CHAPLAIN ALLIANCE FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY September 17, 2012 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact CHAPLAIN ENDORSERS at info@chaplainalliance.org or call (571) 293-2427
No Cause for Celebration: DADT Repeal Immediately Creates Major Problems for Service Members
WASHINGTON — Approaching the first anniversary of the repeal of the so-called DADT policy, mounting evidence demonstrates the negative consequences of implementing a radical sexual agenda in our military.
"The American armed forces exist to defend our nation, not as social experiment lab in which our troops serve as human subjects," said Chaplain (Colonel Retired) Ron Crews, ED of CALL. "While many will ignore the negative impacts, or pretend that they don't exist, threats to our troops’ freedom are mounting."
Examples of the negative consequences since the Sept. 20, 2011 repeal include the following:
- Senior military officials have allowed personnel in favor of repeal to speak to media while those who have concerns have been ordered to be silent.
- Two Airmen were publicly harassed in a Post Exchange food court as they were privately discussing their concerns about the impact of repeal.
- A chaplain was encouraged by military officials to resign his commission unless he could ‘get in line with the new policy,’ demonstrating no tolerance for that chaplain's religious viewpoint.
- At an officer training service school, a male service member sexually harassed another male service member through text messages, emails, phone calls and in-person confrontations. The harassing male insisted the two would “make a great couple.” The harassed serviceman reported the harassment, but the command failed to take disciplinary action.
- A chaplain was threatened with early retirement, and then reassigned to be more “closely supervised,” because he had expressed concerns with the policy change, again demonstrating no tolerance for that chaplain's religious viewpoint.
- Service members engaged in homosexual behavior protested a service school's open doors policy for all students that prohibited the closing of room doors for sexual purposes. The protestors were upset because they claimed that they had a right to participate in sexual behavior with their same-sex roommates.
- A senior chaplain was stripped of his authority over the chapel under his charge because, in accordance with federal law, he proclaimed the chapel as a ‘sacred space’ where marriage or marriage-like ceremonies would only be between one man and one woman.
- Same-sex ceremonies have been performed at military chapels, including one at Fort Polk, LA, a state that constitutionally defines marriage as one man and one woman.
- The Navy has allowed sailors openly engaged in homosexual behavior to choose their bunkmates.
"This list of problems and incidents that have arisen mere months after this administration imposed its will on the armed forces is disturbing to say the least, and we know it is only the beginning," said Crews. “Compounding the outrage, service members are not free to speak out about these matters. This ensures that distrust in the ranks will increase and morale will decrease as the number of silenced victims grows."
Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty has worked with members of Congress to enact legislation to protect freedom of conscience for chaplains and those they serve. This legislation has passed the House of Representatives but is awaiting action in the Senate.
Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is an organization of chaplain endorsers, the faith groups that provide chaplains for the U.S. military and other agencies needing chaplains. The endorsers in Chaplain Alliance speak for more than 2,600 chaplains serving the Armed Forces.
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