WASHINGTON – The fight against gays and lesbians in the military and against same-sex marriage continues apace for two Republican senators. Last Tuesday Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) introduced the Military Religious Freedom Act.
The bill is intended to prevent military chaplains from being forced to perform a marriage ceremony, if the chaplain objects for reasons of conscience and prohibit marriage or marriage-like ceremonies at military facilities that are not a union between one man and one woman.
“President Obama and his administration are dismissing their responsibility to uphold the law of the land by unilaterally deeming DOMA unworthy of enforcement,” said Inhofe. “At the same time, since the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, they have begun to pressure military chaplains to fall in line with their liberal same-sex marriage agenda. This bill protects military chaplains from being forced to go against their conscience and religious beliefs in regard to this issue. This is something the chaplains that serve this country need and deserve.”
The senators are pushing for the bill despite the memo released by the Pentagon last year which not only granted military chaplains permission to participate in same-sex marriages but also did not force them to perform such ceremonies stating, “Further a chaplain is not required to participate in or officiate a private ceremony if doing so would be in variance with the tenets of his or her religion.”
Supporters of this memo say this bill is unnecessary as chaplains are already free to choose whether to participate in same-sex ceremonies.
I’m sure there are plenty of soldiers who have been told to fight wars they don’t believe in & to do things they don’t want to do. If these chaplains are having their sensibilities hurt, then get the hell out of the military! It is not a democracy & politicians need to back off & let the military make their own policies.