Urgent Petition! Defend Military Chaplains. Demand Congress pass H.R. 3828 to protect chaplains religious freedom to oppose immorality, & troops’ conscience. Select here, sign petition, we will fax all 535 Congressmen (saving you time!)
Chaplains “Persecuted Based on their Religious Beliefs,” says Congressman
Our friends at Human Events report: “The House Armed Services Committee will have a chance later this week to consider a measure that would protect freedom of conscience for military chaplains in the wake of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
“Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), Chairman of the HASC Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, introduced an amendment to the FY 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that would protect military chaplains and all service members, he said, from ‘persecution based on their religious beliefs.’…
“…a bill introduced in January by Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.)…would explicitly allow military chaplains to preach and practice their faith without fear of professional reprisal, following the repeal of a longstanding ban on gay troops serving openly, and reports that chaplains with moral opposition to homosexuality were experiencing pressure to stay silent about their beliefs.
“The bill, which would also prohibit base chapels from being used for same-sex marriage services, has picked up four sponsors…and now stands at 49, but has languished in committee since January. Akin’s amendment does not include a prohibition on same-sex services on bases, but otherwise reads like Huelskamp’s bill.
“The Armed Forces shall accommodate the conscience and sincerely held moral principles and religious beliefs of the members of the Armed Forces concerning the appropriate and inappropriate expression of human sexuality and may not use such conscience, principles, or beliefs as the basis of any adverse personnel action, discrimination, or denial of promotion, schooling, training, or assignment,” it says.
“According to information from Akin’s office, the amendment was developed with help from Huelskamp, Rep. Steve Palazzo (R-Miss.) and chaplains’ advocacy groups.
“My amendment is about protecting the religious liberty of military chaplains and the service members under their care,” Akin said in a statement. “Liberals may have successfully ended Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but they should not be allowed to force members of our military to give up their religious beliefs. That is simply unacceptable and unconstitutional.”
“The House Armed Services Committee is expected to consider the amendment in the latter half of its all-day mark-up Wednesday. It’s unclear how the vote will go.”
[Dr. Chaps’ Comment: Why is it ‘unclear’ how the vote will go? Do Democrats oppose the First Amendment Freedoms of Chaplains to preach the gospel? Let’s petition all 100 Senators, and all 435 Congressmen, especially the Armed Services Committees…]
YOU CAN READ AKIN’S NEW AMENDMENT PROTECTING CHAPLAINS HERE.
Then please call EVERY member of the House Armed Services Committee listed here, by dialing 202-225-3121 and requesting each Member by name, to request they PASS THE AKIN AMENDMENT TO H.R. 1540.
Don’t have time to make 61 phone calls today? Just sign our petition and we will fax all 61 members instantly, saving you much time! How much time would it take you? Sign here:
2,000 Chaplains: Obama policy has “seeded hostility toward chaplains”
Our friends at the Traditional Values Coalition have sent an urgent warning about the Pentagon’s continued pressure against Christian Chaplains, to either endorse homosexual sin as normal or be silenced or punished.
“Right now, thousands of military chaplains are under threat from new regulations that prevent them from speaking out in any way against homosexuality and other sound Biblical teaching,” says TVC President Andrea Lafferty.
“Should our military chaplains be brave enough to preach or counsel one of our men and women in uniform contrary to the desires of the Defense Department, the new regulations repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ can ultimately ruin the careers of these military chaplains, up to and including dishonorable discharge — all because our chaplains refuse to compromise their consciences!
“So serious and dire is this threat that over 18 Christian denominations have reached out to Congress and urged them to reverse the Defense Department’s course. Some denominations such as the Catholic Military Archdiocese have threatened to remove all of their military chaplains, should Obama refuse to backtrack on his violations of our religious freedoms.”
TVC is not alone in their concern.
The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty represents over 2,000 military chaplains, and recently wrote to the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee:
“Unfortunately, recent changes in military and other policies have ushered into existence a seeded hostility toward chaplains that subscribe to longstanding, deeply-held tenets regarding marriage and sexual behavior. If this hostility toward the chaplaincy persists, and certain chaplains lose their endorsements because of their inability to teach and share with their fellow servants the full counsel of God, a constitutional crisis will emerge, as the military cannot function without the chaplaincy, much less a partial chaplaincy.”
Let’s take a stand for our chaplains’ freedom of speech, now threatened by the Obama Administration’s active policies of censorship and hatred of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s petition Congress to pass this chaplain freedom bill…
Obama threatens Chaplains: “You can’t preach against me in chapel.”
The Obama Administration has now directly threatened military chaplains with “sedition” or equivalent charges of “treason” if they dare to preach against Obama’s abortion policies during optional Sunday worship inside military chapels.
According to the Business Insider, an “emerging conflict between the Catholic Church and the Obama administration may have a new front: in the U.S. military itself.
“The Catholic Church is fighting mad about an HHS ruling that would have them buy insurance for things they consider sinful–contraception, sterilization and abortion.
“All the bishops in the country sent out a letter to be read in their parishes promising that the Church ‘cannot-and will not-comply with this unjust law.’
“Even Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who is in charge of Catholic military chaplains sent out the same letter.
“But after he did, the Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains sent out another communication forbidding Catholic priests to read the letter, in part because it seemed to encourage civil disobedience, and could be read as seditious against the Commander-in-Chief.
“More than one Catholic chaplain who spoke to us off the record confirmed that many chaplains disobeyed this instruction and read the letter anyway. [Risking treason charges.] Others sought further instructions from their Archbishop.
“Now after much behind-the-scenes bureaucratic wrangling, a new version of the letter will be read, one that was edited of the language about ‘unjust laws.’…
“A new statement issued this afternoon from Archbishop Broglio’s office acknowledged the interference this way:
“Archbishop Broglio and the Archdiocese stand firm in the belief, based on legal precedent, that such a directive from the Army constituted a violation of his Constitutionally-protected right of free speech and the free exercise of religion, as well as those same rights of all military chaplains and their congregants.
“Following a discussion between Archbishop Broglio and the Secretary of the Army, The Honorable John McHugh, it was agreed that it was a mistake to stop the reading of the Archbishop’s letter. Additionally, the line: ‘We cannot – we will not – comply with this unjust law’ was removed by Archbishop Broglio at the suggestion of Secretary McHugh over the concern that it could potentially be misunderstood as a call to civil disobedience. [The chaplains’ speech was censored by the Obama Administration.]
“It’s an issue that Catholic chaplains are taking very seriously in private.”
[Chaps Comment: It’s clear that OBAMA IS AFRAID OF CHURCH VOTE AWAKENING. Let’s take a stand for military chaplains rights, by petitioning Congress right now:
Chaplains threatened, retaliated for Religious Views. Hero Congressman Steps Up.
It seems like common sense. Chaplains should be free to express their religious beliefs, and freely teach and counsel against immorality in our military. But after repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” religious liberty of our military chaplains and troops is under attack.
Focus on the Family reports good news: “Late last week, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., introduced a bill aiming to protect chaplains and other members of the Armed Services who oppose homosexuality from being targeted for discrimination. It also seeks to keep military property from being used to perform same-sex ceremonies.
“In part, the Military Religious Freedom Protection Act (HR 3828) reads that ‘a service member cannot be denied promotion or other training opportunities for any sincerely held beliefs he has about the appropriate or inappropriate expression of human sexuality.’
“Though the First Amendment to the Constitution already protects those rights, Huelskamp said in a press release it’s necessary to shore them up with a law since the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy.
“Fundamental to the core of this nation is the protection of religious liberty,” Huelskamp said. “The Military Religious Freedom Protection Act will ensure that none of our men and women in uniform — including our chaplain corps — is asked to compromise their religious and spiritual beliefs. It will also protect the freedom of those in the military to express vocally the tenets of their faiths. And it will make certain that our military facilities are not used in contravention to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which states that marriage is between one man and one woman only.
[CHAPS COMMENT: Military chapels in all 50 states must now be open to desecration.]
“Military installations exist to carry out the national defense of our nation, not to facilitate a narrow social agenda,” said Huelskamp.
“According to the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, the repeal immediately created a chilling effect on free speech among the troops and a ‘climate of fear’ for chaplains who didn’t know what their rights were in the new environment, especially when it came to addressing and speaking about homosexual behavior,” FOTF continued.
“In some cases, said Executive Director Ron Crews, chaplains “suffered retaliation, including having their careers threatened, for being ‘politically incorrect.'”
Let’s petition Congress to support this new bill…
The National Organization of Marriage President Brian Brown wrote:
“In September, the Department of Defense issued two more memos, requiring all military facilities to be available for same-sex weddings and allowing chaplains to participate in same-sex ceremonies.
“Recognizing this growing threat to the religious liberty of our armed forces, Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas last week introduced the Military Religious Freedom Protection Act (H.R. 3828). The bill does three things:
–Protects military chaplains from being forced to participate in any ceremony or function that is against their conscience or religious beliefs.
–Protects our men and women in uniform from being discriminated against because of religious beliefs opposed to same-sex marriage or homosexuality.
–Prohibits the use of military facilities for same-sex marriage ceremonies.
“But President Obama is refusing to do his job as President—picking and choosing which laws are worth enforcing. He refuses to defend DOMA in court and is actively undermining it at every turn. And same-sex marriage activists have been working to leverage the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to harass and intimidate chaplains and other service members who are standing up for marriage.
“Tell your Congressman we need to protect the religious liberty of our armed forces—just like they put their lives on the line to protect ours. Tell your Congressman to co-sponsor the Military Religious Freedom Protection Act (H.R.3828) today.”
[Chaps comment: Folks, we must take a stand for our troops and chaplains. Let’s bury all 535 Congressmen and Senators in fax paper today.]
God Bless you, in Jesus’ name,
Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt, PhD
For media interviews, select here.
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