My generation (I graduated high school in 1984) seems to get the biblical teaching about mercy and forgiveness. After all, we willingly forgave Bill Clinton’s sexual indiscretions in the Oval Office with very few questions asked. But we often miss the fact that Christ also taught observance of the law and justice. For instance, He admonished religious leaders to consider their own sin before stoning the woman caught in the very act of adultery, but instructed the woman to go and sin no more.

Perhaps this inability to balance justice and mercy, as Micah 6:8 instructs, explains the failure of many church-going Christians (at least one survey says “most”) to understand why normalizing homosexual behavior in the military is unwise. But even if we put aside the direct effect this rejection of biblical morality will have on our nation’s moral health, the indirect effects on religious freedom are alarming.

In a series of blogs, ADF attorney Daniel Blomberg is doing an excellent job of pointing out how the repeal of the current so called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law (often referred to as “DADT”) is going to muzzle our military chaplains. Forcing the military to condone homosexual behavior will necessarily restrict religious freedom by limiting the ability of military chaplains to preach and provide counsel to service members about the dangers of this sin.

If you think this restraint on religious freedom will be confined to the military, you’re wrong. We’re already seeing the conflict between the radical homosexual agenda and religious freedom in the civilian context. An April 28, 2010 letter from numerous chaplains opposed to repealing the ban on homosexual behavior in the military catalogues numerous examples: prison chaplains disciplined for not permiting homosexuals to lead their services, religious student groups restricted for not allowing homosexual leaders, businesses fined for not participating in same-sex “marriage” ceremonies, and churches penalized for not making their facilities available for a same-sex relationship commitment ceremony. More importantly, giving ground on DADT will make it extremely difficult to hold the line protecting marriage. Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act will undoubtedly be next.

If we don’t rein in this mad dash for mandated acceptance of homosexual behavior, it’s just a matter of time before government officials come after pastors for disseminating “hate speech,” when all they’re doing is preaching biblical morality. It’s already occurring in Europe and evidence of it heading our way can be seen in Canada.

As Dave Welch recently pointed out in his article, pastors have long had the right and obligation to speak up on things like repeal of DADT. Exercising this right is the best way to avoid a future where protection for it is weakened, or eliminated altogether.

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Already, veteran chaplains from numerous denominations–including Lutherans, Southern Baptists, and Presbyterians–have spoken out to express their concern that repealing the current law that protects the military from open homosexual behavior will, among other things, harm religious liberty.  Just yesterday, another major voice in the chaplaincy community, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Catholic Church’s Military Diocese, added his voice in defense of the military’s current law.

His argument was made on two grounds: First, repeal cannot be allowed to limit the First Amendment rights and duties of chaplains in their ministry to Service members.  While those who practice homosexual behavior should receive “respect and treatment worthy of their human dignity,” “no restrictions or limitations on the teaching of Catholic morality can be accepted.  First Amendment rights regarding the free exercise of religion must be respected.”  Similarly, “Catholic chaplains must show compassion for persons with a homosexual orientation, but can never condone–even silently–homosexual behavior.”

Second, in what Archbishop Broglio describes as “a more fundamental” issue, repeal would harm the ability of the military to be an effective fighting force.  He reasons–correctly–that morality and “corresponding good moral decisions” are integral to “unit cohesion and the overall morale of troops and effectiveness of the mission.”  Thus, normalizing immoral behavior, like homosexuality, through military policy potentially would have an “enormous and overwhelming” effect on military readiness.  ”Sacrificing the moral beliefs of individuals or their living conditions to respond to merely political considerations is neither just nor prudent, especially for the armed forces at a time of war.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Stay tuned for more news of other religious leaders speaking out against repeal.

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If you’re a military chaplain, active or retired, and are interested in becoming involved in this issue or signing the Chaplains Letter, please contact us with your information.

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In my earlier blog post, I told the story of Dale McAlpine, the Christian preacher in Britain that was arrested for saying that homosexual behavior was a sin.  Now a video has been posted showing his arrest.  The video is amazing in several respects.

First, I counted at least 4 of Britain’s finest there to arrest Mr. McAlpine.  Apparently, Mr. McAlpine’s statement regarding what the Bible says about homosexual behavior was deemed so dangerous that it took at least 4 police officers to arrest him – even though all throughout the video one can clearly see how peacefully Mr. McAlpine acted.

The first police officer to speak to Mr. McAlpine on the video asked him, “what have you been saying, sir, homphobic wise.”  Mr. McAlpine rightly pointed out that he was not saying anything homophobic and that he wasn’t even preaching out loud regarding what the Bible says about homosexual behavior, instead saying that the only time he mentioned it was in a private conversation with one man.  The police then tell him it is against the law and he  was placed under arrest for violating section 5 of the Public Order Act.

It is truly astounding that a person can be arrested in Britain for peacefully stating what the Bible says about homosexual behavior in a private conversation on the street.

Mr. McAlpine did everything right.  He was peacefully sharing his faith and did not shrink away from what the Bible says even about controversial subjects.  For that he was arrested.

Thankfully, our friends at the Christian Institute are reporting that the criminal charges have been dropped against Mr. McAlpine for a lack of evidence.  Christian Institute spokesman Simon Calvert stated, “Cumbria police can’t just walk away from this. They have arrested and charged an innocent man for no other reason than he peacefully expressed his religious beliefs. And it has happened in other parts of the country too. So there is clearly a problem with the system and it has to be put right.”

After viewing the video – I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Calvert.

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If you haven’t heard the story of preacher Dale McAlpine, then you will want to take notice.  Mr. McAlpine is a British man who preaches on the streets of his hometown in Cumbria.  He was recently arrested by a police officer who told him that it was against the law to preach that homosexual behavior was sinful.

Dale was preaching on April 20 when he was approached by a police officer who warned him not to preach that homosexual behavior was a sin because to do so would be against the law.  Later in the conversation, the police officer identified himself as a person who engages in homosexual behavior and then arrested Mr. McAlpine for creating “harassment, alarm or distress” contrary to Section 5 of the public order act.  I couldn’t help but think of Peter and the Apostles in Acts 5 when I read that Mr. McAlpine was charged and released on bail on the condition that he not preach in public.

As the Christian Institute points out, speech saying that homosexual behavior is sinful is not in violation of the Public Order Act. But something is indeed wrong when a law like the Public Order Act in Britain, which was intended to combat rowdy sports fans, leads to the arrest of someone peacefully sharing their faith.  Indeed, as Kevin Theriot points out, there is an increasing attack on the speech of Christians sharing their faith, not just in places like Britain, but also here in the United States.

That attack comes from many fronts, but primarily is from those espousing the homosexual agenda, which ADF’s President Alan Sears rightly calls “the principal threat to religious freedom today.”  Alan states in his book The Homosexual Agenda that “The bottom line is that the right of people of faith to hold sincere beliefs. . . is under attack unless they are willing to muzzle any expression of their faith.”  And if there are still any doubters about whether what Alan says is true, then just listen to the homosexual activists who have clearly communicated what their end-game strategy is.  Alan quotes in his book homosexual activists Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen who stated, “[In regards to those] who feel compelled to adhere rigidly to an authoritarian belief structure (i.e. an orthodox religion), that condemns homosexuality. . . our primary objective regarding die-hard homohaters of this sort is to cow and silence them.”

Dale McAlpine’s recent run-in with the British constabulary should disturb all of us. While it may not be against the law yet to speak Biblical Truth about issues in our society like homosexual behavior, we must recognize that Truth is under attack.  And for those who tell us that we cannot speak the Truth, we must be prepared to declare, as Peter did so forcefully before the Sanhedrin, “We must obey God rather than men!”

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