Quote:
Originally Posted by SWTXBelle
Many religions believe homosexuality is a sin. Requiring all those chaplains to go against their religious beliefs would be government interference in religion - unless they are running up to random service members and yelling "You are going to hell!". But those reports (link, please?) from homosexual members make me wonder - if you are gay and know that a denomination or religion believe homosexuality is a sin, why would you a.) go to that denomination's service or b.) to that clergy member for counseling. To the best of my knowledge (and my friend who is a retired chaplain) those are the primary duties of a chaplain. No one is forced to attend services or seek counseling. Do you have a problem with those who regard adultery as a sin? Because I can guarantee there are adulterers in the armed forces. If you require all chaplains to essentially have no beliefs with which someone might disagree I think only UUs would be able to serve, and it is my understanding that they wouldn't be able to include those who will not accept the validity of all beliefs.
Now if a chaplain were to rail against sin at, for example, a multi-denominational service that would be different. I am not comfortable with the idea of restricting religious belief or expression unless it violates the law. If the Flying Spaghetti Monster chaplain wants to preach against the evils of Alfredo sauce, he/she should be able to, even though I personally love the creamy richness, artery-clogging although it may be. I just won't go to his/her service.
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In quite a few military situations, particularly (perhaps ironically?) the ones that feature the highest incidence of situations that would bring someone to see a chaplain, there are few (if any) options. There may be one guy.
There's no "Mall of Chaplains" to choose from. If a guy wants spiritual guidance on how to deal with the death of a friend, or to clear his conscience should the unthinkable happen, he should be able to do so without someone railing against gays.
And that's not "going against [the chaplain's] religion" - they don't have to be
pro-gay or anything (that would be going against it). Just not anti-gay. There's a world of difference.