DURHAM, N.C. (ABP) -- A progressive Baptist group that endorses military chaplains is supporting repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military.

Chris Copeland

While a number of conservative Christian groups have argued lifting the ban would infringe on the religious liberty of chaplains who believe homosexuality is immoral, Chris Copeland of the Alliance of Baptists said it would "benefit our current and future chaplains who desire to minister without prejudice to all military personnel."

Copeland, the Alliance's minister for leadership formation and chaplain endorser, wrote a letter to the Pentagon's Comprehensive Review Working Group, which is studying the impact repeal of the policy would have on the military's readiness. In the letter, Copeland expressed the group's support for a proposal before Congress to repeal the 1993 law that created the policy, which was a compromise between those supporting full inclusion and outright exclusion of gays in the military.

In May, 41 retired military chaplains signed a letter from the conservative Alliance Defense Fund to President Obama and Secretary of Defense William Gates warning that repeal would discourage military chaplains from preaching and teaching Bible passages about homosexuality. If openly gay service were legalized in the military, they reckoned, chaplains might feel pressured to water down the teachings of denominations that view homosexual practice as sinful.

Those signers included retired Army Col. Brandon Keith Travis, a chaplain for more than 28 years who since 2006 has served as team leader for chaplaincy at the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board, the denomination's official chaplain-endorsing body. NAMB's chaplaincy commission endorsed the ADF statement and distributed it to military chaplains April 28.

Richard Land, head of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said overturning the policy "would strain our forces, weaken troop morale and propel countless chaplains to leave the services." Land urged the Senate to filibuster a provision approved by the House May 27 that would do away with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Copeland, however, said repealing DADT would "encourage honesty among service members who choose to serve voluntarily but who do not want to lie about their sexual orientation."

"Most chaplains endorsed by the Alliance of Baptists would welcome this change in policy and see it as an opportunity to minister more fully and effectively with all military personnel be they heterosexual or homosexual," Copeland wrote. "They would be grateful to provide pastoral care and counseling to all military members and their families. To offer worship ministry that is ecumenical, interfaith, and fully inclusive would be seen as a 'holy' honor alongside one's military duty."

As a denomination that welcomes and affirms persons of all sexual orientations, Copeland added: "If DADT is repealed, lesbian and gay chaplains who are called to military service would have the option of being endorsed by the Alliance of Baptists and serving their denomination and country with distinction."

The Alliance was established in 1987 by moderates and liberals who, after eight years of losing presidential elections at the Southern Baptist Convention, decided to give up the fight and form an organization to preserve historic Baptist principles like religious freedom, local-church freedom and academic freedom in theological education. The group began endorsing chaplains in 1998. Today 168 Alliance-endorsed chaplains and pastoral counselors serve in various ministry areas including health care, prison and law enforcement and military chaplaincy.

Since the larger and more centrist Cooperative Baptist Fellowship formed out of the SBC holy war in 1991, the Alliance has diminished in size and shifted toward what one historian described as a "genealogy of dissent," embracing controversial stances like full acceptance of gays in civil society and the church, ecumenical cooperation and interfaith dialogue.

The Senate Armed Services Committee voted 16-12 May 28 to repeal DADT, but the Pentagon wanted to give the Comprehensive Review Working Group more time to complete its review of implementation of lifting the ban. Lawmakers agreed to a compromise that would allow Congress to repeal the policy in the next few weeks, but would delay its implementation until after Dec. 1, when the Pentagon review is due to be completed.

Observers say the repeal could face a tough road in the Senate. But it is likely to be debated this summer so the issue will be settled before the elections this November.

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This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

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