Hold military to same standards as office-holders

How interesting to follow your lukewarm article on Sen. Ted Kennedy with praise of a military priest “taking faith to troops on front” (CR, Sept. 3).Apparently it’s not OK for Kennedy to believe that the only course to follow legally in this pluralistic country, given the Constitution, is to allow women to choose how to deal with their own pregnancies. It is, however, just fine for chaplains to distribute communion to the military. The armed forces have certainly obliterated their fair share of unborn children, along with their mothers and whole villages, but I don’t hear any of our bishops arguing about access to the Eucharist for the military brass, whose policies often run counter to the teachings of the Vatican Council and all modern popes about contemporary warfare. Shouldn’t we show the same respect for the consciences of our political leaders that we show for our troops?