Comment by drawnwren | Hacker News Reader

Comment by drawnwren | Hacker News Reader

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Lots of uninformed responses here.

1) Yes, but Chaplains are strictly religious, not legal, entities. Further, they are employed by the federal government and would have no ability to marry even if there were some legal status. Marriage is a function of state governments.

2) It's important to keep in mind that military is a case where the free market is generally not at work. Servicemembers take long contracts that they can not negotiate their way out of and surrender all control of most of their lives. In exchange, the military generally takes responsibility for a standard of living on top of their salary. In Spc Lloyd Baker's case, he is probably assigned a barracks at his home base and hence not eligible for a housing allowance. Once he is married, the military recognizes his need to cohabitate with his wife and now pays him a Basic Allowance for Housing. Keep in mind, as a military spouse his wife will be unable to pursue most professional careers due to having to move with her husband at the beck and call of the military.

> Once he is married, the military recognizes his need to cohabitate with his wife

This seems like blatant discrimination against partnered-but-unmarried servicemembers.

It is. Unfortunately, I don't think 'people in a casual relationship' are a protected class. It leads to interesting scenarios where service members will specifically marry each other so they can get the housing allowance. The Defense Language Institute (DLI) is called the Desperate Love Institute by service members because of its abnormally high marriage rate. Students at DLI get to move off base and away from the watchful eye of their training instructors if they have a spouse.

Right because, frankly, that's the point of marriage, to legally declare "this is a permanent relationship and we are totally serious."

If you don't wanna make the legal commitment to marriage, you don't get benefits of "committed relationship." The military isn't the only governmental or non-governmental organization to treat married partners different from unmarried partners. You'll be shocked to learn that you also can't collect spousal social security if you never married your girlfriend.

The military takes a binary approach to this. You are married, or you are not. If you are married they will do their best to accommodate the spouse (joint assignments, married housing, healthcare, etc). If you are not married, you get none of that.

They highly value commitment. To the nation, to your unit, and to your family.

Why do we even have chaplains? Does every country have them? People have different religions or many of them no religious views, and there is often tension between these different groups.

The First Amendment. The Free Exercise Clause requires Congress to make religion available to all servicemembers regardless of where they are stationed if one of their denomination is not available. Courts have found that not providing that opportunity for religious guidance would be prohibiting the servicemember's free exercise of religion.

Chaplains typically spend more of their time counseling and mentoring than on religious services.

Chaplains can and do act as marriage officiants, but of course, that still doesn't solve the issue of physical separation here.

Chaplains can marry. Source: Married by a Army Chaplain.

Did you have to do any paperwork with someone else or at a courthouse? I think you're confusing officiating a marriage ceremony, which chaplains can definitely do, and legally marrying two people, which chaplains can not do.

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