The National Conference of Viet Nam Veteran Ministers is composed of Vietnam Veterans who are also ordained clergy or in full time religious work. From our experience of suffering the experiences of war combined with the experiences which led us to our religious vocations, we believe we have a special understanding of the need for spiritual healing, and a commitment to support spiritual healing both for ourselves and for all veterans.
In the past year we have established a web site, which describes our mission, our membership, and our activities, as well as peace and justice resolutions passed at our annual convocations. In 1993 we passed a resolution(http://www.vietnamveteranministers.org/just_03.htm) condemning the "don't ask, don't tell" policy being instituted at that time.
We routinely ask other veterans organizations to add us to their lists of links. Recently we made such a request of GLBVA and are gratified that the request has received extraordinary attention.
Organizational endorsement or support for web links could be categorized at a "C", "B", or "A" level. NCVNVM itself employs the "C" level extensively--we have a page where our members can suggest links that they have found useful, and we post the link with the member's endorsement, not the organization's. It has proved a useful means of quickly making a number of links available on the strength of one recommendation, without implying organizational support.
A look at GLBVA's current links, which include the Department of Veterans Affairs and several nationwide veterans organizations, suggests a "B" level of support, where the message is, "as an organization we think you may find this link useful, although we don't take any responsibility for what you experience once you go there." It is this level of support we thought we were asking for when we requested a link.
But following our request some significant discussions took place, and you have honored us by including us in the discussion. We have heard you recall the pain caused by abusive, hateful and intolerant people purporting to speak in the name of religion. We have heard the fears that GLBVA members will be the objects of attempts to 'convert' or 'condemn' based on their sexual orientation. We have heard the hope that people who turn to a link entitled 'spiritual healing' would find a ministry that is accepting, loving, and supportive of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered. In short, we hear a call for an "A" level of support, where you feel able to tell your membership, "This is a safe place. Trust these guys."
What we hear you asking for is what the NCVNVM leadership hopes our organization can be. We are an inclusive organization. Our Annual Convocations for our members, and the spiritual healing workshops that we will be doing this fall in Attleboro MA and Albuquerque, NM are specifically intended to create safe places where healing can be nurtured by trust.
As a result of the e-mail exchanges which have taken place, we are specifically placing on our agenda for our 1998 Annual Convocation a discussion of "how safe a place can we offer with regard to veterans of different sexual orientations?" in order to make sure our membership is on board with this conversation.
In the meantime, please trust us at least as much as you trust the other organizations on your current link list!
Very truly yours,
Jackson H. Day
Treasurer, for
Philip Salois, MS, President
NCVNVM is funded in part by a grant from the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Specific projects, including the Spiritual Healing Workshops and Hotline, are funded in part by a grant #97-02 from the Vietnam Veterans Assistance Fund. Other sources of support are dues from our members and donations from church, civic, and veterans groups.
