A military chaplains’ advocacy group criticized President Barack Obama earlier this week for suggesting his administration might ignore provisions of a new law that offers religious liberty protections to service members.
The protections, approved by Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, guarantee chaplains will not be forced to preform “marriage” ceremonies for same-sex couples or be punished for refusing to do so.
The president signed the act into law on Wednesday but issued a long statement detailing his disagreement with at least 20 of its provisions. The president said his administration would interpret those provisions as it saw fit, essentially announcing his intention to ignore them. He did not specifically say the Defense Department would not abide by the chaplain’s protection provision—Section 533—only it would not hinder the military’s acceptance of openly gay...