Christians and conservatives alike are up in arms about a recent same-sex ceremony conducted at a Fort Polk chapel in La.
“This ceremony evades the intention and violates the spirit of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which remains the law in America, defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman for all purposes under federal law,” says Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a Marine Corps veteran and former Louisiana legislator. “The Obama administration is once again using the military as a vehicle to advance its social agenda which plainly includes tossing aside the marriage laws of forty-four states.”
The Defense Department repealed its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 2011. At that time, chaplains at military bases were given permission to oversee private ceremonies so long as they do not violate state and local laws. Louisiana is a state in which voters have approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is also upset about the ceremony, which included two female soldiers. While the ceremony was not a marriage, it is clear that this was in fact a marriage-like ceremony, and it was performed on a military base in a state that has a clear definition of marriage in their state law, argues Ron Crews, executive director for the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty.
“The Department of Defense is bowing to a political agenda to turn our nation’s military into a social experiment,” says Crews. “It is time for the American public to say, ‘Enough!’”
In the wake of the ceremony, U.S. Rep. John Fleming, whose district includes Fort Polk, says the liberal social experiment with our military continues. He reinforced the truth that a same-sex marriage-like ceremony should not have occurred at Fort Polk, especially since the people of Louisiana have made it abundantly clear that our state does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions.
“My frustration is compounded by the fact that a social agenda, which has nothing to do with military readiness or our national defense, is being imposed on our men and women in uniform,” Fleming says. “The repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ made incidents like this inevitable, and makes the case for the Senate to follow the lead of the House of Representatives in passing legislation that prevents military facilities from being used for same-sex marriages or marriage-like ceremonies.”
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