Remember all of the shrieking and predictions of a mass exodus of members of the armed forces and the chaplain ranks if DADT was repealed? Shrill hater like Elaine Donnelly and Tony Perkins and others went on and on ad nausea about how DADT repeal would cripple the military and deter meeting recruitment targets. So what has happened during the nine months since DADT repeal? Absolutely nothing to support the claims of the gay haters. That's right, nothing. Yes, there have been a few chaplain retirements, but few have been linked to DADT repeal. It would seem that the chaplains themselves, not to mention the ranks of the military, are not the religious zealots and bigots that the professional Christian set painted them to be. The Virginian Pilot reports on the fact that DADT repeal continues to be a non-event outside the ranks of hate groups like Family Research Council and the worse Kool-Aid drinking elements of the GOP's Christofascist base. Here are highlights:
WRIGHTSTOWN, N.J. - Col. Timothy Wagoner has been an Air Force chaplain for 20 years, serving a denomination — the Southern Baptists — that rejects same-sex relationships. Yet here he was at the chapel he oversees, watching supportively as an airman and his male partner celebrated a civil union ceremony. "I wouldn't miss it," Wagoner said at the McGuire Air Force Base chapel, days later. "I don't feel I'm compromising my beliefs ... I'm supporting the community."
Wagoner didn't officiate at the ceremony — he couldn't go quite that far. But his very presence at the gathering was a marker of how things have changed for active-duty clergy in the nine months since the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was repealed and gays could serve openly.
Prior to repeal, various conservative groups and individuals — including many conservative retired chaplains — warned that repeal would trigger an exodus of chaplains whose faiths consider homosexual activity to be sinful. In fact, there's been no significant exodus — perhaps two or three departures of active-duty chaplains linked to the repeal.
Moreover, chaplains or their civilian coordinators from a range of conservative faiths told The Associated Press they knew of virtually no serious problems thus far involving infringement of chaplains' religious freedom or rights of conscience. "To say the dust has settled would be premature," said Air Force Col. Gary Linsky, a Roman Catholic priest who oversees 50 fellow chaplains in the Air Mobility Command. "But I've received no complaints from chaplains raising concerns that their ministries were in any way conflicted or constrained."
Wagoner would not have been willing to officiate at the June 23 civil union ceremony at the McGuire chapel, nor would his Catholic or Mormon colleagues. But he had no problem with another member of his team, Navy Chaplain Kay Reeb of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, doing so.
Reeb, who will be will leaving the Navy in a few weeks after 20 years as a chaplain, held a couple of pre-ceremony consultations with the couple — Tech. Sgt. Erwynn Umali and civilian Will Behrens — and was impressed by their commitment to one another.
On hand at the chapel were the couple's family and friends, several gay-rights activists, and Sgt. Elizabeth Garcia, the chaplain's assistant who handled logistical arrangements. And then there was Wagoner, whose denomination preaches that homosexuality is sinful and is "not a valid alternative lifestyle." "As a Southern Baptist, why was I here? I was here to lend support," Wagoner said. "I was here supporting Airman Umali. I've worked with him. He's a comrade in arms."
He [Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services] concurred with the estimates that only a handful of chaplains have left the military because of the repeal. He said "two or three" Catholic chaplains had resigned their commissions in recent months, and guessed that repeal may have been a factor though they didn't cite that specifically.
Another conservative denomination with a large contingent of chaplains — 114 on active duty — is the Assemblies of God. Scott McChrystal, a retired Army chaplain who oversees them, said the concerns that preceded repeal had not been borne out.
Bishop James Magness, the coordinator for about 75 active-duty and reserve Episcopal chaplains, said he'd heard a common, positive verdict about repeal from his more conservative Catholic, Mormon and Southern Baptist colleagues.
"The whole argument about religious liberty is so incredibly uninformed, and inflamed by some of the very conservative legal groups," Magness said. "In reality, there's been very little if any of the services forcing any ministerial activity on a chaplain against his or her will."
What likely frightens the gay haters the most is the real likelihood that as chaplains from conservative denominations become more familiar with gays and same sex couples, they will change their perceptions on gay relationships and ultimately gay marriage. Familiarity breeds not just tolerance but acceptance. Nothing would hurt the bank accounts of hate groups more than having military chaplains counter their anti-gay message.
