Letter Approved by PCA to Petition President

Below is the content of a letter approved by the PCA’s 38^th General Assembly to be sent to President Obama the secretary of defense, the chief of staff and other federal officials regarding the possible repeal of the U.S. military’s  “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding homosexuals in the military:

Dear Mr. President:

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America met in Nashville, Tennessee last week for its annual assembly.  At that meeting the General Assembly instructed me to send to you and the leaders of the U.S. military the following communication:

1. Concern: The PCA is gravely concerned over the potential repeal of the current law governing homosexual individuals in the military. Should this repeal occur, we fear that the free exercise of the faith of our chaplains will be jeopardized.  This repeal may go so far as to force the resignation of our currently serving chaplains from the military as well as the service of military members from this denomination.

2. Consequences: This potential change increases the likelihood of the following:

• Chaplains may be open to the charge of discrimination or command reprimand when they preach or teach in accordance with the passages in the Bible which directly speak to the sin of homosexual practice.
• Bibles in military chapels and on military bases may be under the threat of excision of all passages which speak very directly to the sin of homosexual practice. Whether it will be under the guise of “hate speech” or speech contrary to the policy of the Department of Defense, the effort may be made soon after the removal of the law.
• Marriage retreats conducted by chaplains intended to strengthen marriage may have to include homosexual couples, which will violate chaplains’ faith tenets and negatively impact the voluntary participation of married heterosexual couples.
• Homosexual couples may seek union ceremonies or marriages, which are in violation of the beliefs and ordination vows of a large percentage of military chaplains, not just those from this denomination. Refusal may invite the charge of discrimination and command reprimand.
• The “free exercise” and free speech rights of chaplains and military members may be abrogated as Equal Opportunity policies, “hate speech” laws, or other legalities trump the First Amendment.

3. Appeal: For the above and many other reasons affecting chaplains and military members in the ranks, we humbly recommend that you consider the ramifications for religious freedom that legislation in this regard may have. It is of utmost importance that you take all necessary measures to insure that our chaplains are free, without censure, to preach, teach, and practice in accordance with the beliefs of this denomination. We plead for this for the good of the nation, for the good of the chaplains who serve the nation on behalf of their church, for the good of the military members from this church who serve in our armed services, and for the protection of the constitutional principle of the free exercise of religion.

Sincerely,

L. Roy Taylor
Stated Clerk of the
General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church in America