Doug Wilson: Gay Advocates Asking the Wrong Question

Douglas Wilson, most well-known for his long-term debate and friendship with Christopher Hitchens, has a short post on the issue of homosexuality in the military.  He is yet another voice highlighting that many who supported repeal miss the point (perhaps intentionally) when they try to characterize those who oppose repeal.

The public discussion has thus far, in its sophomoric talking points way, addressed whether straight servicemen are willing to “serve alongside” their openly homosexual peers. This question would obviously include evangelical Christians. But this is not the question at all.

Anybody who has spent any time in the military knows that it is not a bastion of righteous behavior. If you join, you will serve alongside fornicators and drunks, and you will learn how to work together with them. Adding patriotic poofters to the mix is a non-issue, and barely worth discussing.

He’s absolutely correct.  There are certainly legitimate issues of sexuality in the military, but those discussions have been ongoing for decades — reference gender.  Therefore, it is not the central issue on this topic.

The issue is this. Homosexual Read more

DADT Repeal: “Don’t Forget Transgenders…”

A local Colorado paper interviewed graduates and students of Colorado University on their perceptions of the recent repeal of the law banning homosexuals from military service.  Some of the article focused on the desire of former servicemembers, discharged for being homosexual, to re-enter the service, though that has been widely discussed.  The end of the article was interesting:

CU senior Kyle Inselman, a member of the GLBT campus community…said the repeal is not a victory for the transgender community, since “don’t ask, don’t tell” is only one of the issues keeping them out of the military…

“I think that to frame this as a victory for the GLBT community is wrong, because transgender people still cannot serve in the military,” Inselman said. “We need to not forget about fighting for (transgender) inclusion in our military as well as gay, lesbian and bisexual people.”

Seems like this line of thinking has been brought up before…

Iowa Pastor Helps Soldiers Keep the Faith

A local news channel interviewed interviewed US Army Chaplain (Col) Lance Kittleson as he described his role as a spiritual support for Soldiers:

As a chaplain in the army, [Kittleson is] the senior pastor and administrator of a military congregation of more than 5,000 soldiers at bases all over Iraq.

“My job is to make sure the commander is informed on religious implications of his mission as well as provide direct support to our soldiers: Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, whatever they may be,” Col. Kittleson said.

He says faith is very important during a time of war.  Read more

Navy Uses Magnets to Launch Fighter

FoxNews caught up to the previous article here on the 18 December launch of a Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet with the EMALS.  The EMALS is an electromagnetic launch system designed to replace the steam driven systems currently in operation.  Interestingly, the article notes

Newer, heavier and faster aircraft will require more force to catapult from the carrier decks than steam-powered systems can supply. Electromagnets will be able to deliver, and allow for smooth acceleration at both high and low speeds, increasing the carrier’s ability to launch aircraft, the Navy said in a press release.

Presumably, that’s a reference to the F-35, the only substantial new aircraft slated to enter naval service in the reasonable future.

The article contains a link to the Navy’s somewhat slow YouTube video of the launch.

Military Missionaries Deployed Abroad

When the media mentions “military” and “missionary” in the same sentence, it often causes a near cacophony of criticism from conspiracy theorists about attempts at religious world domination.  Recent accusations of impropriety make the sensitivity of the subject evident.

A few decades ago, it wasn’t so.

General Douglas MacArthur, one of the few men to reach the nation’s highest military rank of General of the Armies, was the American face of reconstruction of post-war Japan.  The self-proclaimed “soldier of God and the republic” famously encouraged the influx of “a thousand missionaries” into Japan in the hopes that Christianity would overcome Shinto Buddhism in the Japanese isles.  Documents from the Truman library reportedly indicate the Joint Chiefs, the Secretary of the Army, and Truman himself supported MacArthur in this endeavor.  (Most modern summaries indicate the “Christianization” of Japan largely failed.)

Such an emphasis was likely influential on military members themselves.  A recent article in The Deseret News of Utah highlights the Mormon soldiers who “spread the gospel in post-war Japan.” Among those is the current President of the Mormon church, Read more

Study: Those Who Wait For Marriage Have Better Relationships

A recent study in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Family Psychology “revealed” that those who waited until they were married before having sexual relations had higher relationship stability, among other factors.

This study is completely unrelated to the military, but there’s an important detail:  The behavior in this study had nothing to do with religion.  (In fact, it was “controlled” out of the study.)

While some are quick to dismiss calls for supporting “moral” conduct as so much bad couscous, there can be (and are, according to this study) secular “benefits” to conduct or characteristics often attributed to a “religious” origin.

Bishop: Church Won’t “Evaluate” Military Homosexual Policy

In an interesting dance of politics and semantics, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, reportedly said

the Catholic church is not in a position to evaluate the impact of openly gay service members on military readiness directly…

but

“That is a question that has to be worked out politically. And there isn’t a specific Catholic Church position,” he said, “but whatever happens, it has to be seen in terms of the church’s teaching position. And that is, Read more

Marine General’s Faith at Issue

Websites belittling Commandant of the Marine Corps General James Amos are increasingly referring to his religion — some in an “off-hand” manner, others directly, as if it has something to do with current issues.

Interestingly, the “source” for General Amos’ faith is listed as this site.  The June 2010 article on his nomination for Commandant noted his speech at the 2009 National Day of Prayer.  Since then, that article has been cited in a variety of sources, including the ever reliable Wikipedia, as proof Amos is “born again.”  In fact, a web search for Amos’ faith reveals only two sources: this site, and a more recent derogatory citation by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation’s Chris Rodda, with an uncredited copy of a personal photograph of the same event she likely learned about through this site.

Ultimately, however, Amos’ faith is irrelevant.  It would be folly to assert Read more

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