WORLD Magazine | Asking for trouble | Edward Lee Pitts | Jan 15, 11 http://www.worldmag.com/articles/17454The first casualties of the congressional repeal of the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military may be chaplains and religious liberty.

How the Local Church can help produce the finest Chaplains in the U. S. Armed Forces. http://theaquilareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3678:how-the-local-church-can-help-produce-the-finest-chaplains-in-the-u-s-armed-forces&catid=51:ministries&Itemid=134CH (COL) Chris Wisdom is a member of the OPC Committee. He shares here a vision for how PRJC Churches have the opportunity to provide a 2-year internship to a Chaplain Candidate right out of seminary, thereby providing him a place to gain the 2-years of pastoral experience required for military active-duty chaplaincy.

Expert: Open homosexuality in military being ‘rushed’ http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=245113Center for Military Readiness President Elaine Donnelly said “gay” advocates are “rushing” Defense Secretary Robert Gates to implement the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy before he is able to certify properly that permitting open homosexuality will not harm the military.

‘Don’t ask’ survey really didn’t ask http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=244653The methods used in a survey that some U.S. military leaders have cited to support their plan to allow homosexuals to live their sexual choices openly and remain in the ranks “border on fraud,” according to a critic who spoke with WND.

Life: Style, Books, Gardening, Health, Fitness and Travel | Statesman.com http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/faith/entries/2010/12/28/challenges_facing_military_cha.html?cxntfid=blogs_of_sacred_and_secularExperiencing a flood of information about news events online can be a confusing thing, particularly when you’re looking for a straightforward answer that is probably behind a large, hierarchical wall of silence like the one you’re likely to find as a civilian religion reporter in Austin Texas when you have questions about the Department of Defense and its plans for negotiating the complicated world of being a conservative military chaplain who may disagree with any openly gay, lesbian or transgendered soldier who may be in need of the chaplaincy.

An Optimistic Ministry: A New Years Sermon | MikeMilton.Org http://mikemilton.org/2010/12/27/an-optimistic-ministry-a-new-years-sermon/…..

Recently many of us who are chaplains have been wrestling with how we will respond to potential threats to First Amendment rights to preach the Gospel concerning human sexuality given that the Administration and a willing lame-duck Congress have imposed the “gay rights” agenda onto the military. I think about it and it is enough to take away your enthusiasm for chaplain ministry. But then I see a soldier in need. I hear of a Marine family who has lost their loved one. I read about guardsman from the Midwest who risked his life to save others in a grenade attack in Afghanistan, and I say, “They need Christ. Oh God, let me minister to them!” I remain optimistic that until I am thrown in prison or thrown out of the Army Reserve, I will preach the whole counsel of God for the sake of those who need to hear it. When I begin to focus on Christ and others, and forget self and even my questions, I get excited again about ministry. I can leave the rest to God. I begin to say, “This is a glorious time to be alive and to minister Jesus to those who need Him!”

…..

Defense.gov News Article: Army Officials Work to Treat Invisible Wounds of War http://www.defense.gov//news/newsarticle.aspx?id=62239Military leaders and troops alike need more time at home between deployments to help diagnose and receive treatment for the “invisible” wounds of war such as posttraumatic stress, a senior Army officer said today.

“It affects everything. It affects the divorce rate. It affects substance abuse. It affects everything. And we’ve kind of taken our focus and shifted it to ensure that we’re getting at that,” Army Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the vice chief of staff of the Army, said on ABC’s “This Week” with Christiane Amanpour.

“You want to get at these issues. We need more time at home before deployment,” Chiarelli said.

Complicating matters, the symptoms of posttraumatic stress take sometimes months or years to show. More research is needed to understand the brain and the effects of stress, Chiarelli said.

Officer won’t sign order for troop indoctrination http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=243213President Obama’s repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is already  damaging the U.S. military.

An Army lieutenant colonel has asked to be relieved of command rather than order his troops to go through pro-homosexual indoctrination following the repeal of the policy, which required homosexuals to keep silent about their sexual preference.

Currently the commander of a battalion-sized unit in the Army National Guard, the officer also has threatened to resign his commission rather than undergo “behavior modification” training intended to counter his religious convictions about homosexuality.

Afghan sex practices concern U.S., British forces | Washington Examiner http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/2010/12/afghan-sex-practices-concern-us-british-forcesA document released by WikiLeaks described efforts by high-ranking Afghan officials to quash reports of police officers and other Afghans arrested for “purchasing a service from a child.”The leaked diplomatic cable quoted former Minister of the Interior Hanif Atmar’s concern that publicity about the arrests, which involved the hiring of “dancing boys,” would “endanger lives.”

The author of the diplomatic cable fretted that the case would be “blown out of proportion, an outcome that would not be good for either the U.S. or Afghanistan.”

The vast gulf between U.S. and Afghan attitudes about homosexuality and pedophilia has generated concern among U.S. advisers in Afghanistan since the American presence there began to expand.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/2010/12/afghan-sex-practices-concern-us-british-forces#ixzz197E4Xo3f