is directly quoted as follows:

ARMY: "You may hear the language, 'Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual', or 'GLB' at certain times in reference to homosexual Soldiers. As of today the Army has not directed the use of the any specific reference term but has accepted the usage of these terms."

ARMY: "You may, in appropriate circumstances and within the limitations of law and policy, express your moral or religious beliefs regarding sexual orientation. However, you may NOT make statements detrimental to good order and discipline and must obey lawful orders. You do NOT have the right to refuse duty or duty assignments based on a moral objection to another's sexual orientation."

[Chaps' Interpretation: the phrase 'appropriate circumstances' will soon mean ONLY in the context of Sunday chapel, thus Chaplains can be punished for private counseling, or speech outside of chapel, or speech inside chapel on Monday through Saturday, just as I was punished in writing 3 times for quoting the Bible in optional Saturday chapel services.]

ARMY: "You remain obligated to follow orders that involve interaction with others who are homosexual even if an unwillingness to do so is based on strong, sincerely held moral or religious beliefs. As expressed in the Manual for Courts-Martial regarding a Soldier's obligation to obey orders: 'the dictates of a person's conscience, religion, or personal philosophy cannot justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order.'"

[Chaps' Interpretation: the phrase 'lawful order' will mean ANYTHING ANTI-CHRISTIAN COMMANDERS WISH and judges will back up the Commander, not the Chaplain. I know from personal experience, when a Navy Judge said my Navy Commander could punish me, a chaplain, for disobeying "lawful orders" because I was quote "worshiping in public."]

Bottom Line: Army Chaplains will now be punished at court-martial for "disobedience" of "lawful orders" if they dare to express their religious views about homsexual sin outside of Sunday chapel.

The Pray In Jesus Name Project was featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week, with YOUR fax petition campaign to Congress getting noticed. Reporter Ann Rogers interviewed military chaplains who fear persecution by the Obama Administration, especially now that open homosexual service is being fast-tracked in violation of the rights of many Christian troops.

"The majority of 3,000 chaplains are theologically conservative Christians, many of whom worry that they will be accused of hate speech if they preach that same-sex relationships are sinful," the paper reports.

"The Pray in Jesus Name Project, which supports conservative chaplains, has called the Pentagon guidelines the 'plan to purge Christians' from chaplaincy.

"'Now the Obama Administration is officially on record pressuring chaplains to quit the service if they cannot 'reconcile' with homosexual sin that violates their Christian conscience,' said a petition on its website.

"The 'purge' is a clause that says chaplains have an option to leave the military that isn't open to others who object to serving with gay troops. They can ask their faith group to withdraw its endorsement, which would trigger a discharge.

"Retired Brig. Gen. Douglas E. Lee, a former Army chaplain who endorses for six conservative Presbyterian bodies, is less alarmist, but shares the concern that protection of religious freedom may erode.

"The fundamental issue for us is morality, but the debate is being purposely framed as a civil rights or a discrimination issue," he said.

"Homosexuality is 'just another sin that affects soldiers, airmen, guardians and Marines. However no other category that we would declare as sin is ... claiming civil rights to be a serial adulterer.'

"Any charges of hate speech will 'depend on how the chaplains handle themselves,' said the Rev. John Gundlach, a retired Navy chaplain and endorser for the United Church of Christ, which affirms gay sexuality."

Charges of hate speech against military chaplains? Even the pro-homosexual liberals admit the charges are coming. The full article may be read here. But suffice it to say we need to petition Congress to protect our Christian troops and Chaplains right to open religious expression, the same way the Obama Administration is now flaunting open homosexual expression.

The Obama Administration has now begun writing policies that will result in discharge of Christian Chaplains and troops who cannot "reconcile" with homosexual sin. Below are four shocking proof examples revealing how the purge has already begun, and why we must fight back NOW by demanding Congress investigate and pass strong laws defending our troops right to religious freedom starting with H.R. 268 which has not yet passed in 6 years, clearly defending military chaplains' right to pray publicly "in Jesus name."

1. Report: Chaplains who can't "reconcile" with homosexual sin will be separated.

The newly released Pentagon plan to purge Christians entitled "DADT Report: Support Plan for Implementation" specifically requires Christian chaplains to "reconcile" with homosexual sin or face administrative discharge. It repeats twice on pages 30 and 57: "If a chaplain is unable to reconcile serving with or caring for gay and lesbian Service members with his or her faith, the chaplain may request that the relevant endorsing agency withdraw its ecclesiastical endorsement for him or her. This would trigger an administrative separation under DoDI 1304.28." Wow. Now the Obama Administration is officially on record pressuring Chaplains to quit the service if they cannot "reconcile" with homosexual sin that violates their Christian conscience. This "plan" alone should alarm the new conservative Congress to the need for bold protection of Chaplains' rights. Let's help...

The Pentagon report dubiously promises to protect Chaplains' freedoms, "in the context of their religious ministry," claiming they won't need to change their sermons, counseling, prayers, or worship. But speaking from personal experience as a former Navy chaplain, I can decode the secret word "context" to mean chaplains clearly WON'T have religious freedom outside of that "context." As proof, in my case the Navy twice declared the only safe religious "context" was ONLY inside a Sunday chapel. As a chaplain I was punished in writing three times for quoting the Bible EVEN inside chapel, but since the optionally-attended worship service was held on a Saturday, not a Sunday, Navy investigators sided with the Commander who punished my sermons. Later a Navy judge ruled that my Thursday prayers outside the White House were "not public worship" which was only safe in the context of Sunday chapel, instead finding me guilty of the misdemeanor crime of "worshipping in public" in uniform which he said was NOT protected by federal law, so my commander could order me to stop "worshipping in public" in uniform. Say what? Because my prayers in Jesus name were not said in the proper "context," they were properly punished, the Navy judge ruled to punish the chaplain.

One Senior Officer in the Army National Guard has already been relieved of his battalion-level commanding officer job after stating his conscience would not allow him to participate in "re-education" training that will soon force young Christians to learn how to respect homosexual sin. "Today is my last day in command," the career Army officer told WND.com, anonymously for fear of losing his retirement. "From now on I'll be a staff officer without a bunch of people working under me, so I won't have the moral conflict with having to enforce this new policy on them...When I retire I will speak on the record. I don't know how much I can do before that. Sooner or later I'm going to get told to shut up. If I continue to make statements, it might become a witch hunt. I don't want to lose my retirement unless it comes to the point they tell me I have to attend the [pro-'gay'] training."

Atheist bloggers and anti-Christian complainers are demanding punishment for one heroic career Army officer, Lt. Col. Stacy L. Maxey, who said he will exercise his legal right to take a stand for Jesus against homosexual sin by publicly expressing his Christian beliefs.

In a letter to Stars and Stripes entitled "Won't Choose To Deal With It," Lt. Col. Maxey took a stand, and wrote:

"So let me see if I understand this: The Defense Department is proposing to let people who choose to live a homosexual lifestyle serve 'openly' in the armed forces, but won't allow Christians such as myself the freedom to 'openly' share the good news of Christ with our co-workers - as the faith we've chosen requires?

"DOD officials plan to tell servicemembers who have a problem with those living a homosexual lifestyle to 'learn to deal with it,' but they are prepared to counsel and/or slap Christians with paperwork if someone feels "offended" by our witness? Wearing sexual lifestyle choices on your sleeve is OK, but not your faith?

"Military chaplains who teach that homosexuality is antithetical to and incompatible with Christianity (which it is) can either muzzle their objections or 'leave,' but gays will be permitted to parade their lifestyle choices in front of all?

"Bottom line: So I'm free to express myself if I'm a homosexual, but not if I'm a Christian? What disgraceful hypocrisy.

"Here's the truth: I will continue to witness to who I want, when I want and where I want. My commitment to my God supersedes my commitment to the DOD and, if officials are upset about that, then I guess they can 'learn to deal with it.'

So! Now we'll have "faggot" brigades and "bigot" brigades?

Choosing your foxhole buddy is going to be a crap shoot otherwise...

“... they can continue to preach and follow their beliefs. The only obligation they have, just like with soldiers of different religions than theirs, is to find another chaplain who can minister to the gay service member and give them contact info. Same you would do if you were a Catholic chaplain and a Jewish soldier came to you looking for spiritual assistance.”

But being gay isn’t a religion. How can they stay true to their beliefs and still provide “contact info” to someone else who will accept what they know is morally corrupt?

Jewish, Catholic and homosexuality are now equal, in the same category? We’re screwed.

Come May, the high school grads of 2011 may learn to ‘’live with it’’ by avoiding the military alltogather and the grads of 2007 who will be ending their 1st hitch may decide to ‘’live with it’’ and get out. Plus those who are completing 20 years may be saying ‘’Adios to all the queers’’.

How can they stay true to their beliefs and still provide “contact info” to someone else who will accept what they know is morally corrupt?

That is a fact of life of being a military chaplain. And it is something all of them have to accept before joining the service.

There are chaplains of every imaginable Christian sect, plus Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and on and on. Does each one individually decide who is morally corrupt and who is not? Who decides which soldiers are worthy of religious care and which is not?

You and I might not agree with what that means in regards to homosexuals, but imagine if a Baptist chaplain could deny religious aid to a Catholic, or a Mormon chaplain to an unrepentant alcoholic, a Jewish chaplain to one who eats pork, etc, etc. I'll take the bad with the good in this case.

‘the dictates of a person’s conscience, religion, or personal philosophy cannot justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order.’

Hmm, they seem to be saying that the "I was just following orders" defense is now a legitimate defense. Moral relativism and political correctness are killing Western civilization.

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