FAYETTEVILLE, NC - A retired Army chaplain who now endorses military chaplains says they're worried that their religious freedom may be restricted when the ban on openly homosexual service ends Tuesday.
Ron Crews is executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, whose endorsers represent some 2,000 military chaplains. He wonders if a chaplain will be able to reject an openly homosexual soldier who volunteers to teach Sunday school, or turn away a same-sex couple who want to take part in a military marriage retreat.
"Will that chaplain be able to say 'no'?" Crews asks. "Based on my theological understanding, [homosexual behavior] is a sin and if you're unrepentant in that sin that disqualifies you from being a Sunday school teacher."
And regarding a retreat for couples, he asks: "Will a chaplain be able to say 'no' to a same-sex couple who brings a marriage license from some state and says 'We want to be included in this'?"....
