[Peace-discuss] dadtdadt dadadtda

[C. G. Estabrook]

Amen.

On 2/16/11 9:58 AM, E. Wayne Johnson wrote:
> Should Gays and Lesbians Serve in the Military?
>
> by Laurence M. Vance
> http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance229.html
>
> With the vote in Congress to repeal "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," some conservative 
> Christians are upset that gays and lesbians will be able to serve openly in 
> their beloved institution. "Will the last masculine institution fall?" asked 
> Dave Welch of the U.S. Pastor Council back in December, although I don’t know 
> how masculine an institution the military is when there are 200,000 women 
> serving in it.
>
> Well, apparently it will fall, but only sixty days after the secretary of 
> defense "has received DOD’s comprehensive review on the implementation of such 
> repeal, and the President, Secretary, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
> Staff (JCS) certify to the congressional defense committees
>
> * that they have considered the report and proposed plan of action,
> * that DOD has prepared the necessary policies and regulations to exercise the 
> discretion provided by such repeal, and
> * that implementation of such policies and regulations is consistent with the 
> standards of military readiness and effectiveness, unit cohesion, and military 
> recruiting and retention."
>
> These Christians may have a point; and then again they may not. What I find 
> strange is that few of the Christians objecting to gays and lesbians serving 
> openly in the military have a problem with anything the military does. They 
> never question the military launching preemptive strikes in foreign countries, 
> invading foreign countries, occupying foreign countries, fighting wars in 
> foreign countries, assassinating people in foreign countries, changing regimes 
> in foreign countries, spreading democracy at the point of a gun in foreign 
> countries, enforcing no-fly zones in foreign countries, intervening in the 
> affairs of foreign countries, stationing troops in over 150 foreign countries, 
> and maintaining over 1,000 bases in foreign countries.
>
> Should gays and lesbians serve in the military? Once in the military, they 
> will be expected to blindly follow the orders of their superiors and not 
> exercise independent thought. They will often times not be in a position to 
> know whether an order is in fact dubious or immoral. They will be expected to, 
> without reservation, drop that bomb, fire that weapon, launch that missile, 
> and throw that grenade, as well as directly kill people and destroy their 
> property.
>
> Should gays and lesbians serve in the military? Once in the military, there is 
> no guarantee that they will be in a non-combat role, regardless of what the 
> lying military recruiters say. There is a chance they could be sent to Iraq or 
> Afghanistan, or covertly to Yemen or Pakistan, where they could die in vain 
> and for a lie. They might be put into a position where they will have to kill 
> or be killed. They might come home from Iraq with limbs amputated, like 
> hundreds already have. They might come home from Afghanistan with serious 
> brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and thoughts of suicide, 
> unable to ever again hold down a job.
>
> Should gays and lesbians serve in the military? Once in the military, they 
> will not be defending our freedoms, protecting us from terrorists, fighting 
> for what is right, or guaranteeing our way of life. Their work will not be 
> limited to the defense of U.S. borders, shores, coasts, and skies. They will 
> instead be expected to serve as the president’s personal attack force to bomb, 
> invade, occupy, and otherwise bring death and destruction to any country he 
> deems necessary and that may never have attacked or threatened the United 
> States. And then they will be expected to kill foreigners that resist being 
> bombed, invaded, and occupied.
>
> Should gays and lesbians serve in the military? Once in the military, they 
> will be helping to carry out a reckless and belligerent foreign policy that 
> stirs up hatred against the United States and creates terrorists. They will be 
> expected to carry out a foreign policy that perverts the use of the military 
> and is contrary to the Founding Fathers’ policy of nonintervention in the 
> affairs of other countries.
>
> Should gays and lesbians serve in the military? Perhaps some more pressing 
> questions are should heterosexuals serve in the military? Should Christians 
> serve in the military? Should atheists serve in the military? Should anyone 
> serve in the military?
>
> February 16, 2011
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