I guess the first question is why would a homosexual go to a AoG chaplain to get spiritual counseling...unless they were seeking advice on repentance.
I know in the Army if a homosexual approaches a chaplain for ‘homosexual marriage’ counseling and the chaplain opposes such, they are referred elsewhere. There are so many other family life trained chaplains and mental health and secular counseling on a military installation.
Of course we lack some critical information in this case which I hope his legal counsel can reveal to the public.
Plus as you know all ‘bets are off’ when someone asks another service member regardless to rank, or MOS their beliefs. At that point it is answering a question and not preaching.
This stinks chaplain.
I am a former family life chaplain. I was never required to give up my denominational beliefs when counseling. I had an ethical obligation to be up front about them, but the bottom line is that I am not allowed by both the denomination and the US Code to be an unfaithful representative of my denomination.
The other issue is that this chaplain was NOT counseling this ‘homosexual lieutenant’. As I dug into this, it appears the LT was working in his office for some reason and would ask hypothetical questions about what the chaplain would do in this and that circumstance, would ask what the chaplain believed, etc.
I can give no good reason for a lieutenant to be on special duty in a chaplain’s office. Chaplain assistants are not commissioned officers. They are enlisted. I’m Army, so the Naval chaplaincy could have some differences. Perhaps they were in a shared office space reception area.
In the long run, it doesn’t matter. For a chaplain to talk about sin in a counseling session is just fine. That’s not just within the scope of their duties. There is a necessity for them to the true to their denomination.