(RNS) Chaplains Say Navy Wedding Policy Confuses a Fraught Debate

A recent Navy memo that would permit military chaplains to officiate at same-sex marriage ceremonies upon repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy is creating tension amid an already fractious debate.

“It is absolutely deplorable,” said the Rev. Billy Baugham, executive director of the International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers. “It is a total surprise to us in the sense that we did not know it would really come to this.”

The chief of Navy chaplains announced in an April 13 memo that training materials for the expected repeal have been changed to allow chaplains to officiate at some same-sex ceremonies.

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Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, --Civil Unions & Partnerships, Law & Legal Issues, Military / Armed Forces, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Sexuality

17 comments on “(RNS) Chaplains Say Navy Wedding Policy Confuses a Fraught Debate

  1. Adam 12 says:

    I think what bothers me particularly is that sacred spaces would be used for these purposes. Can any of the clergy comment on whether it would be appropriate to worship in places where such ceremonies are conducted?

  2. tired says:

    What a striking symbol of decline and decay – that our military is investing in such questions.

    🙄

  3. Sarah says:

    Heh.
    http://apnews.myway.com/article/20110511/D9N512K00.html

    Only 18 more months, folks — and the gay activists know it.

  4. Cennydd13 says:

    2. Dear Adam: Ditto!

  5. Creedal Episcopalian says:

    Tired,
    This is not a passive symbol of decline and decay, it is a deliberate part of the long march through the institutions, the deliberate subversion of our culture by progressives . The “gay” issue has proven to be an ideal wedge to use by the left to gain control of the schools, the churches, and now the military, civil rights having mostly failed, I think largely because civil rights are fundamentally a conservative (“Liberal” with a capitol L) issue.
    It is a tactic for revolution by those who are not strong enough to use force of arms, and it appears to be working.
    Does it really make sense that the roughly 2% of the population who define their entire beings in terms of sexual debauchery really care about the military? Does it matter? No, the homosexualization of the military is a deliberate tactic to destroy a robust and necessary institution from within by corrupting the discipline it relies on through coercion by the Courts.

  6. tired says:

    [5] Who said anything about passive? There are those who advocate and militate for decline and decay of the nation – morally and otherwise. Of course they view themselves as ‘progressive.’

  7. nwlayman says:

    I was speaking to a Navy chaplain just the other day who pointed out just how big the problem is for the military. The repeal of DADT is on, but what happens when someone shows up for duty with a “partner”? The feds don’t recognize (yet) such unions, so no housing/dependent allowances or benefits. The political favors got ahead of everything else.

  8. Bookworm(God keep Snarkster) says:

    Wait till they get hit in their wallet–listen up, taxpayers!!

    Note this little blurb from the commentary that Sarah links:

    “And even if a same-sex union ceremony is performed, same-sex partners would not get any health, housing or other benefits that are provided to married couples involving a man and woman”.

    You can bet your buns that this will be the next crusade–“But, my gay ‘marriage’ or civil union is ‘legal’, so my partner and I are entitled(oh, that word again) to benefits”.

    And then, this, from Canon Harmon’s post:

    “Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez disagreed, telling the Navy Times: “DOMA does not limit the type of religious ceremonies a chaplain may perform in a chapel on a military installation. Chaplains are authorized to perform religious ceremonies consistent with the practices of the chaplain’s faith group in chapels on military installations.”

    I wonder if the Navy, then, will start allowing Wiccan chaplains who perform polyamorous unions, too. Oh, well, who cares–it’s all about promoting a more egalitarian society and mixing up the gene pool.

    DUH…

  9. Cennydd13 says:

    No, they’re not ‘progressive!’ They’re [b]destructive![/b] They aim to destroy society in order to rebuild it [b]in their image.[/b]

  10. Cennydd13 says:

    7. This means no BAS (Basic Allowance for Subsistance), no QA (Quarters Allowance for housing), no FSA (Family Separation Allowance), and the list could get longer.

  11. Ralph says:

    The Navy has wisely backed down on this, under Congressional pressure. Obviously, it could come back around at a later time.

    See:
    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/11/navy-halts-allow-gay-unions-chaplains-complaints-lawmakers/

  12. GB46 says:

    10,
    Not quite. There’d still basic housing allowance for single servicemembers (an E5 at Ft Benning, for example, would get $959 versus the “with dependants” rate of $1104), BAS would be $323.87 regardless of dependents for enlisted. The individual wouldn’t get family separation, though.

  13. Cennydd13 says:

    12. You’re right…..been there and done that, but that was in 1978. My wife and I were stationed at McGuire, and our housing allowance was somewhat lower, but adequate enough to supplement what we paid out in Mount Holly.

  14. lostdesert says:

    And this incredible revolution, in my lifetime, where a student in a Catholic high school, a friend of one of my children, was scolded for not supporting some student sponsored gay rights initiative, in a CATHOLIC high school. All of this is accomplished …….. without a single shot fired. Near overthrow of our sacred institutions, not even a fist fight. Just …… crickets while they take all that they choose to take.

  15. deaconmark says:

    Chicken Little: “Help! Help! The sky is falling! I have to go tell the king!”
    Narrator: So she ran in great fright to tell the king. Along the way she met Henny Penny.
    Henny Penny: “Where are you going, Chicken Little?”
    Chicken Little: “Oh, help! The sky is falling!”
    Henny Penny: “How do you know?”
    Chicken Little: “I saw it with my own eyes, and heard it with my own ears, and part of it fell on my head!”
    Henny Penny: “This is terrible, just terrible! We’d better hurry up.”

  16. Br. Michael says:

    I listened to Chastity Bono defend her decision to mutilate her body to achieve the illusion of being a male. This is evidence of a decadent and degenerate society. Deaconmark may deny it to defend his chosen sexual practices, but societies do rot and fall. No one expected Rome to fall but it did and the sky did fall.

  17. deaconjohn25 says:

    Polls show younger adults are more “pro-gay” than any other group. It is usually portrayed in the media as the enlightened wave of the future. Hogwash! It is the result of media brainwashing -especially by the entertainment media–over the years this group has grown up. This, along with corrupt court decisions and school pro-gay propaganda, is now coming to fruition as even our military becomes part of the debauchery and decadence.