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In CNN's Belief Blog, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an ordained minister, and Marine Corps veteran, argues against the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell because of the threat he believes it poses to the religious liberty of servicemen and women who openly express their disdain for homosexuality.
Anyone who disagrees with the "equal opportunity policy," or what he also calls the "pro-homosexual political correctness" of repealing DADT, will suffer the consequences.This means that all 1.4 million members of the U.S. military will be subject to sensitivity training intended to indoctrinate them into the myths of the homosexual movement: that people are born “gay” and cannot change and that homosexual conduct does no harm to the individual or to society.
Perkins says that the repeal will be especially damaging to military chaplains, as it is they who will "suffer" the most. They will be forced to choose between expressing their faith's "true" stance on homosexuality thereby risking their careers, or affirming a "lifestyle" their faith condemns. Perkins concludes with a reference to the plight of pilgrims.For no other offense than believing what all the great monotheistic religions have believed for all of history, some service members will be denied promotion, will be forced out of the service altogether, or will simply choose not to reenlist. Other citizens will choose not to join the military in the first place. The numbers lost will dwarf the numbers gained by opening the ranks to practicing homosexuals.
Beyond outrage, this blog raises a number of points and questions for me:It was religious liberty that drew the Pilgrims to America and it is religious liberty that leads off our Bill of Rights. But overturning the American military’s centuries-old ban on homosexual conduct, codified in a 1993 law, would mean placing sexual libertinism - a destructive left-wing social dogma found nowhere in the Constitution - above religious liberty, our nation’s first freedom.
1) I find Perkins's language incredible amusing and ironic, particularly when he says that 1.4 million servicemen and women will be "indoctrinated" into "the myths of the homosexual movement." Who exactly is doing the indoctrinating here? Are we indoctrinating folks with the "myths" of the homosexual movement, or with the "myths" of outdated religious dogma?
2) Perkins fails to acknowledge the overlap between Christians and homosexuals, as if the two were mutually exclusive. Whose religious liberty is being threatened? Would he deny the faith of those servicemen and women who remain closeted or have been discharged under DADT? He sets religious liberty and non-heterosexuality in direct opposition with one another. I had no idea that one's sexual orientation was a "destructive left-wing social dogma."
3) If it were up to Perkins, would women have ever been allowed in the military? (there are a number of biblical stories that would suggest women should not be engaged in battle) Is that equal opportunity clause acceptable in a way that homosexuality is not? What about atheists? Or people of non-Christian faiths?
Who deserves protection under the law?
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by AFY_Abby
by AFY_Samantha
by AFY_Samantha
by AFY_Samantha
As a member of the world's largest "gay megachurch" (Cathedral of Hope), I really want to emphasize your second point. There is a huge, amazing and gifted part of the LGBTQ community that is very spiritual and many are members of different congregations, temples, parishes, mosques, etc.
I think you've kind of inspired me to write on my own blog this morning, so I'll be linking to this.
Thanks!