- Providing religious ministry and support to those of your own faith
- Facilitating the religious requirements of those from all faiths
- Caring for all service members and their families, including those subscribing to no specific faith
- Advising the command in ensuring the free exercise of religion"
(From Navy.com)
Recently, there was a news item which asked opinion as to wether a U.S. Navy Chaplain who was being processed for discharge after 19 years of service should in fact be separated from the service.
I read with interest, this story. Many Navy Chaplains are friends of mine. Anyone who knows me will tell you that if I see a Navy Chaplain, I will stop an say hello. During my time in the Navy and since retirement, the Chaplain was always a friendly face and a source of advice and comfort. So, any story of a Chaplain being forced to leave the Navy peeks my interest.
I will get into the story in a moment and my opinion will become clear. But first, a little background about Chaplains. If you have read the above excerpt from Navy.com, you will see that no place does it say that Chaplains are to recruit members to their Faith. Further, it specifically states that the Chaplain is to care for ALL service members of all Faiths and of NO faith. In other words, don't try to sell your beliefs or moral judgements onto those you are there to help. You are there for EVERYONE.
Now, on to the Chaplain in question. It seems that he had a problem with some of the Navy's policies regarding women and homosexuals. (Just the description of his problem was hard for me to type)
He didn't like women because they would get pregnant and pregnancy without the benefit of marriage is against HIS faith. He would counsel young, unmarried women that they were bad people and that they would be punished by the Lord for engaging in pre-marital intercourse. Worse, their child was an abomination, a bastard. I thought these attitudes went away sometime in the last 50 years. Certainly, I do not understand how remarks along these lines could be considered counseling and for the betterment of the service member, Command or military community at large.
Next we move on to the issue of this Chaplain's stand on gay rights. Very simply, he believed that it was appropriate to inform service members who identified as homosexual that they and their life style were an abomination, forbidden by the written word of the Bible. He went on to counsel what the proper use of the human sexual organs were, in his (and presumably the Lord's) view.
Upon hearing the complaints of members of this Chaplains command, an investigation ensued. The results of which recommended that the officer in question be separated from the service.
The news article which reported all of this asked readers to comment as to wether they agreed with the Chaplain or the Command. My comment was simple. 2 words: Discharge Him!
Here is my reasoning.
1. The Chaplain in question stated that he was just acting in accordance with his Faith. There is a problem with this defense. All Chaplains serve in the Military with the permission of their home Church. This permission is in the form of a written authorization to the Military Department in which they wish to serve. So, the Chaplain, if he feels that he can no longer carry out his duties in accord with the teachings of his Church; all he need do is request that his Church revoke his permission to serve in the Navy. He would be processed for discharge.
2. Chaplains, as noted from the Navy's own web page, are required to serve all hands, regardless of faith. The counselor's faith has not one thing to do with how he is expected to counsel service members in the secular world. If he can not make the switch from the spiritual to the secular world when dealing with his charges, he can not perform his duties and he should request discharge.
3. Finally. In the story comments, many people applauded this particular Chaplain for standing on his Faith. Somehow, they saw him as a David standing on the plain, facing a Goliath. His slingshot in hand, as the weapon to protect HIS FAITH from the non-believers. I beg to disagree in the strongest possible terms! Military Chaplains are required to minister to their "flocks" in accordance with directives and instructions from higher authority. That is higher EARTHLY authority. In this case, the Chaplain knew what the Department of the Navy policy was and he chose to ignore it in favor of a policy of his own making. That is a dereliction of duty and a violation of trust. He violated the oath he took when he was commissioned. He violated the trust the Navy placed in him. Worse, he violated the trust of those people who sought him out for help.
Faith had nothing to do with this issue. The Chaplain in question was in it for himself. The Navy determined that he was "Intolerant". That is putting it mildly. If anyone else had acted in this way, there would have been no question as to the disposition of their service.
The questions this officer raised are just plain silly. Pre-marital sex has been around since the institution of marriage. Homosexuality has been around longer than that. Who cares?
You have to do what is right for you. I've said this time and time again. We need to get out of each other's bedrooms and embrace the things that we all have in common. I have friends who are gay, straight and as crooked as they come. I honestly do not care what they do in their private life. Live and let live.
Oh, to the Chaplain, if you think people are going to stop having sex because they are not married, you might need more than a discharge. You may need to become a solitary monk.
I hope I've made my position clear. This story had been bothering me since I first read it last week. Thaks for putting up with me.
As always...
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