Military Chaplains Seek Protections For Publicly Anti-Gay Troops

The leaders of 21 religious groups that provide chaplains to the military have sent a letter to the chiefs of chaplains of the armed services seeking assurance that anti-gay troops won't face retribution for publicly stating their beliefs.

"This is already an assault and a challenge on individual conscience and some soldiers may think it’s forcing them to abandon their religious beliefs or being marginalized for holding to those beliefs,” said Douglas E. Lee, a retired Army brigadier general and chaplain, whose signature was the first on the letter. Chaplains who preach at base chapels that homosexuality is a sin will still be entitled to express their beliefs during worship after the military’s adopts its new policy allowing openly gay troops, according to training materials given to Marines. But the organizations say it is not enough to state that service members and chaplains remain free to exercise their faith in chapel services. “Service members should know that chaplains’ ministry and their own rights of conscience remain protected everywhere military necessity has placed them,” the letter states.