The debate highlights the delicate position of the chaplains, who must balance the demands of their faiths with the reality of a diverse military. Their concerns will weigh heavily this month as Congress considers a proposal to lift the 17-year-old policy, supported by some who say it has prevented strife in the ranks but criticized by others as discriminatory and outdated at a time when homosexuality has gained mainstream acceptance.

This week, Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, helped launch a campaign to persuade Christians to show their faith in public. It is called "Not Ashamed" - a title that encourages timid believers to acknowledge their religious identity in public and also recognises that more and more British Christians are no longer prepared to tolerate taxpayer-funded suppression of the visible expressions of their religion.

Dramatic

A spokesman for the King James Bible Trust, which commissioned the poll, said: "There has been a dramatic drop in knowledge in a generation.

"Yet this is a work which was far more influential than Shakespeare in the development and spread of English."

On Wednesday a special meeting of our session convened to hear the team's report, and they unanimously approved "the framework and figure" of the settlement agreement, which was outlined in a memorandum of understanding signed by both parties. Now we are simply awaiting write-up of the actual agreement itself by attorneys to be reviewed, approved, and formally signed, probably around Thanksgiving. Appropriately.