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Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 30,867
Master Elite Member
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Help Safeguard Religious Freedom in the
Military
Back on September 30, 2011,
unelected political appointee Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and
Readiness Clifford L. Stanley circulated a Pentagon memo stating that military
chaplains would no longer be prohibited from officiating at same-sex
unions. Major General Stanley’s pronouncement came on the heels of the
September 20 repeal of the “Don’t Ask, don’t Tell,” policy.
An organization representing over
2,000 military chaplains -- Evangelicals and Orthodox -- quickly responded
to the Pentagon’s memo describing it as a “direct assault” on marriage
because it authorized the use of federal facilities for private same-sex
union ceremonies. Dr. Ron Crews, executive director of the Alliance for
Religious Liberty and an ex-military chaplain said the Pentagon’s move contradicts current federal law, the
Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA, and also is a “direct assault on the
fundamental unit of society, husband and wife.” Crew rightly noted that
the right NOT to participate in same-sex “marriage” ceremonies is “not
given by the Pentagon, but rather given by the Creator and protected by
the chaplain’s faith group.”
In February 2012 when the Obama
administration issued its HHS contraceptive mandate that violated the
conscience rights and moral principles of the Catholic Church, Catholic
bishops across the land responded with letters of protest and pastoral
guidance to be read at every Mass on Sunday, the Obama Administration silenced Catholic Army chaplains
from reading the letter to their congregations. That letter was authored by Archbishop Timothy Broglio. But
Catholic Army military congregations didn’t hear it.
From
instituting a direct contradiction to DOMA via edict, circumventing proper
legislation, to mandating the violation of conscience rights, to banning
Catholic military chaplains from reading a pastoral letter to their own
faithful, it’s clear to see that there is indeed an attack on religious
liberty. Some are even fearful that the Pentagon and the Obama
Administration are on track to establish an official government church
that would serve as a mouthpiece for government and military propaganda as
in the case of some communist countries.
The recently introduced
Military Religious Freedom Protection Act, H.R. 3828 with 43 cosponsors (as of April 3, 2012),
would protect the conscience rights, moral principles and religious
beliefs of both military members and military chaplains. This legislation
includes these provisions:
- Protection of Rights of Conscience-- The sincerely held religious or
moral beliefs of a member of the Armed Forces concerning the appropriate
and inappropriate expression of human sexuality shall be accommodated
and shall not be the basis of any adverse personnel action,
discrimination, or denial of promotion, schooling, training, or
assignment....
- A military chaplain shall not be directed, ordered, or required to
perform any duty, rite, ritual, ceremony, service, or function that is
contrary to the conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs of
the chaplain or contrary to the moral principles or religious beliefs of
the chaplain's faith group. The refusal by a military chaplain to
perform a duty, rite, ritual, ceremony, service, or function that is
contrary to the conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs of
the chaplain or contrary to the moral principles or religious beliefs of
the chaplain's faith group shall not be the basis for any adverse
personnel action, discrimination, or denial of promotion, schooling,
training, or assignment....
These are much needed safeguards
for our military men and women and the chaplains who serve
them.
Currently, H.R. 3828 is sitting in the Subcommittee for
Military Personnel of the House Committee on Armed Services. The
Subcommittee members are:
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Joe
Wilson,
South Carolina Visit Site
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Walter B. Jones, North
Carolina Visit Site
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Mike Coffman, Colorado Visit Site
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Thomas J. Rooney, Florida Visit Site
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Joe Heck, Nevada Visit Site
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Allen West , Florida Visit Site
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Austin Scott , Georgia Visit Site
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Vicky Hartzler, Missouri Visit Site
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Susan A. Davis, California
Visit Site
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Robert A. Brady,
Pennsylvania Visit Site
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Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam
Visit Site
•
David Loebsack, Iowa Visit Site
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Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts
Visit Site
•
Chellie Pingree, Maine Visit Site
Contact these
subcommittee members and ask them to support getting H.R. 3828 reported
out of committee and brought to the House floor for a vote.
Also,
be sure to send an email message to your Representative and Senators in
support of H.R. 3828, "Military Religious Freedom Protection
Act."
Thanks.
Your Friends at The John Birch Society |
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Entire Thread
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Help Safeguard Religious Freedom in the Military
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Russ
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04/04/12 12:30 PM
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