In an interesting twist, US Navy CAPT Owen Honors, recently fired from his position as skipper of the USS Enterprise, is being defended in the press by former Sailors who served under his command — and are homosexual.
“He wasn’t insulting” gay sailors, added Mr. Solis [a gay former Sailor], “They were just harmless jokes.”
Capt. Honors “absolutely did not” create a hostile or homophobic atmosphere on board, added Eric M. Prenger, a gay sailor Read more
A few articles across the internet have posited that CAPT Owen Honors, recently fired skipper of the USS Enterprise, was simply a product of the “military culture.”
As a retired Navy officer, my perspective is that Honors was acting as the custom of the time allowed. If the Navy wants to change its culture, it needs to get the word out on what is to be changed and only discipline future violations.
That’s an interesting perspective from several angles. It seems reasonable that if you permit Sailors (or anyone else) to conduct themselves after a certain fashion, then that conduct becomes “acceptable,” or it is at least perceived to be so. In truth, “allowing” or failing to discipline or prosecute conduct does not inherently make it right, thought it can understandably create a culture of confusion.
In addition, as the writer said above, if the Navy Read more
The repeal of the ban on homosexuals serving in the US military, most often referred to as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” appears to be the only military/religion story to make the “top 10” 2010 story lists of most websites that look at military/religious issues:
Chris Patti, reportedly a Navy cryptologist, wrote an opinion piece at the Washington Post saying repeal of DADT was the “easy” part, and now Secretary of Defense Robert Gates faces “difficult” questions. Oddly, Patti raises no questions that have not already been addressed. Just like the terse answer to those who wondered if they could resign early if they had moral reservations about repeal (“No.”), the military working group on DADT repeal provided terse answers to Patti’s questions. For example, he asks: Read more
Before retiring for the holidays, the US Senate confirmed Obama appointee Chai Feldblum to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Feldblum is the person quoted in the longer version of the “Christian Military Perspective on DADT,” published at the Journal of Faith and War, saying
when religious liberty and sexual liberty conflict…I’m having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win. (The Weekly Standard, May 15, 2006).
Feldblum was a law professor at Georgetown University and Read more
A letter to the editor in a local Colorado Springs newspaper raised the spectre that open homosexuality in the US military might actually help America’s adversaries:
I can’t wait until the Taliban and Al Qaida use this [DADT repeal] law as a recruiting tool for hardcore Muslim insurgents in its proof just how infidel America is when its government endorses homosexuality by law.
Notwithstanding the rhetoric, he’s right. Islamic extremists have cited America’s “moral depravity” as reason for attacking it. Openly allowing Read more
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
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…