Here is a disturbing story from CNA:
Chaplains opposed to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal coming under pressure
Washington D.C., Nov 3, 2010 / 06:13 am (CNA).- A federal court has again reinstated the U.S. military’s policy against open homosexuals in service. While military chaplains are “hopeful” the policy will stay in place, some have been told they should “just get out” if the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is repealed. [That is a deeply disturbing message. Anyone who has exercised command in the military over a significant number will confirm how important the chaplain can be. And then there is the issue of chaplains for the wounded. The US military is desperately short of chaplains as it is.]
On Monday two of the three judges on the panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted a judge’s order which forbade the enforcement of the U.S. military’s policy against open homosexuals in the armed forces.
The judges in the majority said they agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice that a federal district court judge’s global injunction against the policy “will seriously disrupt ongoing and determined efforts by the Administration to devise an orderly change” if such a change will happen.
The case will be “moot” if the administration persuades Congress to eliminate the policy, the two judges added. They said four other federal appeals courts’ decisions cast doubt on whether the lower court judge exceeded her authority and ignored existing legal precedents.
District Court Judge Virginia Phillips had ruled that homosexuals could not serve in the military without having their First Amendment Rights breached.
President Barack Obama has opposed the policy and has worked to end it legislatively. The Log Cabin Republicans, a homosexual group, has been trying to overturn the policy through the federal judiciary.
[…]
“One chaplain stood up in a high-level meeting created precisely for the purpose of getting service members’ thoughts on the repeal of the policy. And he asked ‘What should chaplains do? What should people of faith do if this policy changes and we have problems of conscience with how it’s going to affect us?’” Blomberg said.
“That individual was told by a high-ranking member of the panel that they should just get out of the military.” [And then what? Would they be “replaced” with chaplains who are themselves homosexual or at least pro-homosexual? “Tolerant”?]
[…]
Archbishop for the Military Services Timothy J. Broglio has opposed repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In an interview with CNA last month, he warned of a “latent” danger to religious liberty in the agenda advanced by some people in the name of tolerance.
“(T)here is an agenda to force everyone to accept as normal and positive behavior that is contrary to the moral norms of many religions, including the Catholic Church,” he commented, voicing concern that teaching morality or forming young people in their faith could be misconstrued as intolerance.
Several readers have asked along these lines:
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