Rights of the religious in the military

1. 65

   SparklingJewelposted 12 years ago

   is this against their  Constitutional rights?  what say you?
   
   As Plain as the No's on Your Faith  article from the Family Research Council
   
   First, he ordered churches to violate their conscience. Now, the President is instructing them not to talk about it! Welcome to Barack Obama's military. After stripping away the rights of religious groups everywhere, the commander-in-chief is putting a halt on protests from the pulpit, at least in the Army's chaplain corps. Like most Catholics, the military's priests had planned to speak out against the rule forcing groups to violate the tenants of their faith by funding abortifacients and contraception.
   
   Unfortunately, they never got the chance. While church leaders around the country voiced their disapproval to the mandate on Sunday, the Army's pulpits were silent. According to several sources, the Chief of Chaplains had issued an Army-wide gag order, warning priests not to read any letter resisting the policy. The church "cannot--and will not--comply with this unjust law," wrote Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the corps' priests. According to the Army, that language is too controversial. After a lot of back and forth with the administration, the Chief of Chaplains announced that "a new version of the letter will be read, one that was edited of the language about 'unjust laws.'" Chaplains should consider the text of Acts 5:29 this coming weekend. The administration is fearful of this language because laws have a moral foundation--and in our system of government, they have to have the consent of the governed. That's why the administration is telling churches what they can and can't say.
   
   Not surprisingly, that kind of censorship didn't sit well with Archbishop Broglio. In a statement, the Archdiocese didn't hide its frustration. "[We] 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." Of course, this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's followed the seismic shifts in the military. This is exactly the path we expected the Pentagon to take after "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" came crumbling down. For two years, FRC warned about the systematic silencing of people of faith that would result once the President imposed his radical social agenda on the military.
   
   While the military itself is governed by different rules when it comes to free speech, chaplains have always had the right to speak openly about the moral issues of their day. That's why George Washington established the chaplaincy. He understood the importance of teaching soldiers the difference between right and wrong. If Washington wanted an army that was above reproach, he knew the most effective way to accomplish it was providing a moral compass that rules and regulations cannot. Chaplains have been offering that guidance since 1775.
   
   By muzzling these leaders, the Obama administration is diminishing the chaplains' role from spiritual leader to glorified counselor. Obviously, this is all by design. If the President can hollow out our military, then the rest of society won't be far behind. In the war on religion, the administration is enlisting its own Army. Join us in standing with our troops. Sign FRC's petition to Congress, asking members to take action to ensure that America's armed forces are afforded the same freedoms for which they risk their lives.

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   1. 61

      Paul Wingertposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Welcome to the military! The only rights a soldier has is what is given to them by their superiors.

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         Brenda Durhamposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         The main reason that "superior" (the current CIC of the Armed Forces) needs to be removed from his place of power.
         
         
         Yes, Sparkling Jewel, the Family Research Council is correct.  The O's Administration IS "hollowing out" our military.  And that's a huge travesty, bullying and causing huge distraction and heartache for the very people who are sworn to protect this Nation.  It's beyond reason or excuse for the President to do such a thing, yet he has steadily gotten by with it from day one.  He's played his cards well.  But the only reason he's gotten by with it is because the Left backs him.  That, too, is unexplainable how anyone would follow his lead.  This Nation needs to change things before Obama runs out of cards to play, because by the time his hands are empty there may not even be a card table around to play on.

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            Tom Altposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Turn off Fox News.

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               Paul Wingertposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Agreed. There's other things on TV besides Fox Noise. Obama 2012!

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   2. 60

      ib radmastersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It is a dichotomy to have religious priests in the military. So the question has no real answer because the water is too muddy.

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2. 60

   Evan G Rogersposted 12 years ago

   You don't have your rights granted to you because you belong to a group.
   
   Nor do you have your rights taken away from you because you belong to a group.
   
   You willingly give up your rights when you agree to something.
   
   The questions boils down to "what did the contract say".

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3. 52

   joe scaliseposted 12 years ago

   Religion has no place in the military or anything political.  There are too many versions of a higher being to recognize any one particular belief. Ideology perttinant to contraception or abortion are not military issues.  Religions would be better of making sure that their followers avoid contraception, abortion and any other issues considered sinful by religions. Religious beliefs cannot be legislated and there is no back door for religion to enter government issues.  If an individual soldier need to seel counceling by his specific minister concerning these issues I think he is entitled to do so but for religion to be taught or their ideals promoted to the masses in service should be prohibited.  These people who are attempting to have their values involved with military protocol would be the first to go bananas if prayer blankets were passed out to soldiers of Islamic Faith.  God save us all from your followers.

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      Evan G Rogersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think religion has EVERYTHING to do with the military.
      
      How can a Christian be convinced to kill someone he has never met?

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4. 64

   Ralph Deedsposted 12 years ago

   Nobody's religious rights have been violated. The Catholic church's position flies in the face of the fact that 98 percent of Catholics use or have used contraceptives and, more important, nothing in the regulation requiring insurance coverage requires anyone to use the contraceptive insurance coverage.

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   1. 60

      Evan G Rogersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You have a strange way of defining rights... all of these rules and regulations and relative terms.
      
      The right to do what you wish with your property and body is your right. You then have the right to sacrifice some aspects of your rights if you wish.

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5. 52

   joe scaliseposted 12 years ago

   Gee, Evan I don't know they sure did a good job during the Inquisition and the Crusades when abortion and contraception weren't even an issue. When I was in the Army during the Viet Nam War Americans could, based on their religious convictions,  avoid having to kill people that they didn't know.

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6. 58

   MelissaBarrettposted 12 years ago

   Speaking out in an organized group against your commanding officer in the military is generally frowned upon.  If you can think of ANY other situation where this would be appropriate in the military please let me know.  Like it or not Obama is not the president in this situation, he is commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed forces.

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7. 52

   joe scaliseposted 12 years ago

   You're rights in the military are severely limited.  The military owns you.  I had a friend threatened with a court martial because he got sunburned which jeopardized his battlefield readiness.  Chaplains were provided more for performing religious services and individual counciling as opposed to political issues.  Your freedom of speech is also limited.  There are a different set of rules for military personnel. Even after your military career is finished you are still bound by what you can talk about in some instances.

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8. 52

   joe scaliseposted 12 years ago

   All these absurd claims about chuches being victimized and having their rights stepped uponare bogus. The church has no special rights.  They are provided a freedom to worship whatever God they entertain and they have the freedom to teach and preach the specifics of their religion to their flock.  The church does not have a right to have their unsubstantiated beliefs adopted by government or anyone outside their church. It is becoming tiresome to tolerate their injustice of the week.  This government has no allegience to any religion.  It merely provides a freedom to practice your religion ouside of the public square.  All of the complaints issued from the religious podium are nothing more than a political attempt to bring a sympathetic right wing holy roller into the White House.  This is how the Mideast turned into terrorism based goverments.  When any church enjoys legislative powers we shall return to the era of crusades and inquisitions.

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