The reactions from fundamentalist Christian leaders in the wake of the repeal of DADT have been comical, to say the least, and the hits just keep on coming. Yesterday, Jeremy posted the new cover from WorldNetDaily’s Whistle Blower magazine, and it’s pretty funny:
Now today, there’s a piece at OneNewsNow which asks, without a hint of humor, “What about the rights of Christians in the military?”, as if they were somehow threatened.
A former Navy chaplain has launched a petition drive aimed at defending military chaplains and Christian troops from persecution by proponents of homosexuality.
In December, Lt. Col. Stacy L. Maxey (USAF), who is stationed in Afghanistan, wrote a letter to the editor of Stars and Stripes arguing that the Department of Defense has now become the “Department of Double Standards,” in telling service members who have a problem with the homosexual lifestyle to “learn to deal with it,” while at the same time allowing homosexuals to “parade their lifestyle choices in front of all.”
Did you miss the part where gay soldiers already have to “learn to deal with” the fact that there are a few retrograde wingnuts who are upset about their “lifestyle choices”? Sounds like equal rights to me. Of course, these little conservative children never seem to understand that gay soldiers “parading their lifestyle choices” amounts to little more than what their straight counterparts have been doing for years, e.g. mentioning the name of the spouse they left back at home, possibly displaying a picture of their spouse [being GAAAAY] just as prominently as the straight soldier who sleeps next to them.
Maxey went on to write that he has a higher commitment to God than to the Department of Defense — and that if officials there are upset with his comments, they can “learn to deal with it.” Groups like the Military Religious Freedom Foundation have criticized the Air Force officer for his comments, demanding Maxey be punished for insubordination.
You know, when they start talking about how they have a “higher commitment to [their idea of] God” than anything else, they sound just like Islamic radicals. And yes, that’s straight-up insubordination.
Gordon Klingenschmitt, a former Navy chaplain who was discharged from the service in 2007 after praying in Jesus’ name while in uniform…
You knew he would show up in this piece. I feel it’s always important to remind people that Klingenschmitt is lying when he says he was discharged for “praying in Jesus’ name.” This information comes to us via his former boss, who is very much an Evangelical Christian, and who is ashamed of what has become of Klingenschmitt:
“I was the dishonored ex-chaplain’s supervisor for the past 2 years,” Holcomb wrote in his message. “I found him to be totally untruthful, unethical and insubordinate. He was and is contemptuous of all authority. He was not court martialed for praying in Jesus’ name. I sent him out in uniform every week to pray at various ceremonies and functions. He always prayed in uniform and in Jesus’ name. He was never told that he could not pray in Jesus’ name. In fact, the issue of prayer had nothing at all to do with his dismissal from the Navy. He disobeyed the lawful order of a senior officer. I am sure that you understand that Navy Regulations forbid any of us, regardless of rank or position, to appear in uniform in support of any political or partisan event.”
Holcomb goes on to say, “He appeared in direct support of a political event, demonstrating contempt for the order of his Commanding Officer and Naval Regulations that we all swear that we will abide by…. The ex-chaplain is a man without honor and you have accepted his story and in doing so you have had ‘the wool pulled over your eyes.’
Again, that’s from his former boss, who also happens to be an Evangelical Christian. You see, among every subset of people and every religious affiliation, there are people with integrity and people without it. Klingenschmitt’s former boss seems to be a man with integrity, and he is appalled that his former charge has so little. Back to the OneNewsNow piece for a minute:
[Klingenschmitt] has launched an online fax petition campaign aimed at protecting the religious expression of chaplains and other religious troops.
“Now that homosexuals are coming out and being blatant and flaunting their homosexual lifestyle, do the Christian troops have a right to separate shower facilities? Separate sleeping quarters? To not be sexually harassed on the job by somebody who’s hitting on them?” he wonders.
1. No.
2. No.
3. Yes, because sexual harassment is already covered by the UCMJ, and DADT repeal does not change that.
But let’s be honest here: any sane heterosexual human would be far more comfortable in a shower with a mature, responsible, openly gay person than they would with a leering closet case fundamentalist Christian, since we know that those with the most intense homophobia [religious-based or not; they use the religion as a shield] very often are those who are deepest in the closet, ashamed of who they are, what they feel, etc. And for the sake of equality, those soldiers aren’t being shuffled off to different shower facilities either. Of course, if they pull anything, they too fall under the UCMJ.
“We need protection for Christian troops,” he continues, “and that’s why we’re asking Congressman Walter Jones (R-North Carolina) and Congressman Mike McIntyre (D-North Carolina) to strengthen the laws to at least give Christians the same right to be open about their religious faith as the homosexuals now have to be open about their aberrant lifestyle.”
They already have it. Always have, always will. This is why fundamentalist wingnuts are usually so easy to pick out; because they’re loud and obnoxious.
In addition, Klingenschmitt is convinced the Pentagon wants to purge evangelical, Bible-preaching chaplains from the service by giving them an ultimatum — “reconcile” with homosexual sin, or quit.
Yes, well, paranoia is a dangerous thing, but there’s medicine.
UPDATE: It just gets funnier. Joe reports that Klingenschmitt has come up with a new way to charge each of his followers $159 to send faxes to all the members of Congress about how sad they are about DADT repeal.
