US: military chaplains may perform same-sex unions

[kpete]

Source: WFTV

US: military chaplains may perform same-sex unions

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has decided that military chaplains may perform same-sex unions, whether on or off a military installation.

The ruling announced Friday by the Pentagon's personnel chief follows the Sept. 20 repeal of a law that had prohibited gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

Some members of Congress have objected to military chaplains performing same-sex unions, saying it would violate the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.

The Pentagon says a military chaplain may officiate at any private ceremony, but isn't required if it would conflict with his or her religious or personal beliefs.

Read more: http://www.wftv.com/news/ap/us/us-military-chaplains-may-perform-same-sex-unions/nDyCQ/

[MineralMan]

1. More good news.

I expect loud screams from the right.

[Pacifist Patriot]

2. Hopefully it'll be pitiful whimpers instead.

[MineralMan]

6. Well, at least ineffective whimpers.

It's a done deal. Eventually, marriage equality will be the norm everywhere. That's the goal.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. I expect loud screams when most will not perform them

Every military skypilot I have ever known is on the conservative side.

[MineralMan]

4. I think you will be surprised, to tell the truth.

Some will refuse, but probably not most.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. I would hope I am, but IME...

[MineralMan]

10. It was a long time ago, but when I was in the USAF, chaplains

came in two varieties. The first variety was represented by the fundamentalist Baptist pastor that seemed to be at every base where I was stationed. The second type is exemplified by the other chaplains I encountered, who did great jobs of tending to the needs of everyone who came to them. The second group far outnumbered the first. I expect that people will find willing chaplains to marry them when needed. If not, they can engage one of the multitude of freelance Universal Life Church ministers who make pin money by marrying all comers.

It's not going to be a significant problem, I think, except at some small bases where there is only one chaplain and that chaplain is in the first group I described. I imagine that the Roman Catholic chaplains will also refuse, but given the shortage of priests these days, there may be fewer of those than previously.

[kenfrequed]

13. As of late....

The first category of evangelical wack jobs has begun to takeover the chaplain corp and outnumber all other denominations.

[gejohnston]

17. I found the same thing

I retired in 2004. I did find that the first group still followed orders and attended to all of us, including Wiccans.

[kenfrequed]

20. Really?

In MASH Father Mulcahey would even perform rites for other religions or assist in the observance thereof. I sincerely doubt the evangelical crowd would assist in a Samhaine ritual, much less Beltaine. And given the quotations and actual research done on the principal people involved I doubt they could suppress their urge to evangelize.

[gejohnston]

21. only speaking from my own experiance

which would be different than others. I have come across conservative Baptists, but no crazy ones. A lot of it comes from the command level. When the wing commander appoints a Muslim (which as happened at one of my postings, I remember the base but not the commander) to organize the National Prayer Breakfast, you keep the fire and brimstone to yourself. On the other hand, I have never been to the AF Academy.

edit to add: If I remember the characters correctly, Henry and Potter would not put up evangelizing especially if it interfered with morale or the hospital's operation.

[No Elephants]

23. The military has changed A LOT since a long time ago.

[kenfrequed]

12. Sadly this was the result

When the military stopped trying to be religiously representative and allowed a ridiculous increase in personal in the various chaplain corps. This trend needs to be reversed and the numbers made more representative. Any Chaplain that speaks out against this policy should be discharged. Speaking is what these people do as part of their duties for servicemen. They aren't infantrymen, cooks, intelligence analysts, construction workers, or office specialists. They are chaplains. Talking and preaching and counseling is what they do. If they carry out that function in contradiction to their orders they should be treated no better than any other soldier that refuses to perform their duty.

That should reduce their number a bit and get rid of the stupid mega church fundamentalist evangelical crowd.

http://www.alternet.org/asoldierspeaks/67385/?page=entire

Restore the military to something reasonable.

[DirkGently]

5. Excellent. Could help undermine the RW religious nuttery in the military.

[Scottybeamer70]

7. heh...........

teabags and fundie heads exploding everywhere!......:rofl:

[Demit]

8. oooh kinky

:)

[varelse]

11. Another step in the right direction

[Solly Mack]

14. K&R

[SpartanDem]

15. This gonna rile the nutters

[SoapBox]

16. I can hear CONservaTurd heads popping like zits...

good news all the way around.

[Lucinda]

18. KNR

[David Sky]

19. The bat shit crazy Evangelicals, like Palin and Bachmann will

go bonkers over this.

Fox News will tell us this as a sign that Obama really is Satan and has now actually "destroyed" marriage between a man and a woman. Someone will say that only gay folks can now marry if they are in the military. Some people will believe it.

[MH1]

22. Excellent news!

[No Elephants]

24. Excellent. Does this mean married folk will eventually be going home to states where

same gender marriage is not recognized?

Going home to those states as married veterans.

Maybe the military chaplains can even marry them in those states? Federal law trumps state law. So, can a chaplain on a base in a state where same gender marriage violates the state constitution marry people anyway?

If you are allowed to be gay in the military, the military should not force you to live in sin!

This is good news, but, if the chaplains can and do ignore state law, this may be VERY good news.

[Xithras]

25. Not possible.

While the chaplains can perform the wedding, the military doesn't issue marriage licenses. Soldiers who want to be married by a chaplain are required to leave the base, obtain a civilian marriage license, and then return to the base so that the chaplain can officiate and make it legal. While chaplains do have the authority to officiate weddings, the military doesn't actually have any mechanism or legal authority to "marry" people.

If the base is located in a state or country that doesn't permit same sex marriage, the local government won't issue a marriage license, and there will be nothing to officiate.

FWIW, this has nothing to do with gays, and is just standard military policy. A good friend of mine met and married his wife while they were both stationed in Germany. When they got married, they had to fill out all of the forms for the German government, comply with German marriage laws, and then pay a translator to attend the ceremony and translate for them (required by German law when non-German speaking people are married in their country).