{"id":14061,"date":"2012-06-07T14:07:21","date_gmt":"2012-06-07T20:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=14061"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:08:14","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:08:14","slug":"first-same-sex-religious-commitment-ceremony-performed-by-army-chaplain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/06\/first-same-sex-religious-commitment-ceremony-performed-by-army-chaplain\/","title":{"rendered":"First same-sex religious “commitment” ceremony performed by Army chaplain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

Details from CNN: <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A same-sex ceremony between an enlisted woman and a civilian woman on a U.S. Army post last month drew protests from lawmakers Thursday.<\/p>\n

The \u201cprivate religious ceremony\u201d took place at Fort Polk in Louisiana in May, post spokesman Scott Stearns said, but he would confirm few other details.<\/p>\n

Rep. John Fleming, a Louisiana Republican whose congressional district includes the Army post, said the military confirmed to him that the same-sex ceremony was performed by an Army chaplain in the chapel.<\/p>\n

The incident was an inevitable consequence of the end of the don\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell policy in September, which previously banned homosexuals from military service, Fleming said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe liberal social experiment with our military continues,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cA 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Todd Akin, a Missouri Republican whose office said has been working \u201cto protect traditional marriage on military bases,\u201d said the ceremony was \u201cclearly in contravention of state law and also violates the Defense Department policies issued last fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very concerning that a same-sex ceremony would occur on a military base in a state where the definition of marriage has been clearly defined as between one man and one woman,\u201d Akin said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Additional details: <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my understanding that this is the first ceremony of its type on an American military base and that is, as it\u2019s reported, it was a wedding ceremony between two members of the same gender who are uniformed members of the Army,\u201d Fleming told CNSNews.com.<\/p>\n

Fleming, who is also a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the Army confirmed that the ceremony was not billed as an official marriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs its characterized, this ceremony occurred only as a religious ceremony, it was not intended or advertised to be a lawful or legal union,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cSuch marriages between persons of the same-sex are not recognized by the state of Louisiana, so it can\u2019t be a lawful or legal marriage ceremony\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026A Disciples of Christ chaplain performed a \u201cmarriage-like\u201d commitment ceremony for the two lesbian soldiers, Dr. Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Freedom says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were very careful in the wording, from what I understand, to make this only a religious ceremony,\u201d Crews says, noting that the Disciples of Christ denomination allows its clergy to perform same-sex \u201ccommitment\u201d ceremonies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Details from CNN: A same-sex ceremony between an enlisted woman and a civilian woman on a U.S. Army post last month drew protests from lawmakers Thursday. The \u201cprivate religious ceremony\u201d took place at Fort Polk in Louisiana in May, post spokesman Scott Stearns said, but he would confirm few other details. Rep. John Fleming, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223,27],"tags":[376],"class_list":["post-14061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chaplains","category-marriage","tag-gay-marriage"],"yoast_head":"\nFirst same-sex religious "commitment" ceremony performed by Army chaplain<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Details from CNN: A same-sex ceremony between an enlisted woman and a civilian woman on a U.S. Army post last month drew protests from lawmakers Thursday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/06\/first-same-sex-religious-commitment-ceremony-performed-by-army-chaplain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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