“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
– President John Adams, 11 October 1798
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Outgoing Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley, addressing the US Air Force Academy graduating class of 2013, “implored the cadets” to defend the character of the Air Force:
“Each of you is responsible for the character of this Air Force, and its reputation,” Donley said. “And I therefore charge you to serve with integrity, and by example — to lead, to say and to do what is right for our Air Force.”
Serve with integrity and character. Do the right thing. It seems like the Air Force is encouraging a high moral standard.
Living morally is consistent with Christian officership, but doing the right thing is also consistent with professional officership. Unfortunately, a few forget that the right choice is not always the easy choice. Fortunately, “right” normally prevails, even if at some cost.
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President Obama has explicitly told US military leaders to “leave no stone unturned” in their efforts to fight the “national security threat” of sexual assault in the ranks:
Obama said he is pleased that Hagel and Dempsey are looking at proposals on Capitol Hill and elsewhere to address the problem. “What I’ve said to them is I want to leave no stone unturned and I want us to explore every good idea that’s out there,” he said.
What do you think the chances are that the US military will consider the “good idea” that religious faith plays a substantial role in supporting moral conduct? That’s not Read more
Update: The Marine, who is not named, was convicted, receiving a reprimand and loss of pay.
The US Marine Corps is court-martialing a Staff Sergeant for adultery:
A Marine is on trial at Camp Pendleton on charges of committing adultery and then lying to investigators by saying she was drunk and had been raped.
Though “prosecutions are rare,” unnamed “officials” said adultery is bad for the military:
Adultery, officials said, undermines “good order and discipline in the armed forces and [is] of a nature to bring discredit to the armed forces.”
In a profession in which men and women are charged with the power to both protect and take lives, one would hope fidelity to morals would be a virtue to uphold.
Repeated at the Stars and Stripes.
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Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has a lengthy but fascinating article on the argument against “homosexual marriage” from a perspective outside of morality. Importantly, he brings up an interesting discussion on the “revisionist” view of marriage which
is vitally important, even essential, to any conversation about marriage in our modern context, for it points far beyond the issue of same-sex marriage to the prior assaults on conjugal marriage brought by no-fault divorce and the replacement of personal responsibility with mere personal autonomy. Sadly, the revisionist view of marriage is embraced by millions of heterosexual couples, married and unmarried, but it is essential to the very idea of same-sex marriage.
He also notes what has been said here several times before (much to one or two people’s chagrin), and was first intimated by Justice Antonin Scalia: Read more
The Stars and Stripes repeats an Associated Press article under the headline “Military’s same-sex couples say DOMA dishonors service, sacrifice” [updated link]. The basic gist is that it’s not fair to deny homosexuals the recognition heterosexuals receive.
Perhaps without realizing it, homosexuals are, by extension, claiming anyone who is offended is de facto worthy of being treated as if they were what they are not.
What about the Soldier who marries another woman while still married at home — both of his wives deserve benefits, too, right? After all, their feelings will undoubtedly be hurt if they are “left out.”
A woman on the homefront learns Read more
In reference to implications the Republican Party might move to recognize homosexual “marriage,” former Governor and Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee noted that the party would get a lot smaller, because “evangelicals will take a walk.” The reason, he explained, is that Christians believe in an unchanging, objective standard:
If we have subjective standards, that means that we’re willing to move our standards based on the prevailing whims of culture. Politicians have an obligation to be thermostats, not just thermometers. They’re not simply to reflect the temperature of the room, or the culture, as it were. They’re to set the standards for law, for what’s right, for what’s wrong, understanding that not everybody’s going to agree with it.
“On this issue, I recognize the culture is moving away from the traditional standard, but it’s almost like saying, well, we have a basketball team and nobody on the team can hit the goal that’s 10 feet off Read more
A US Army Chaplain’s comments on the upcoming Supreme Court hearings on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), regarding his faith and religious liberty:
“If DOMA is declared unconstitutional, then it will initiate the assured drive in our society and government to give warrant and support to numerous other unspeakable sexual acts as normative. In the past two years since DADT was repealed, (which was the vehicle by which homosexuals gained official government recognition and approval of their immoral lifestyle), we have seen appeals by those who advocate for the public acceptance of polygamy, pedophilia and even bestiality in our educational institutions and government, using the very same fallacious arguments the homosexual movement has used over the last several decades to gain public acceptance. And just last week there was a public call in the national media for the US military to now allow those given to transvestism (cross dressing) to also have the freedom to openly serve in our ranks. The repeal to DADT certainly opened Pandora’s Box. But striking down DOMA would pry it open.
“If DOMA is repealed, it will hit the military first. And no one will face the pressure, persecution and disfavor more than the military chaplains. Why? Because we are the Read more