Where's The Grace

There was a small blip in the news last Wednesday that caught my attention.  A group of 40 retired military chaplains sent a letter to the President regarding repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.  They are decidedly against the change in policy saying that it would "threaten the religious liberty of chaplains and Service members."  As someone who is planning to become a military chaplain in the near future, and like the writers of the letters is not prohibited from speaking on the subject, I don't quite get what they mean.  Allowing someone of a sexual orientation you don't agree with doesn't affect your liberty in anyway.  To support this claim they use end of the world scenarios that would occur if we follow a steep and slippery slope.  There are homosexuals serving in the military right now and chaplains minister to them in a caring and compassionate manner right now and keep the information, like all conversations with the chaplain, privileged. 

They make an argument that repeal of DADT would water down their faith.  Last time I checked the message of grace was central to the Christian faith.  Plus, we all sin and are in desperate need of the grace provided through Christ.  That's kind of what Easter is about.  Each of these chaplains that signed the letter are sinners and probably acknowledge that every time they perform a worship service in a prayer of confession.  As one who is of the Reformed tradition, which many of the signers are as well, it is pretty much a staple of the worship service.  The chaplaincy allows us to conduct a worship service in a manner consistent with our own religious beliefs and thus prevents any watering down of our faith through services we conduct.  Granted, public services have a different standard, but that is to be expected based on the pluarlistic nature of the military.  Plus, don't these chaplains have to sit through services not in their own tradition when someone else is at the pulpit or they are monitoring the quality of service provided by their lay leaders. 

What really worries me about this letter is that many of the signers are endorsers for their faith groups.  What this means is that if they so choose, they can pull endorsements of their chaplains leaving a large number of gaps in the manning, thus removing chaplain support and causing the problem of service members lacking ministry support, something they claim will occur if DADT is repealed.  I suggest they just let their chaplains serve and navigate the murky waters of this issue like every other aspect of our lives.  It will take prayer, relationships with other chaplains and lay persons and most of all a lot of grace.  The focus should be on providing ministry to the best of our ability, according to our gifts, to every Sailor and Marine that crosses our path regardless of their situation, faith or sexuality.