Bryan Fischer
First same-sex ceremony performed on a military base - - let's make it the last
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
A same-sex union ceremony was performed at Fort Polk army base on May 19 by a military chaplain.
Unless Congress intervenes and prohibits the use of military facilities for these counterfeit rituals, they will proliferate like cheat grass. The time to stop this nonsense is now.
Although the Garrison Chaplain at Fort Polk, COL Robert Powers, was apparently not enthusiastic about the ceremony, which was performed by another chaplain, but neither did he, according to my sources, do anything to stop it. (It's my understanding that the previous Garrison Chaplain, COL Dave Watters, would have done everything in his power to put a stop to this.)
Thus same-sex ceremonies have been de facto legitimized in the US military, and will soon multiply unless saner heads prevail.
I'm looking here at two documents on official Fort Polk stationary with the Department of Defense logo in the upper left hand corner, both memos from the pro-homosexual chaplain who officiated at this counterfeit wedding.
The first one, dated May 19, the date on which the ceremony occurred, says that while not legally binding, "[T]he Holy Union ceremony is a religious ceremony ...[and] a formal ritual."
In the second memo, dated May 23, the officiating chaplain indicates that a lesbian couple, at least one of whom is a soldier, were referred to him because of his reputation as an "Open and Affirming" Chaplain endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
When approached, this chaplain agreed to perform the ceremony "provided it was authorized." This, of course, means that he received approval from someone above him on the military food chain. Such approval was granted, for the chaplain immediately adds, "[U]pon authorization we then entered into pre-Union counseling."
In a subsequent CYA paragraph, he makes it clear that "all necessary parties including BN and BDE CDRs, BDE Chaplain, and Garrison offices were fully informed." In other words, if this generates blowback, I'm going to duck and let the brass take the incoming artillery. If I go down for this, I'm going to take a lot of uniforms down with me. So apparently approval came from the very top of the pyramid at Fort Polk.
This chaplain was only able to pull off this sham of a ceremony because there is no written policy expressly prohibiting it. As he writes in the May 23 memo, "I also believed this religious ceremony violated no Federal, State, Army, or local laws or regulations." (Emphasis mine.)
Bottom line: Here we have an activist chaplain taking advantage of a weak-kneed Garrison Chaplain without the strength of conviction to resist this blatant disregard of scriptural standards, plus a meekly compliant military brass unwilling to put the brakes on this craven capitulation to the deviancy cabal.
And so the corrosive effect of legitimizing same-sex "marriage" has now been authorized in a setting that will have a corrosive effect on our national security.
The military should not be a place for radical and dangerous social experimentation. Research abundantly confirms the physical and emotional risks associated with lesbianism. According to the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, lesbians are at elevated risk in at least 10 different categories, including breast cancer, depression and anxiety, heart health, gynecological cancer, alcohol and substance abuse, and domestic violence.
This is not a lifestyle, for public health reasons alone, that any rational society should endorse, promote or celebrate. And an institution dedicated to protecting our national security should not be messing with this foolishness to begin with.
I've sent a request into the Fort Polk Public Affairs Office for comment, but have not, at press time, received a return call.
Perhaps it's time for the Senate and House committees that deal with the Armed Services to sit up, take notice, and exercise their constitutional power to establish a rule for the military prohibiting the performing of even counterfeit ceremonies which are clearly in violation of the spirit if not the letter of the Defense of Marriage Act.
It's time to put a halt to this practice before even one more bogus "Holy Union" ritual is performed on even one more military base. Facilitating this kind of immoral and foolish social engineering is no business of the military, which needs to stick to its knitting and leave the push for gay marriage to outfits like Home Depot and JC Penney.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
June 7, 2012
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
A same-sex union ceremony was performed at Fort Polk army base on May 19 by a military chaplain.
Unless Congress intervenes and prohibits the use of military facilities for these counterfeit rituals, they will proliferate like cheat grass. The time to stop this nonsense is now.
Although the Garrison Chaplain at Fort Polk, COL Robert Powers, was apparently not enthusiastic about the ceremony, which was performed by another chaplain, but neither did he, according to my sources, do anything to stop it. (It's my understanding that the previous Garrison Chaplain, COL Dave Watters, would have done everything in his power to put a stop to this.)
Thus same-sex ceremonies have been de facto legitimized in the US military, and will soon multiply unless saner heads prevail.
I'm looking here at two documents on official Fort Polk stationary with the Department of Defense logo in the upper left hand corner, both memos from the pro-homosexual chaplain who officiated at this counterfeit wedding.
The first one, dated May 19, the date on which the ceremony occurred, says that while not legally binding, "[T]he Holy Union ceremony is a religious ceremony ...[and] a formal ritual."
In the second memo, dated May 23, the officiating chaplain indicates that a lesbian couple, at least one of whom is a soldier, were referred to him because of his reputation as an "Open and Affirming" Chaplain endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
When approached, this chaplain agreed to perform the ceremony "provided it was authorized." This, of course, means that he received approval from someone above him on the military food chain. Such approval was granted, for the chaplain immediately adds, "[U]pon authorization we then entered into pre-Union counseling."
In a subsequent CYA paragraph, he makes it clear that "all necessary parties including BN and BDE CDRs, BDE Chaplain, and Garrison offices were fully informed." In other words, if this generates blowback, I'm going to duck and let the brass take the incoming artillery. If I go down for this, I'm going to take a lot of uniforms down with me. So apparently approval came from the very top of the pyramid at Fort Polk.
This chaplain was only able to pull off this sham of a ceremony because there is no written policy expressly prohibiting it. As he writes in the May 23 memo, "I also believed this religious ceremony violated no Federal, State, Army, or local laws or regulations." (Emphasis mine.)
Bottom line: Here we have an activist chaplain taking advantage of a weak-kneed Garrison Chaplain without the strength of conviction to resist this blatant disregard of scriptural standards, plus a meekly compliant military brass unwilling to put the brakes on this craven capitulation to the deviancy cabal.
And so the corrosive effect of legitimizing same-sex "marriage" has now been authorized in a setting that will have a corrosive effect on our national security.
The military should not be a place for radical and dangerous social experimentation. Research abundantly confirms the physical and emotional risks associated with lesbianism. According to the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, lesbians are at elevated risk in at least 10 different categories, including breast cancer, depression and anxiety, heart health, gynecological cancer, alcohol and substance abuse, and domestic violence.
This is not a lifestyle, for public health reasons alone, that any rational society should endorse, promote or celebrate. And an institution dedicated to protecting our national security should not be messing with this foolishness to begin with.
I've sent a request into the Fort Polk Public Affairs Office for comment, but have not, at press time, received a return call.
Perhaps it's time for the Senate and House committees that deal with the Armed Services to sit up, take notice, and exercise their constitutional power to establish a rule for the military prohibiting the performing of even counterfeit ceremonies which are clearly in violation of the spirit if not the letter of the Defense of Marriage Act.
It's time to put a halt to this practice before even one more bogus "Holy Union" ritual is performed on even one more military base. Facilitating this kind of immoral and foolish social engineering is no business of the military, which needs to stick to its knitting and leave the push for gay marriage to outfits like Home Depot and JC Penney.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
